Prophecy Anthology 1
I just received my copy of Prophecy Anthology #1 yesterday and I had no idea how beautiful this book is. And how LARGE. It's twice the size of the standard comic book, it has full color and black and white artwork on 188 thick glossy pages. So it's quite heavy too!
This book contains two stories which I both wrote and drew. It's quite significant for me because although I've been working in US comics for like 10 years now, this is my very first writing credit.
The book also has the work of other Filipinos like Edgar Tadeo, who at the time he did this may well have been still inking X-men, but nowadays he's a colorist who has worked on many Image and Marvel books. He is currently coloring Silver Surfer over another fellow Filipino Lan Medina.
Prophecy Anthology also features the work of Cebu-based Carlo Borromeo in his very first writing credit. This will be a writer to watch out for!
Arriving in the mail at the same time is veteran Filipino Komiks illustrator Tony DeZuniga's art book Concepts: Tony DeZuniga. This portfolio book features full page illustrations that Tony did just this year. And man, the man can still draw and I swear, he's far better now than he ever was. Looking at his work you can easily see there's still an energetic young man at the helm of this veteran's hand. Tony here can run rings around any young upstart and I won't be surprised if he gets lots of offers now that this book is out.
Who says 70's era Filipino Komiks art is all washed up? It's really frustrating when I encounter editors and agents who dismiss this style as something that will never sell today. Tony is but an example that shows this isn't true. Take Rudy Nebres. His style is more evocative of that "70's" Pinoy style than anything else. And yet he was taken by Cross Gen to illustrate a whole double sized issue of Crossgen Chronicles. Granted Crossgen is teetering on the edge, but still, that shows us that Rudy can still hold his own and hold it well.
Why else would Alex Niño be illustating a graphic novel with best selling author Kevin J. Anderson? Why would Kevin and their publisher mess with Alex if him and his style are all washed up?
All this is just perception, and a mistaken perception at that, that a lot of people mindlessly hold on to. A lot of these artists still have a LOT to offer and they can still kick ass if they are given the chance.
Tony's book Concepts: Tony DeZuniga can be bought at Bud Plant's Site.
