The Carver's House

Has it been 12 issues? I guess it has. While coming on-board the magazine in late-April last year, the greatest anxiety I've ever felt when it came to art direction was the covers. Because the covers had to look good. Because the covers had to sell. And I, coming from four years of art directing inanimate objects in Real Living magazine, hardly knew the nitty-gritty behind having living, breathing celebrities on magazine covers. (I used to do art direction for a short-lived gay magazine called Icon , but I was never asked to attend the cover shoots.) Not to mention having the responsibility of choosing which clothes the celebrity would wear from the numerous selections made by our lovely fashion editor. So, I relied on two things--pure gut, and referring endlessly to the original American version of Good Housekeeping : It was only when the March 2011 came round, with Janice and Gelli de Belen on the cover, that my confidence level was where I thought it should be--challeng...

Mar Santana's art style influenced my own style, and I didn't even know it! I remember how, as a kid, I'd get excited whenever I see his name printed in any of the weekly komiks we'd buy from the corner store. There was something about his lines that, pun intended, drew me in. When we eventually stopped buying komiks, I had com...pletely forgotten the name of the man. Thank goodness the internet jogged my memory. Here are samples of Mr. Santana's art, lifted from Arman Francisco's blog (http://tinyurl.com/3q2ym3o). If you look at the guy on the left, you can see where Dodong comes from.

I can't believe it's been almost ten years since I self-published One Night In Purgatory . It was towards the end of the year 2000, when everyone's lives had normalized after that big hoohah that was the Millennium Bug. I was employed full-time with the Metro Manila Skyway project, and on the side had been handling art chores for David Hontiveros' Horus comic book. I had also been secretly harboring the desire to make my own comics after seeing the success of Arnold Arre and Marco Dimaano with their own projects. Since I had close to zero knowledge about writing comics, I had gone about it instinctively, planning the story and writing the script after work at Angelino's restaurant in Robinsons Galleria. The entire process from cradle to grave took me about four months for the 56-pager, and had it printed through a printing press in Mandaluyong. In 2001, Purgatory was launched in Comics Quest Megamall. Unfortunately, all the digital files are gone. Recordable ...

It's nice to do a short piece now and then. Something like 90 minutes for this one. Click on the image to enlarge.

Success can only go so far, especially if you don't know how you achieved success in the first place. That was my dilemma when the first Zaturnnah book hit it big. While many nice people have told me how "brilliant" the graphic novel was, I was at a loss. Where was the brilliance? Why did a lot of people like it, talk about it, and share it, as opposed to other Filipino comics? I had no clue. One could argue that the camp humor, the "gayness" and the nostalgia had a lot to do with the success. But were they the only factors? Could someone else have similarly combined all those bits in a narrative and achieve the same enthusiastic audience reception? Was the Zaturnnah book a fluke, something of novelty that no one had thought of making, and something that was in its own league? Maybe. Possibly. It became a challenge to me when I decided to create a sequel, because I felt I didn't have enough ammunition--camp humor, gayness, nostalgia--to fill another Zatu...

These five tips are more reminders to myself than anything else. A) Punch your reader with a strategically-placed potentially iconic moment , that is, 1) a critical part of your story that's 2) not only visually arresting, but also 3) triggers a strong emotional response in your reader that 4) lingers long after your book is put down. It becomes iconic when the reader 5) associates that moment with a real-life event. B) Make advantages disadvantages, and vice-versa. Add depth to your characters by exploring situations where a character's strength is actually a weakness (because perfection is boring), and where a weakness is actually a strength (because we root for underdogs). And make these developments matter in the course of your story. Strengths and weaknesses can be, but are not limited to, abilities, a personality trait, a status in society, or even a relationship. C) Apart from dramatic roles, assign thematic roles to charac...

[Press release from Tanghalang Pilipino] In honour of Jose Rizal’s 150th birthday, Noli Me Tangere: The Musical will officially open Tanghalang Pilipino’s Silver Theater Season. The critically acclaimed musical adapted by Ryan Cayabyab from Rizal’s most famous work will be restaged, with libretto by National Artist Bienvenido Lumbera and under the direction of theater luminary Audie Gemora . Costume design is by National Artist Salvador Bernal . The artistic panel is now on its final stages in completing the powerhouse cast, including the finalization of the participation of Mark Bautista as Ibarra and Cris Villonco as Maria Clara. The official cast will be announced during the latter part of May. A series of special events are now in the planning stages as part of the prestigious celebration, such as an exhibit of Bernal’s works – which will be mounted during the entire run of the production. A special auction is also set as renowned jeweler, Hans Brumman, creates pieces ins...