'Komiks'

I am a product of komiks. Truckloads of it from every known publication around the world, but i never grew up to become one of those die hard collectors who treat comics like fine pieces of China, skimming through it one time probably using a pair of tweezers and seal it back with its protective plastic covers to be preserved in mint condition and wait several years for its market value to appreciate. I love comic books too, just not that way. My comic collection are a bunch of tattered material whose pages have long been separated from the staple wires that bind the books from too much reading, lending, and rereading. It would have been nice to see them preserved like it was just bought today but i believe that's how reading materials eventually succumb to.

As far back as I remember the earliest books I had any recollection of actually reading and comprehending were the pocket komiks made by Atlas Publishing during the early 80s, long before any form of digital and cyberspace entertainment were the norm (a nostalgic sentiment also echoed by Sandwich via the brilliant single 'betamax'.). All thanks to a father who majored in fine arts and idolized the great comic illustrators like rock gods (see Gerry Alanguilan's komikero.com for an in-depth look). and when I say great illustrators, ladies and gents, I am not merely referring to those confined within the walls of the two comic publishing giants like DC and Marvel Comics but of the entire genre, including those in Central Europe and artists residing in Bulacan.

As early as kindergarten I already had comics titles like Spiderman, The Incredible Hulk, Fantastic Four, Swamp Thing, Superman, Batman, The Shadow, and even Mr. Miracle. Of course I relied on my father to read those to me as a sort of bedtime storybook to put me to sleep, as I don't know how to read and even comprehend english. I remember most of them were the National Bookstore reprints with advertisements at the back cover of new text books for sale at their every branch. They were good though, and affordable compared to the originals and I especially enjoyed looking at the pictures/drawings. But the ones that really got me were the pinoy Action and Ninja pocket komiks made by Atlas Publishing. If there's one thing I greatly regret, is the fact that I lost both copies of the maiden issues from these titles.

One thing I'm proud of is that even if I'm still watching cartoons like the Smurfs and Voltron I was already reading complex subject matters designed for more mature readers and actually comprehending them. I suspect watching Lito Lapid and Dante Varona movie fillers during early afternoons helped a lot as most of the plotlines in these komiks were similar to those hyper-campy but enjoyable "bakbakan" films of yore. It was relatively easy to learn reading the tagalog komiks because: 1) we're also tagalog speakers 2) there were pictures that go along with the dialogue--so basing on the actions within the frame it was easy for me to deduce what the characters were actually saying. During kinder 2 I was already reading lines written by Carlo Caparas, Vic Poblete and Rod Santiago--a few of the notable writers at the time. The komiks appeared weekly, if I remember correctly, and my father never failed to get the latest copies. He didn't admit it and said he merely looked a the illustrating styles (even ridiculing tecniques of some guest and mainstay artists), but I suspect he was following a series from both titles ("Valorra" in Action/"Kenja: The Last Ninja" in Ninja). I followed all the stories. I can even remember the titles: Wang Ho, Zato-Jari, Kenja..., Ninja Bonita, Markang Agila, Boy Paltik, Valorra, Lazer Man, Kapitan Aksyon, and Kamagong.

People tend to look down on most pinoy products and i'm sure these komiks are no exception. snobs may dismiss it as too parochial and lacking in style and innovation but I owe everything to these titles. Every book I enjoyed reading would not have been read had my interst in reading wasn't sparked by these "lowly" pinoy komiks I devoured during my youth. This is also the reason why I do not look down on those pinoy romance novels. While most of them are obviously not gonna win the Pulitzer anytime, there is no doubt that they also stimulate and exercise the imagination. This, if we are to believe Einstein, is more important than knowledge. And just the fact that many people are reading is a welcome thought, specially in this age where written communication is being overtaken by the text lingo-abomination of the 'wer na u? hir na me' variety and reading is fast becoming a relic of the past.

Good thing my father was a fanboy or I wouldn't have developed any interest in literature or any form of printed matter.