This Year's M3Con Experience

After the Romanticide Fashion Show two weeks ago, I just felt so tired. It was like my body had put off being tired the whole week before the fashion show and the whole week before that (because the week before the Fashion Show was the Talecraft Character Building Workshop) and crammed all the fatigue into last week. No matter how much sleep I took, the tiredness just didn't seem to go away. I got myself a massage, hoping it would make me feel better. I ended up getting bruised. I did feel a bit better the next day but emotionally, I still felt drained. So my friends, to the rescue, suggested I go to this year's Mangaholix convention, as an attendee for a change. I did.

It was fun. My little group was complete that day. We got to see our favorite comic artists. I was so glad to see Budjette and the rest again. He even remebers us! :D Yes, I'm a fan girl. And being remembered by my favorite creators does make my day. I just didn't have the courage to show it. You have no idea how I wanted to just shout, "I love Trese!!!" Or "I've watched the Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah play twice!" Or "Culture Crash will always be dear to me." But can you imagine Ria Lu shouting, "Kambal, forever!"? That would be so weird. So I just put on an unaffected smile and followed my friends from one booth to the next.

When this whole trend of making comics with stories using Philippine Mythology started, I admit, it didn't appeal to me that much. True, in college, I researched on Philippine Mythological creatures. I've probably read all of Maximo Ramos' books. But when the creatures came out in the local comic books in the recent years, I felt like it was forced. That's just how I felt then. There was nothing particularly wrong about the comic books. The comics were nicely done. But they didn't pull me enough to make me want to buy them for reasons other than to support local content.

And then I saw Trese.

If you think about it, it's another comic book using the creatures of our lower mythology. Except this one just... hit the spot! Yes, like the other comic books, it used tikbalangs, duwendes and aswangs. But somehow, reading about them in Trese... felt goood! I can't explain it. It just... worked! And I will now stop trying to find an explanation lest the magic disappears. Point is, I haven't been drawn by a comic book, manga or otherwise, in a very long time. And suddenly this black-and-white volume shows up in last year's komikon, and I can't seem to get enough of it!

Anyway, they were promoting Underpass at the Mangaholix convention this year. There weren't a lot of people really drawn to the anthology at the event. Which was too bad. Underpass would have been another great outlet for comics, being published by a big company like Summit. I have a feeling Visprint sold more. Oh well, we all just have to keep at it anyway, I guess.

After we all bought what we came to buy, have them signed by who we came to see, and listened to who we came to admire, my little group and I left the convention and spent the rest of the afternoon at Starbucks in Harbor Square, talking about our upcoming Tagaytay trip and making plans about vacationing in Corregidor next year. It's very relaxing. We told each other stories, drank coffee, got rained on, talked some more, and basically enjoyed each others' company. It was a good day for stories.

Fourth Septennial

Alright, it's my birthday today. An evaluation is called for. What have I done with my life so far? Where am I going? What have I learned and what else do I need to learn? What have I accomplished and what else did I set out to accomplish? While I'm quite happy where I'm heading, it wouldn't hurt to recalibrate. Let's start at the beginning and work our way to now, shall we?

Influences
Ever since I can remember, creativity and story have been part of my everyday life. I grew up in a house full of kids my age, rooms, books, toys, and newsprint. Even when I was a baby, I was part of a trio (me and my two cousins). Then a different trio later on (me and my two sisters), then the leader of a group of five even later on. And we were always doing little projects, playing make believe, and basically causing mischief wherever we went (which required a considerable amount of creativity).

Rooms. Growing up, we had two rooms upstairs that were solely for our playing. Whenever we wanted to play Princess-Princess, we went to the Blue Room, where all of my aunts' gowns were stored. When we wanted to play dolls, we went to the Aqua Room, where all of my older cousins' toys that were handed down to us were kept. Growing up, my sisters and I didn't have the newest toys, but we certainly had the most toys compared to my other cousins. All the hand-me-downs went to us. And with so much Barbies, My Little Ponies, G. I. Joes, She-ras, Popples, and a bunch of other toys, we had a full-fledged soap opera going for our dolls, complete with children, grand-parents, villains, and a thirty-horse ranch! And yes, we continued the story each time we played.

If we weren't upstairs, we would be in the carport exterminating termites with water guns, or doing archery like Robin Hood (using plastic straws for arrows), or drawing (like I said, we had newsprint lying around), or reading (or pretending to. We actually just memorize what's supposed to be written on that page). My Mom bought a lot of books. We had books by Dr. Seuss as well as books about Picasso. Actually, the Art books were Mom's, but she allowed us to read them as long as we didn't write on them. But she allowed us to write on our books. Our favorite book, a Children's Treasury of Knowledge book on Animals, was full of scribbles. It got destroyed because of too much handling so, Mom had to buy us another copy. Another set of books we had growing up was a collection of books about ancient civilizations. So, at an early age, we knew about Ancient Egypt (another favorite book. We didn't write on this one), Ancient Greece, and the Renaissance. And we used them in the stories we play out.

My First Books
Of course, as children, we emulate. So, since I read books, I also tried writing them. I made my first book when I was seven, I think. And I wrote it on bond paper, not newsprint! I cut the paper in four and scotch-taped the middle. Then I wrote my story on it, and I even illustrated it! My first book was entitled, "The Living Skeleton." It was about a scientist who spilled some experimental substance on himself, turning him into a living skeleton. In the end, he became a stage performer in a tux and a top hat (hey, I was seven). My next two books, done in the same fashion, were entitled, "The Princess Witch" and "The Crying Statue." Equally corny, but I love them anyway. I still have these two books with me. Unfortunately, I lost "The Living Skeleton." :(

My First Comic
In elementary, I was into comics and animation. My Dad was a big Daredevil fan so, we had those at home. I'm more Spiderman and X-men. And I liked the cartoons more than the comic. For one, the animation came every week.

I wanted to make stories for Animation. I wanted to write the story and have someone make the cartoon for me. Unfortunately, that was a little difficult back then, back there (and probably even here and now) so, I had to illustrate my story myself. Since I couldn't do animation yet during that time, I settled for the next best thing: Comics.

My first comic was entitled "Metaforce." It was a superhero comic with strong Marvel influences. It was fun making costumes and powers. But nobody was there to publish it. (And my art was not that good yet)

Just in case you were curious as to what stories I had for animation, one of them was entitled "Siopao Man."

My First Novel
When I was in second year high school, my whole family moved to Manila. New school, new language (before that time, I couldn't quite tell if what I was saying was Tagalog or Visaya), new friends, new influences. These were my Sailor Moon years.

I wrote a novel while I was in second year. I wrote it in Filipino. It was two notebooks long. The title was "GemForce" and it had strong anime influences. There are things about the story that still needs a lot of work, but it has good ideas so, it's currently a work in progress (as most stories of mine right now are). I've shelved it for now, but once I figure out what to do about certain parts of GemForce, I'll continue it. But with a different title.

Wanderings and Frustrations
It was in second year that I met my comics group. We tried getting into comics. But we were either not good enough, or we couldn't finish anything! Or we didn't have any money to publish our stories. Anyway, we didn't produce anything. It was very frustrating. We still tried. We're still trying.

My next story after GemForce was "Spirits." This one I made into a comic. By this time, my art had taken a turn towards anime. Though, I drew Spirits with cross-hatching of some sort. But since I couldn't get it published, I got frustrated and stopped drawing it on the third issue. I tried starting different comic stories, but I never finished anything. My stories had grown to epic lengths. My patience couldn't match them. The longest comic I was able to do was "Midnight Rose" with four issues. But that, too, is unfinished.

I'm still wandering. I went through third and fourth year starting stories I didn't finish. At the moment, I have almost 500 pages of unfinished comics. This is a big problem for me.

Subject Battle
What I wanted to study in college was Computer Animation. But during my time, no school in the Philippines offered that. So, I told my parents I wanted to study in Japan. But my parents told me to finish a four-year course here first. Then I could go look for a scholarchip to study what I want in Japan. Well then, my choices here were either computer or art. I opted for the former. I took up Computer Science at De La Salle University. There was hardly any art at all! Don't think shifting didn't cross my mind. It did. Everyday. You can't help it when it's the Mass Com media lab that you keep passing on the way to your building. Only sheer determination and my parents' disapproval from shifting (though, I never told them about wanting to shift) that kept me in ComSci. But I still had an outlet. I still made comics, and this time, my college published it. It was called "Subject Battle." I personified our Computer Science subjects and pitted them against one another. Isn't that fun? The only problem is, only the ComSci students of La Salle can understand what was going on. Still it was published in the college newsletter. It's still cool.

Target
Japan, finally! As planned, I finished ComSci and got a scholarship to study animation. Well, I studied Computer Graphics for Games. It's good, but I was very homesick. This made me irritable. Still, I was there. I had access to things I formerly didn't. But my problem since second year high school was still there! I continued to start stories but I didn't finish them! Well, I finished one comic, "Target." It was a short story, 12 pages long. It's not published, but hey, at least I finished a complete comic. That's an accomplishment for me.

Monarchs
After my studies, I returned to Manila. I relaxed a bit for a while. When I was in Japan, I read novels a lot. But Fantasy, mostly. I got interested in Romance after I got back. I wrote short stories in Japan and after I got back. One of my favorite is "Monarchs." It's a romantic fantasy.

Circus Freak
While still relaxing, my sisters and I joined an online animation contest called Animadness. We did a very short animation called "Circus Freak." It looked alright. We didn't win, though. :) But at least I was able to make an animation outside school. Up to that point, I only had my school projects to show for my animation portfolio. Wait, that's not true. I made "Catty Wampus" for fun, too.

Talecraft
My plan was to promote comics as an advertising medium. Thus Komikasi Enterprise was born (Komik Kasi). But before I could do any comics, I was struck by a sudden game idea: "Talecraft." Like a person possessed, I finished making all 86 cards in two weeks. And guess what, the game worked. People loved it. People use it! :D

MarsMag
But after I made Talecraft, I sort of slacked off. Two years after I created the game, I knew I needed something new. My comic group/high school friends and I thought about reviving our plan to make comics. We were so excited about it. My story was entitled "MarsMag." We made our teasers and distributed them at the Komikon last year. But then we didn't get as much readers as we wanted. Here's to another frustration. We had to discontinue the project. Sigh. Too bad. I liked MarsMag.

Now what?...
Actually, Talecraft is coming up with something for Toycon this year. No, not a new booster. It's something for character building this time. I think you'll like it. :)

Alright, let's evaluate. Ever since I was young, I've always wanted to make animation, to draw comics, and to write books. Okay, let's analyze each item.

Animation - All I have to show for this is Circus Freak, which didn't win, and Catty Wampus, which isn't really shown anywhere. I also have a 3D short entitled "Robby's Book," which I made when I was studying CG. But looking at it now, it can use a bit of work. I think my animation's pretty good, though. Not yet great, but pretty good, I think.
SKILL: pretty good
ACCOMPLISHMENTS: hardly any

Comics - Compared to animation, I've done more with comics. But my main problem is getting readers. It's not like my stories are bad. Most people haven't read them. But it's difficult to get people here to even try reading the comics of newbies.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS: 400+ pages worth of various unfinished comics, Subject Battle, Target

Book - Same problem with my uber long comics. I have no patience to finish. I have several unfinished novels in my computer. What I have done are short stories. But books have more weight.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS: The Living Skeleton, Monarchs


As for the course of action... Let me sleep on it for now. Maybe I'll post my action plan in another entry. :)

Wika (Part 2)

“Jenny!” Brian exclaimed when he opened his door. He pulled me in and looked around cautiously before closing the door behind us.

“I'm so glad to see you, Bri.” The power was out. It was not surprising considering the ongoing “power shortage.”

“What's going on?!” He demanded, barely able to keep his candle straight. “First, you call me asking for an old book, then the next thing I know you're all over the news!”

“I know it's a lot to take in.”

“A lot to take in?! The police is looking for you, MePoCom wants you caught... The bishop wants you excommunicated!”

“I know. I know. But there's something deeper going on here. And just for the records, I am not practicing witchcraft! You said you have the book I'm looking for.”

“The Book of Poems by Mariano Torres? Yes I have it.”

“Good.”

“But you're not getting it until you tell me exactly what's going on.”

I sighed. My best friend can get a little stubborn. “Alright,” I told him. “I'll show you.”

I stepped back a few paces and opened the book I was holding to the first page. This was merely a force of habit for I knew the words written there by heart by now. “Sa hindi marunong lumingon sa pinanggalingan...” I turned the page. “Lingon!”

Suddenly, every light in the house flickered. “AH!” Brian exclaimed, dropping his candle in surprise. All the appliances turned on. Then after a few seconds, everything went dead. In the silence, the only thing I could hear was Brian's ragged breathing.

“Ilaw,” I commanded. And the lights in my friend's house went on.

And poor Brian collapsed onto the floor.

Though my reaction when this first happened to me wasn't as bad as Brian's, it was pretty much shock, too.

I stood up, unconsciously dropping the book I was holding. Panic gripped me as everything in my little apartment came to life and continued flickering for almost five seconds.

Then everything went silent. I could hear my heart pounding against my chest. A million things were going through my mind. Did my dismissal from MePoCom also mean the discontinuation of my power supply? Was Mr. Lopes angry I spoke back? Was I in trouble? In the light of the late afternoon sun, everything in my apartment looked similar... yet different at the same time.

Cautiously, though I wasn't sure what I had to be cautious about, I sat back down and picked up the book. I turned the page. There was an illustration of an old light bulb. I turned to the next page. This time, there was a drawing of a door. The next page had a drawing of a television set.

I went back to the page with the bulb. There was a word above it.

“Ee-lo,” I read.

Nothing happened.

“Ai-lo.”

Still nothing.

“Ee-lao.” Then my light suddenly went on. I screamed.

Wika

It was dark...

But not dark enough.

I moved through the streets as quietly as I could, keeping in mind to keep to the street cameras' blind spots. Blast those cams! There was a time I praised the technology that filled our city. Granted, our wireless cameras, while self-updating, were a bit old and took longer to update compared to other twenty-third century equipments. But the cameras had never failed to recognize a face before.

Which was not a very good thing when you had the police, a corporate giant, and the church all out to get you.

It started to rain. I clutched what I was holding to my chest. The last thing this crumbly old book needed was to get wet. I chuckled. I must have been quite a sight: a young woman running in the rain without a shade for fear her automatic umbrella might betray her location. And I was clutching a copy of “Speak Tagalog in 21 Days” protectively in a time when that language wasn't spoken anymore.

My friend's house wasn't far now. Just one more block. As I ran, I couldn't help but recall the first day this all started. As I remember, it was raining then, too.

“I'M BEING LAID-OFF?!” I dropped to the chair behind me, unable to believe what I just heard.

Mr. Lopes gave a sigh that was supposed to indicate that he regretted the fact that he was letting me go. “Ms. David,” he began. But I was too agitated to listen to any I- understand speeches at the moment.

“I was with the Metropolitan Power Company for ten years!” I reasoned.

“I understand how you feel--” He went ahead and gave the speech anyway.

“No, you don't. You've never worked so hard only to be let go.”

“Look, Jenny, this is only temporary. Once the financial crisis is over and we're back on our feet, you'll be the first person we'll hire back.”

Temporary, my foot! Everyone knows we're never going to be hired back. It's cheaper to hire new people. I crossed my arms and stared out the window. Right outside was the library demolition on MePoCom's grounds I was supervising. The demolition of the M. Torres Library was suspended due to certain legal issues. I was very much tempted to say, “Serves them right!” But that's kicking them when they're down so, that probably wouldn't be fair.

The building itself was mostly down now. I could already see the circular markings of the lobby floor. I sighed. I couldn't help but see the library as a mirror of my now ruined engineering career: glorious when it started, but now, nothing more than rubble.

It was still mid-afternoon when I got home. And speaking of kicking someone when she's down, the power suddenly went out.

“AAAAARRRG!” In my frustration, I threw my bag hard against the wall. Out spilled my lipstick, purse, phone, and... a book.

You guessed it right. It was the “Speak Tagalog” book. I found it tucked under one of the floorboards of the library when we started demolition. For lack of a better thing to do, I picked it up and started reading it.

That was when the weird things started happening.

New Year Blues

昨日、悪かったな、私。新年なのに、他の人について悪いことを言ってしまったの。実は、昨日だけじゃなく、何日前からいらいらの感じをしていた。内の新しいメイドはいつもボーとしている。そして、クリスマスのシーズンなので、みんたは忙しい。でもその方は立っていて見ているだけだ！「手伝って」と言っても、彼女は一つの小さいパーセルだけを運んで、私たちが大きいな箱をもっていた！その方は本当にメイドなのか？！それで、メイドのエチケットも知っていないみたい。写真を撮る時、彼女も後ろでいる！家族の一部じゃないよ！言い方も態度も失礼だ！彼女のお母さんはいつもビサヤだからと言い訳をしていたんだが、方言の問題じゃないよ！私もビサヤを話してできる！ママは一ヶ月ためしてみるって言ったんだけど、そのかた本当に好きじゃない！

そして、昨日、おばさんのところで新年パーティーしたんだ。その時、ママがいとこを六番目の子供と紹介したんだ。何ヶ月前、パパの姉が死んでしまった。で、おばさんの娘は私の家族と住むことになった。でも彼女は、男以外の話をしない！学校の韓国からの男性を「あにき」にして、フラートしていた。そして、他の人がその男性たちに親切にしたら、彼女が怒る！その女たちが嫌いだって。でもどうして？その女たちはいとこに何もしなかた。会うことでもなかった。いとこの態度は最低だと思う！だから、ママが彼女を娘だと紹介した時、私は「そうじゃない！」と言いたかった！

もちろん、言わなかった。彼女はもう誰もいないから。私の家族に歓迎しなきゃ。家族だからね。たぶん将来彼女に慣れる。でも今は・・・ま、私はわめき散らしているだけ。

そして、二人の友達。漫画を作ろうときめたんだが、一人はいつも何も出さない、も一人はとてもドラマチックだ！疲れたわ。もちろんその二人は忠誠な友達だ。でも頭痛をさせる人たちだ！友達はね、「大丈夫、リヤは友達だから。」だと思いながら仕事を出さないからな。他人だったら、その理由を使えない。今度、新しいプロジェクトがあったら、友達じゃない人にしようかな・・・

Comics, Bédé, Manga, and our very own Komiks

It was already past eight when we finally decided it was getting late and we had better go home. And to think we started talking at two! A few days ago, J put me in touch with two other friends I haven't met in a very long time. I think the last time I met K and N was even before I left for Japan! That would make it around six years ago.

Anyway, it was so good to see them again. We spent the afternoon at a cafe, reminiscing how we all met each other, our sometimes absurd reasons for sticking to each other, and of course, comics.

Talk went to the different art styles, as it always does, and how half of the critiquing population of local comic artists think that the western style of art is the better type of art. Better anatomy, better shading, better everything! My friends were telling me about a group of classmates they had before. Their head was adamant that marvel-style was the legitimate form of comic art. He would dismiss any anime-style art without even looking if the anatomy is correct, if the shading is right, or the storytelling is good. (The irony of it all is that a few years ago, the same group came out and announced that they were manga!)

But what if I don't want my boys to look like body-builders? Does that make them anatomically wrong? What if I don't want to shade them? Does that disqualify me from being a good work? If I tone instead of cross-hatch, does that mean I'm wasting my talent?

Comic art styles is a very controversial topic in the Philippines, and it divides the comic community in half! But I think we shouldn't be fighting over art styles because the Western and the Japanese comic art styles cater to two different types of reader. To explain, let's go back to the original meanings of the different words that mean "comics."

K mentioned that comics in France and Belgium were called bande dessinée, or bédé. Literally, it means "drawn strip". While in America, "comics" means, well, "comical". Franco-Belgian comics, from the start, was not meant to make people laugh. Yes, there are stories that are funny. But the main point of their comics was just to create sequential art. In America, comics are sometimes even called "funnies." True, the stories of Marvel and DC comics are not really funny, but there still is something comical about men in tight costumes.

That got me thinking. Oo nga, 'no? And what does "Manga" mean? Literally, it means, "rambling drawings," or "flowing drawings." Like bande dessinée, the term manga was not associated to any one particular genre or type of story. Rather, it was meant as an artform to express the ramblings or thoughts of the artist.

Comics, since it originally was meant to be comical, is more exaggerated. As K said, for comics to be considered good comics in America, one has to be able to know what a character is doing even if he is made into only a silhouette. To do that, you have to exaggerate. You have to buff up a man so you can tell he's a man. You have to puff out his chest to show he's a strong character. You have to stretch out his arm to show he's flying.

I can't say much about bande dessinée as the only Franco-Belgian comics I probably have ever read are The Adventures of Tintin and Asterix. But as for manga, the poses are more everyday. The movements can be more subtle. The body build can be exactly what the body build of an ordinary Japanese boy is. True, manga has its own exaggerations, but Western exaggerates the large scale. Japanese exaggerates the small.

Then J made an observation. He opened a Superman comic book and a Golden Boy manga in front of us. He said he had seen it several times before in other comics and manga. But did we notice that comics is concerned with the big picture, while manga is concerned with the smaller details? Here was his point: for example there is a scene where a character is angry. Comics would show it this way:
Frame 1: Character is throwing a table.
Frame 2: Character is blasting rays from his eyes.
Frame 3: Character walks away from the destruction.

Here's how manga would do it:
Frame 1: Character picks up table.
Frame 2: Zoom in on character's pained expression.
Frame 3: Character throws table.
Frame 4: Table crashes against the wall.
Frame 5: Character sees an object. Anger is in his eyes.
Frame 6: Character blast rays from his eyes.
Frame 7: Object blows up.
Frame 8: Character walks away from the destruction.
Frame 9: Close-up on character's face looking all sulky and dark.

Do you see the difference (Not the difference in the number of frames, ha)? Comics is concerned with the story. Manga is concerned with the feel of the story. Try reading your comics and your manga again and try to observe. It is more likely that you'd end up crying, squealing, falling in love, and, in general, getting affected when you read manga. You don't get that same intensity with majority of your American comics. Is one better than the other? Of course not! The focus of the two are just different.

And so, in Japanese manga, since they're more concerned about the feeling, they exaggerate the expression.

What about komiks? Our very own komiks? We've started with komiks with Western influences in the past. They were good, but times change. And manga is more popular with the younger ones nowadays. Many of the younger generation have never read old komiks in their life. And we cannot force them to appreciate a style when it really doesn't appeal to them. We cannot live in the past. We can't just keep dreaming of how the industry was back then. If we do, then the industry will die. And let's face it. The survival of the industry all boils down to the readers. If nobody reads. What's the point of the comic? The key is innovation. Any industry will not survive without innovating.

So, is it better to draw the Western way, or the Japanese way? In my opinion, any...for now. I still think we should develop our own style. Something that will be appealing to all the Filipinos. Something distinctly our own that when people from abroad see it, they know it's ours. But for now, we need a starting point. And looking at the word we use for comics, which is "komiks", it's an adaptation. It's not ours but we make it ours. Just like what we do in our language. We borrow words and make it ours. We have a lot of borrowed Spanish words like "libro" and "mesa". We have borrowed English words like "titser" and "lider". We Filipinize foreign words like "dinodorobo" and "chia na tayo." (dorobo being "thief" in Japanese, and chia being "eat" in Chinese) After we're done with the word, nobody would think it was foreign anymore.

For komiks, it would probably be the same. We'll borrow something that's not ours, like the art style. But we would Filipinize it somehow and before long, it wouldn't look anything like the original anymore. It would be ours.

The Sorry State of the Philippine Komiks Industry

During the Komikon, the guys of Culture Crash got reunited and answered some questions for their fans. For a lot of us at the Komikon, that made our day. I love Culture Crash. I don’t care what anybody says. Sayang lang, the stories may never be finished. One of the questions raised was what their reaction was to a certain criticism. They were using the anime style, and were therefore branded as not Filipino.

James Palabay answered it well, but it got me thinking. Not about styles. But about how people liked to bring down other people who threatened or had the potential to be better than them. It was not only Alanguilan’s comment on Culture Crash’s art. My sister bought “Trese” during the Komikon. It’s a comic book from Visual Print Enterprise and Alamat that features a detective story with a Philippine Mythology twist. I loved it! But my friends, who were also aspiring comic artists, only said that the art was nothing great.

Let’s face it. Komiks is not a lucrative business in the Philippines. But this is, I think, because of a few problems in the people in the industry. If we adress these problems, I think the Komiks Industry has a chance. I could be wrong but this is what I think. And I say this not just to people out there, but to myself, as well.

1.) COLONNIAL MENTALITY - Let’s face it. Most of us, especially the upper class, think foreign is better. And we’ll argue, “Eh, it’s true. What we make locally are crappy.” I, myself, am guilty of this. Most of the local comics I see around I ignore. Why? Because deep inside, I feel like they’re all just Japanese wannabees. (But I shouldn’t talk. My style’s also anime) Who’s at fault here? The buyer who doesn’t want to buy, or the wannabee comic creator? BOTH!

Solution: Make better quality work, and give the local works a chance by becoming a fan of at least three local komiks.

For the comic creators, I personally find nothing wrong if one wants to write about something other than Filipino Myths. If a creator wants to make a comic that’s set in Japan, I have no problem with that. What I have a problem is, is the creator who makes comics about a place he hardly knows about. Just because one watches anime doesn’t make one an expert in Japan. They insert Japanese phrases in their comic book. But the usage isn’t correct! Yes, the creator knows the meaning. But does he know the formal and informal way of speaking and when to use them? Research! Kaoru Mori, the creator of the manga, Emma, wrote about England and about maids. She’s into the maid fettish thing in Japan? Probably, considering she has more than one comic book about maids. But she didn’t just write about the Japanese’s romantic idea of maids. She researched about the time period, the events of that period, the social structure of that period. And what she came up with, in my opinion, is a very well-researched and well-thought of book that has depth and can be appreciated by people other than just those with a maid fettish.

For the readers, it’s hard to break the thinking that local is poorly made, especially when it has been true before. But there are companies nowadays who are trying. And there is good content out there. They just have to be given a chance. We have to change our thinking that a local comic book is not worth my P50. We buy foreign comics that cost thousands of pesos, but we won’t buy our own? It sounds like we’re deliberately killing our industry! Besides, as my mom says, if someone took the time to write something, then we should take the time to read it. Time is a precious commodity, whether it’s an American, a Japanese, or a Filipino who uses it.

2.) CRAB MENTALITY - We like pulling people down, especially when they’re starting to go up (And we’ll never admit it openly that they’re going up). When my friends and I were talking after the Komikon, their reaction towards the other comic groups was like, “They’re not that good. They didn’t even sell much.”

Solution: If you’re not close with the creator, ignore the bad, praise the good. If you’re quite close, give suggestions to improve the bad (without saying, “You suck!” and adding, “Don’t get offended but,” in the beginning doesn’t make it ok) and don’t forget to praise the good (the ego of a creator is a beast. It has to be fed constantly). And if you’re the creator, learn to take criticisms graciously.

Friendly competition is good. As long as you keep it friendly. As some of you may know, my two friends and I put up a poll for our free online komiks (PLUG: Go to www.komikasi.com for FREE COMICS!). The story with the highest votes by the end of the year will come out first. And this is friendly competition. I get to see their work and compare them to mine. Then I can see that Martin has great details, and Jon has great anatomy. And I go, hmm, I should add more details to mine, and fix my anatomy so the quality of my comics would be better. They do the same, they look at the other two’s work and improve theirs. And we tell each other how we can improve our works, share techniques, and not get angry when there’s something that has to be fixed.

What we shouldn’t do is bash the other groups. We mustn’t curse them or wish they’d do bad. (And as a writer/creator, you of all people should know the power of words). Instead, we should help each other up, for the sake of the Industry.

Also another thing that we do is we think too much of ourselves, and not much of our competitors. What happened at Komikon 2008 is there were more creators than readers that there were not enough buyers going around, especially for the indies. We, as creators, should be readers, too. Think of it as market research. :)

3.) THE FEAR OF THOUGHT - As the creator of Talecraft, I see this a lot. Many people here are afraid of thinking. They either see themselves as dumb, or think that the majority of the population is dumb. They would say, “Oh, that’s just for smart people.” Like as if most of them are not smart! Yes, the literacy rate is quite low here. But I think it’s brought about by how people see people! They don’t put any priority on education because they see it as something they won’t be good at anyway.

Creators are also sometimes lazy to create more complex stories. They always also think that people in the Philippines are generally too dumb to understand it. But we watch Matrix, don’t we? And it’s philosophical, and we analyze and appreciate it, don’t we?

Solution: Research. And don’t be afraid to think! This will help us make world-quality stories. Don’t assume that people are dumb. Because if you say they are, then they will be.