Ben Maniclang

Ben Maniclang
Kwentong Barbero: Ang Parol ni Karyo Page 1 of 2
Aliwan Komiks #84, January 3, 1966
Graphic Arts Service, Inc.

Here's another artist that I'm featuring for the first time in this site. Ben is considered one of the pioneers of the Philippine Komiks industry. After finishing High School in 1947, Ben wrote and illustrated Ang Kambal for the now defunct Silahis Magazine. In 1952, right after graduating from college, he became a staffer of Bulaklak Magazine where he illustrated Ang Prinsesa at ang Pulubi, Ang Tungkod ni Moises, Nasaan ka Irog, and many others.

He went on to work for Extra Komiks, Mabuhay Komiks, Tagalog Klasiks, Kenkoy Komiks, Aliwan, etc. For a time, Ben served as art director of Silaw Magazine of the Manila Daily Bulletin (now Bulletin Today).

His most popular illustrating job was on Jim Fernadez's Anak ng Zuma for Aliwan Komiks.


Kwentong Barbero: Ang Parol ni Karyo Page 2 of 2

Wetworks Trading Cards

Inking Portfolio #5
Wetworks Trading Cards
New Claymore (Virus) Card

I did not start working right away after finishing Aster #2. After a few weeks of training in Photoshop, pencilling, inking, and computer coloring, Whilce decided that my inking is the strongest of my work, an observation that was shared by Bart Sears in my entry to the Cable Cover Contest in Wizard Magazine #21. I was a little disappointed, because drawing was what I really wanted to do and that as an inker, I felt all I would be doing would be to follow the lead of another artist. It was quite a tough pill to swallow, but if I showed any disappointment, it was very quick and I don't think anybody noticed. It is something I don't like showing, specially since I knew the assesment was right. Although I felt I had something to offer as a penciller, I also realize that I may be still quite slow, and that my work still needed some practice in many areas. I'll continue to learn the ropes, get my foot in the door, get some experience and study, study, study. Practice, practice, practice.

I had moved in to the studio where I trained closely with Whilce, and other artists like Roy Allan Martinez, Arnold Arre, Oliver Pulumbarit, John Toledo, and another artist whose name I forget. I think his name was Jon?, who had been working for Taekwondogs. It had been determined that Jon and I worked best together and I began inking his work in earnest as part of our training. I thought Jon was pretty good and his work was quite strong. He actually had the chance to work on the first couple of pages of Wetworks #13, but nervous perhaps under work conditions he probably froze and was not able to do continue. He stopped going to the studio and I've always wondered what had become of him.

One day Whilce came out of his room and handed me several pencilled spot illustrations of Wetworks characters. I remember being handed the one above, and drawings of Mother One, Dozer and I think maybe Jester. He asked me to ink them, saying they'll be used for an upcoming trading card set. OHMIGOD!! My first big inking job will be with Whilce himself! I felt like an amateur boxer whose first fight would be against Muhammad Ali in his prime. Those pencils will clobber me! I myself froze at the prospect of inking these drawings, and for half a day all I did was look at them, and I spent nearly a day just doing one of them. I was so careful not to make a mistake, trying hard to do it right. After inking one these I was pretty much exhausted. And it was on to the next one.

Aster, Leinil Yu, Jay Anacleto, Michael V

Inking Portfolio #4
Aster: The Last Celestial Knight #2
Entity Comics, 1995

Remembering inking this specific page brings back pretty bad memories. I was inking the hair on this woman in the dining room of our old house here in San Pablo when the phone rang. There was an accident involving our close family friend Zosimo. The caller said that they didn't know how he was but he was brought to the hospital.

Zosimo married my cousin and he would ocassionally drive for us. He was an armored car driver for the Bank of the Philippine Islands in Calamba, and he would drive my dad from home to work and back again in the evening.

Memories of him swam in my head as I inked this, not really concentrating. It's a miracle that the pages didn't get so messed up.

We learned later that Zosimo had died. The armored car he was driving figured in a head on collision with a bus. Everyone in the family, specially my cousin were quite devastated. I didn't want to ink anymore, but I had to. But it was so difficult just finishing that one page.

*******************

At last they got my name right in the issue when it finally came out. I was actually more relieved than happy because I feared they might get it wrong again.

Leinil Francis Yu's professional comic book career was launched in this issue when he drew a back up story "Legends of the Dark Moon". His work was very rough, the perspectives were all wrong, and there is a very strong Whilce Portacio influence. But I could easily see through all that and see the potential just waiting to come out. I lost no time in recommending his work to Whilce when he started looking for artists. I could post the pages here, but Leinil would most likely kill me. You can still buy issues at milehighcomics.com and search "The Last Celestial Knight" and see for yourself.

Efren "Jay" Anacleto pencilled and inked this issue's cover, which was really nice to see. I'm still puzzled to this day why Entity did not take full advantage of this awesome talent that they had in Jay by letting him pencil his own book, rather than just ink other artists. He had been inking Oliver Isabedra on Aster, Mark Vuycankiat on Harriers and a certain "Toybits" or Beethoven Bunagan on Shaianna. By this time I had already seen his giant "Radamanthus" illustration of leather-jacketed girl with a gun and a giant lizard. And man, it was probably the most incredible piece of illustration I've seen up to that point. I would have loved to see Jay do a book on his own but I guess I had to wait a few more years.

The aforementioned "Beethoven Bunagan", penciller on Shaianna, is of course, none other than popular Filipino comedian Michael V. It is not widely known that he was in fact able to draw a whole comic book that was published in the US. It's not surprising since Michael V. is HUGE comics fan, and his fan art can be seen in early issues of Wizard Magazine. He is also a very good sculptor, which I found out when he visited Whilce's studio a couple of years later with a bust of Whilce's GRAIL from Wetworks.

Towards the end of inking this issue, Whilce Portacio came back to the Philippines looking for artists as he was going to set up a studio. He came to the country the previous year and I had shown him some of my work, and when he came back this time around, I was ecstatic that he remembered my work enough to ask to see me.

It's still a difficult thing to think about, even after all these years, of my decision to leave Billy and Entity Comics to train under Whilce. I mean, it was still Whilce Portacio! The artist of X-men, X-Factor and Punisher! Who wouldn't want to train under him? I guess it was good that I didn't have any sort of contract or else I wouldn't have had the choice. I think Billy knew what was in my mind and I'm still grateful that he let me go. But nevertheless, for the record, I wish to thank Billy Lim-It wholeheartedly for giving me my first big break in comics.

For Whilce's part, he understood that I still had a commitment to finish Aster #2, and he let me finish it while training under him at his studio, which he had put up in a condo unit near the old Medical Center behind Shangrila and SM Megamall.

Next: WETWORKS!!

Liwayway Aug. 8, 2005

A Peek Into Liwayway
August 8, 2005

I took a peek at this week's issue of Liwayway Magazine, now published by Manila Bulletin and it's a vast improvement from just a year ago, or even from the first issue published by MB just a couple of months ago. The artists, having been empowered perhaps by improved printing capabilities of Manila Bulletin, took it upon themsleves to take their art a notch higher.


Jun Lofamia
Walang Hanggang Pag-ibig
written by Ma. Lordelisa Guevarra-Tan

Seeing his work just a few months ago colored via strippers, I'm now amazed at how the art looks when Jun is left to watercolor his own work. This is just one of the many of his illustrations for the magazine. He regularly illustrates for writer Gilda Olvidado, who debuts her new story "Mahal...KILLER ka ba?" (Awesome title! Is that funny or what? :) )


Hal Santiago
Mga Bakal at Kalawang
written by Ricardo M. de Luna

Hal Santiago continues to evolve when he jumps from pen and ink to fully painting his comics via watercolor. Everybody seems to have caught the watercolor bug as Rico Rival demonstrates in his own strip below.


Rico Rival
Basura
Written by Pablo S. Gomez

Rico Rival is one of those Filipino artists who gained much popularity in the US in the 70's and it's nice to see he is still active in Philippine comics and still pushing himself artistically. His work may be much looser, but his line is much more confident. The sparseness of detail and carefully considered layouts make his work much better today.

ASTER: THE LAST CELESTIAL KNIGHT

Inking Portfolio #3
Aster: The Last Celestial Knight #1
1995

Thankfully enough, Aster Editor Billy Lim-It liked my work in Harriers enough to offer me to ink the 2nd volume of their headliner title, ASTER, this time with the additional title "The Last Celestial Knight." Aster was being drawn right from the beginning by Oliver Isabedra and I thought he did a pretty good job of it. His stuff reminded me a lot of George Perez.

Efren "Jay" Anacleto had actually begun inking this issue and was able to ink the first two pages before being handed to me. When I turned in my first few inked pages, I was told by Billy and one of the other editors that I was perhaps inking it a little too thick, and that I ought use a much thinner pen in the right places. And they were right. Looking at how the pages looked in print, the lines do look a bit thick for the first half of the issue, but I adjusted it a bit for the second half.

I was living in San Pablo while I inked the issue, and once or twice a week, I'd take the Cubao bus to go to Manila 2 hours away to pick up pages/drop off inked pages at Billy's store in Virra Mall, Greenhills. These were times when I still did not have a computer, no Internet and email, tools which make such trips unecessary by today's standards. But I liked making the trips as it allowed me to check out the new comics, and other new stuff in the malls.

I was credited as "Jerry Alanguinan" this time around, but you can hardly see it because the credits page didn't print really well, at least on the copy that I have. The pinup that I gave to Billy saw print as the centerpread of this issue, and it is such a thrill to see it there. When Jae Lee came over to the Philippines later in the year for signings he said he really liked the pinup I did and wow, it was such a terrific thing to hear from someone like that.

HARRIERS 3

Inking Portfolio #2
Harriers #3
Entity Comics, 1995

When Whilce Portacio came to the Philippines in December of 1992 to do signings for Filbar's chain of comics stores, it became a kind of catalyst that spurred many young Filipino artists to make their own comics. One of them was me. Many artists who had been working indepenently of each other met at this time at any of Whilce's many signings and at the mini convention. I remember meeting Oliver Pulumbarit, John Toledo, Nick Manabat, Augy de Lara, and later on Arnold Arre, Carlo Vergara and many other artists who came together in our shared love of creating comics.

Small groups formed to create their own books, and I became part of LAKAN, along with Oliver, John, Nick, and Arnold. Gilbert Monsanto, Roy Allan Martinez, Lui Antonio etc. became part of EXODUS. Carlo Vergara and David Hontiveros became part of FLASHPOINT. Budjette Tan put together COMICS 101. I felt an energy, an exhilaration about being part of something that was new, and vital, and exciting.

So we were all stunned, and just a little bit envious when one such group, the one putting together ASTER, was able to gain an American publisher, ENTITY COMICS, to release their comic book. But as envious as I felt personally, and although publishing in the US wasn't really part of our plan, I felt it was still something to be truly proud of.

It was actually quite an amazing feat, which hasn't been repeated until many years later when Leonard Banaag, Philip Tan, and Gary Mayorlago succeeded in putting together Taleweaver for release through Image Comics.

I created a 2-page spread fan art of ASTER and gave it as a gift to ASTER editor Billy Lim-It, who was also owner of CATS Collectibles based in Greenhills. It was the closest thing I had to a job application. I did not really ask for a job, but I was sort of hoping that Billy would like my pinup enough to include it in their comic book. (It eventually appeared in Aster Vol. 2, #1.)

When Billy and I met at his store, he asked me to try out inking a few pages on another one of their books called HARRIERS, pencilled by Mark Vuycankiat, currently being inked by Efren "Jay" Anacelto. I inked one of the pages (shown above). Billy liked it enough to give me 8 more pages to ink, and he was going to pay me for it. Fantastic! It was my first true job as an inker on a comic book! Not only was I working in a comic to be published abroad, but I also got a huge discount whenever I bought something at Billy's store. Which was just so cool.

Unfortunately, I was not credited for inking almost half the issue, and although I was disappointed, it did not diminish the joy and confidence I got from being part of it. Little did I know that my name would prove to be such a problem for not only Entity but for other companies I would eventually work with, who sometimes don't put me on the credits, and would often mispell my name if they do.

Being credited for a job I've done is something I consider as important as getting paid for it. When one is trying to build up a portfolio of published work, that credit becomes very imporant indeed.

Johnny Balbona, Humanis Rex

New Comics!


Mwahaha! #6: At the Beach
Johnny Balbona

Johnny goes to the beach, and it's *not* pretty!


Humanis Rex #4
Fudge Magazine, July 2005

Humanis Rex continues on the current issue of Fudge Magazine! I haven't seen the issue yet so I can't tell you what cover it comes in.

Starting today, I'll be posting news about Humanis Rex in this blog. I tried to do a separate blog for it when the series was first starting out, but I have decided to collect all of my work stuff here.

And of course, Silent Dragon #1 has just been released.

Komikero July Meet!

Komikero July Meet!

Komikero had it's usual meet on the last Sunday of the month yesterday. I'm very pleasantly surprised at how much the group has grown. We had at least 8 new members this month, all from Glasshouse Graphics most notably Kickfighter artist Lui Antonio and Fantastic Four tag team Carlo Pagulayan and Jeff Huet, who visited us during the mid-month meeting.



Komikero unofficial photographer and master orphan-maker Rene Enriquez took some pics and posted them at his blog.

Rainy Komikero Sunday

ARCHON

ARCHON #1
Inking Portfolio #1
February 1995

Starting today, I'll do a little reminiscing and revisit all the comics I've ever inked. I've been inking for more than 10 years now, and as my career as a full-time inker (at least for other people) is coming to an end with Silent Dragon, I thought I'd take a look back at all the things I inked for the past decade.

My first inking job was Archon published by Mega Magazine and Alamat. Although I really can't say it was a job as it was done simply for fun and no payment was involved (or asked). It was just something to help out a few friends come up with their own comic book. I think I inked 5 pages here over artist Joseph Fouts.

I was invited to join this comic book by Archon co-creator Russel Tomas, who I met via my brother who met Russel on an online bulletin board in those early Internet days. Russel andI hit it off immediately and I agreed not only to ink some of the pages, but I drew a pinup of one of the characters as well, which also appears in the issue.

By this time, I had already been drawing comics for around 3 years both for established Philippine companies, but also for myself and independent companies like Alamat. Having inked myself all this time, the concept of inking other people has yet to enter my mind. It was nice to try it out with Joseph, and although it was at first weird to see my textures and inks on a finished drawing that was not fully mine, I started to think about the nature of such artistic collaborations, and how the mix of two artists on one piece of art could produce something unique.

Jim M. Fernandez

Jim M. Fernandez
Dalaginding na si Tessie
Tagalog Klasiks #147, February 19, 1955

I'll be featuring artists that I've not yet featured on this site so far, beginning with one of the country's most popular comic book creators, Jim Fernandez. Jim started out in comics with a style that is highly influenced by Nestor Redondo (as can be seen here), but he soon found his own style of drawing as the years went on.

But what made Jim Ferndandez a hit with the readers was his writing, specially when he created the one of the Philippines' most popular characters, ZUMA on the pages of Aztec. As the demand for his writing increased, Fernandez gave up illustrating altogether to concentrate on writing stories including a follow up to AZTEC called Anak ni Zuma, Gorgon, Astrobal, Cannibal, Jeric-The Boy from Mars, Polaris, Virga, Brobo, Angkan Ni Zuma, Mission: Jupiter, and so on.