Damned Viruses!

Damned Viruses!

If you received an email from me, most likely with a virus, originating from my address "gerry@alanguilan.com", then it most definitely did not come from me. Some of my friends have told me that they received viruses from me from that address. Even I received an email from that address just now.

But it can't have come from me because that is an address I have NOT USED to send any messages for the past 2 or more years. However, it is now simply a forwarding address that points to my yahoo email address. And my yahoo address is the one I use to send email messages now.

What people need to understand is the kind of insidious viruses that are in play now. They are capable of sending themselves using SOMEONE ELSE's address. It could be mine. It could be yours. That doesn't mean the virus is using your computer. It's just using your address to send viruses. Where did they get your address? Most likely from address books of people whose computers ARE infected.

I update my computer's anti virus as much as two times a week so I know if my computer is infected or not.

Pinoy Komiks Artists

Thanks Mr. Romeo Tanghal Jr.!

Can Anyone Identify these Artists/Writers?



Huge HUGE thanks to Mr. Romeo Tanghal Jr., superstar inker of Teen Titans, Green Lantern, Robin and a ton of other comics from DC Comics! He sent over a package of original art, sketches, posters and photographs for the benefit of the museum. Thank you sir!

We will be featuring this stuff slowly over the coming months, and they will become a permanent fixture of the museum online and off.

Aside from this, Mr. Tanghal emailed some photographs as well, including the one featured above. I've restored it a little bit with some help from Neil. Thanks man! This was taken from a costume party held at Tony Velasquez's house during the christmas season of 1963-64. Some of the artists/writers have been identified. Can anyone help identify the rest?

For a higher resolution of this picture as well as a list of those already identified, CLICK HERE.

Dennis Villegas' Vintage Komiks Shop

Dennis Villegas' Vintage Komiks Shop


Dennis Villegas and his collection of original art from vintage komiks. Congrats on your diet, Dennis! You look really thin now. Amazing!!


With Hal Santiago (in black) and his wife.



Dennis Villegas, Philippine Komiks collector and publisher (he published Tony Velasquez's Kenkoy Album) opened Annika's, a unique comic book store in which every comic sold are made by Filipinos. He also sells vintage comic books and original art from the golden age of Philippine komiks. The store had a soft opening last November 9 and will have a grand opening on December 1.

The store is located at Gallery #16, Marikina Shoe Expo Behind Rustan's Cubao and beside Ali Mall in Cubao, Quezon City.

I had planned to be there for the opening but I couldn't make it because of some pressing problems at home. Apologies Dennis! I want to let you know that I was there in spirit and rest assured I'll be your BEST customer!

:)
Thanks to Az for the pics!

Jesse Santos, Korea Comics Festival, etc.

The World's Smallest Comic Book?



I got a huge box in the mail yesterday. It contained books, a shirt, and a couple of these really small comic books. Could they be the smallest? They fell out of the box and I thought they were just a couple of small erasers. Ilyn held one up and told me that they were actually little comic books! It's amazing! I couldn't understand them though, as they're in Korean.

They came from South Korea's Bucheon Cartoon Information Center, who just recently organized the successful 7th Bucheon International Comics Festival. They say the festival had around 70,000 visitors for the duration.

They had contacted me several months ago asking for assitance in acquiring information and reference material on Philippine comic books and I sent them several current comics collections including SIGLO: Freedom, Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah, Congressman Kalog, Pugad Baboy, Mang Ambo and many others. I also sent high resolution scans of the works of Francisco Coching, Alfredo Alcala etc, and a write up on the history of Philippine comics.

They invited me to the festival, and I wish I could have gone, but I was busy finishing a bunch of work before I left for Bohol. Maybe next year.

Jesse Santos


I updated the museum with artwork from DI-13 by Jesse Santos. Jesse Santos may well be the first artist in Philippine comics to apply watercolor shading to render characters. Most of the opening pages of Jesse's work feature a panel or a whole page of artwork rendered in this manner.

Click here for Jesse Santos' DI-13

Howard Cruse

Howard Cruse

Even though this is a site dedicated to the talents of Filipino Comics Artists, every once in a while I'll be featuring a non-Filipino creator, specially if I think his or her work is worth checking out. Howard Cruse is one such creator, who wrote and drew the critically acclaimed Stuck Rubber Baby, considered as one of the 100 Best Comics of the 20th Centry by The Comics Journal.



Howard's newest comic(?) book is called "The Swimmer With a Rope In His Teeth" and it's something that's evolved beyond what is normally considered as "comics", pushing further the envelope of what this medium can do.

It's available now! For more information on the book and where it can be bought, go to Howard's site here:

The Swimmer With a Rope In His Teeth
http://www.howardcruse.com/howardsite/aboutbooks/swimmerbook/

ALAMAT: 10 Years of Comics

ALAMAT: 10 Years of Comics

It's Alamat Comics' 10-year Anniversary today. Wow, TEN YEARS! I still remember December 1992 when I first got in touch with a growing community of comics fans and would be creators. Comics were suddenly HUGE, and everyone wanted to read and make their own comics. I fell in with a talented group of writers and artists who were creating a comic book which will eventually become Lakan, the finished but as yet unreleased title.

Through the course of two years, comics made by these young creators started to come out like Exodus, Flashpoint, P-Noize, Comics 101, Memento Mori, etc. The earliest mini comic I became aware of was Dino Ignacio's Sigaw Saklolo, a format I would later use for my own mini comic Wasted.

Whilce Portacio became the catalyst through which these varied group of creators be united under one banner: ALAMAT COMICS, officially formed in 1994.

10 years later, we are still here and we are STILL creating and publishing comics, even though most of these comics were never done to make money, but for the sheer love of comics and sharing stories and art with other people. Alamat isn't a typical comics publishing company in that we have to release titles on a regular basis and we have an office where we have salaried employees. Alamat is simply an anchor through which individual creators publish their own comics out of their own pocket.

Alamat is a support group composed of creators who help each other out in their respective projects. To this day, all my mini comics carry the Alamat logo, and all my self published stuff in the future will carry it.

We may not have been successful in coming out with a comic to commemorate our anniversary as we have planned, but I'm confident that everyone will see comics created by this group of people who love the medium and has a sheer passion for creating them.

Here's some pictures from the early days of Alamat:


Circa 1994. Wow, how thin we all were back then! Jeez! From left: Mark Gatela, Budjette Tan, ?, Arnold Arre, Brandie Tan, Gerry Alanguilan, Whilce Portacio, Ian Orendain, Chris Bernardo, John Toledo, Oliver Pulumbarit and Alex Manabat.


Alamat Comics 4-day Exhibit at Robinson's Galleria, circa 1995


The Lakan Booth, I'm the one next to the guy in stripes.


Mark Gatela and Arnold Arre at the Comics 101 booth.


David Hontiveros (in black) and the Flashpoint gang at the Flashpoint booth.


The LAKAN Booth with a bunch of still unreleased artwork. I still feel bad about Lakan not being released inspite of the fact that the artwork have all been finished. Even from this picture you can see how AWESOME some of this art is. I'm confident that it will be released somehow in the future. I'll make sure it does and it doesn't matter how many bones I break!

Happy Anniversay guys! Here's to 10 and MORE years! :)

More Oktoberfest Pics!

More Oktoberfest Pics!


Click here for larger image of above.


Johnny wants to be eaten as newest Komikera Therese gets her face painted courtesy of Jac.


Jac gives Carla, Ilyn's cousin a face painting.


Mylene and Johnny


Gerry's Angels

The last day of Komikero's public display of the Philippine Comics Art Museum was yesterday and it proved to be quite surprising and fun day all around. Early in the day tricycle drivers looking for passengers were stopping in front of the booth, getting down and checking out the exhibit. All of them were pleasantly surprised at seeing bits and pieces of their childhood on display and they animatedly talked about how they used to read them when they were kids. One particular driver happily pointed out dates of the issues of the comics, saying things like "I was grade 3 when this came out! I was kinder on this one!"

Another particular driver stopped in front of the booth and started looking for issues of THOR. We had a bunch of old (and newish) Marvel, DC, and Image, as well as some Alamat Comic, my comics and indies form the Komikeros. The guy happily looked through most of them. He ended up buying a couple of comics before he got back on his tricylce and drove off.

Younger kids find themselves very impressed with the works of Alfredo Alcala, Nestor Redondo, Alex Niño and are surprised to realize Filipino artists are really *really* good. People pass by all day reminiscing of the days when the read comics and they just hung out to talk comics, and check out the exhibits.

Late komiks writer L.P. Calixto's wife and children, as well as L.P.'s frequent collaborator, komiks artist Rudy Florese's entire family visited the booth and it was one of the highlights of the exhibit.

It's this kind of response that convince me that a museum on comics here in San Pablo is truly worth having, and something that could be much appreciated by people from all walks of life.