The Carver's House

Apart from continuing my drawing chores for Zaturnnah sa Maynila, I spent some time at the Cultural Center of the Philippines over the last few weeks to take part in the Virgin Labfest proceedings. The distance that I needed to cover to get to the CCP has always been daunting, making me unable to watch all the featured plays. My normal commute would be to take the LRT-2 from Santolan to Pureza, then hail a cab to take me to Pasay. Going home was a greater--and at times, more expensive--challenge, especially during Friday and payday nights. Apart from my set, I was only able to catch Set D, which featured Eliza Victoria's "Marte" (directed by George de Jesus), Dingdong Novenario's "Daddy's Girl" (dir. Nick Pichay), and Rick Patriarca's "Hapagkainan" (dir. Chris Martinez). It was the last day of the festival, and both sets C and D were closing on that day. As was expected, the theatre was packed for the final show of the festival, and I...

Writing for the theatre isn't something one would expect from a comics creator, but since I had my little stint as a professional stage actor for a few productions, I guess playwriting would eventually sneak in there. So far, I've written four, three of which have been staged, with the fourth one going through rehearsals for this year's Virgin Labfest. The play is called, "Mula sa Kulimliman," (From Kulimliman) and it tells of a housewife Lilia (played by Mayen Estañero) who has been questioning the truths she's had about her husband Gorio (Jonathan Tadioan). Gorio has been mostly absent, leaving Lilia to run the household with whatever meager means she has while taking care of their son Jerome (Timothy Castillo). There are elements of fantasy in there, and comedy, and drama, pretty much what one might expect in my stories. The play is being directed by Hazel Gutierrez, with set design by Toym Imao, sound design by TJ Ramos, music design by Toni ...

A question came up on an online forum, asking how can one begin to learn how to make comics, given very little knowledge in both writing and art. I decided to write my answer as a blog post. I've been drawing comics on and off for more than 20 years, but I've been drawing far longer than that. I'm primarily self-taught, and had regarded drawing purely as a hobby. As far as the writing goes, I started writing professionally by working in corporate public relations. Even though I've been writing and drawing for a very long time, I was only able to make my first comic book as both writer and artist at 31 years old. Now that I've gained success as a comics creator, I would sometimes wonder how I should have done things differently. Is there a method, a "curriculum," that one could follow to learn how to make comics? Sure, there are tons of books out there about how to make comics, and they cover a lot of topics. However, a lot of them don't look ...

So.... as of this writing, I have two and a half pages left to draw, and I've given roughly 75% of the draft to my publisher Visprint for preliminary editing. Another piece of good news, at least for me, is that the most difficult panels are done. Wow. This means I should be finished with all comics pages by next week. I would then have to work on the other editorial pages, plus the back cover. I still don't know what to put in the back cover. But, Hallelujah! I'm almost done. Thank you, Universe!! Of course, on a professional level, three years isn't the most appealing amount of time to wait for part two of a story. Still, I'm moving forward with it. While, at this point, I shudder at the thought of announcing when the third part is going to come out, I will declare right now that I'm committed to churning out pages on a more regular basis. Part Three will be more or less 88 pages, bringing the total page count of this graphic novel to 262. Wow. I s...

Image from BusinessWorld Online The musical opened last May 7, and the reviews are in. Below are just a few of them--thankfully, looks like people seem to like the show. Thanks to all the kind folks who took the time to write reviews. Also, thanks to those who have watched the show more than once. But first, a featurette from ANC... From Inquirer.net "As for the length, my gay friend Philip hates musicals like a heartbreak but he finished it and told his friends he didn’t even notice it’s three hours long." -- Totel de Jesus From Juice.ph "Kung Paano Ako Naging Leading Lady is so enjoyable because it takes the tight, strong narrative of Carlo Vergara’s comic and adds flourishes of song and dance at just the right moment that you are carried away into this comedic farce that tackles a host of issues and themes — colonialism, hard work versus laziness, gratitude, elitism, celebrity culture, love in the workplace, finding something inside you that is ...

Last 2012, I came up with the idea of a simple story involving a maid of a superhero team. It was supposed to be a one-act play, but I didn't know what I could do with the idea to make it a 45-minute acting piece. "Kung Paano Ako Naging Leading Lady" (How I Became Leading Lady) eventually got penned in early 2013, and was accepted in the 9th Virgin Labfest. Not sure about the story's future, I had a comics adaptation made. The 72-pager was released in late-2013. The play was later chosen to be restaged in 2014, something I'm extremely grateful for. But I thought that was it. But, no. Fast forward to 2015, the one-act play will open as a full-length musical this May. Kung Paano Ako Naging Leading Lady: The Musical is being produced by Dalanghita Productions, and will run from May 7 to June 7 this year. It will take place at the PETA Theater Center in Quezon City. Music and lyrics are by Vincent deJesus, Production Design by Tuxqs Rutaquio, Choreo...

It's an irrational fear, or course. But I can only hope that, if ever the Metro Manila subway project pushes through, the government will do a better job maintaining it. You can read a proposal for the Metro Manila subway through this link . Please share if you like this comic. :-)