The Guinayangan Republic

I was awakened by noises at my place down the hall, though muffled, I heard raspy voices. I rushed the door to advise them to move away farther from the wall for I was a day sleepless. Out and grabbed my slipper and went to the source of the noise. It was kids from my neighbours. They were arguing about something. With my sleepy mood sluggishly noticed they were holding comics, a very colourful one, published by Marvel perhaps. Comics caught my eyes and indefinitely zipped my lips to seal the words that I was going to tell them. Instead of hushing them I slumped, seated down and jointly flipped with them as if I am with their age. Who can resist drawings and art works appreciation if you were kids who grew up reading those?



Aliwan Komiks -Courtesy of GASI

I smelled the sheets and sniffed it like grading a wine (hmmn). One psychologist said smell is one of the evocative memory infuser. The inks and paper really have unexplained mixture of scents that would dwell in your memories as peg of something you had experienced. Hmmmm…Holiday Komiks, Aliwan Komiks, TSS, Shockers, Pioneer,Precious,Kilabot and of course Pilipino Komiks (No? you still can’t remember?). How about Jim Fernandez, Mar T. Santana, Vincent Kua Jr., Pablo Gomez, Vic Poblete and Elena Patron? Okay, if not, you really are not of my age category. How about Mars Ravelo and Carlo J. Caparas? There you go, you can relate don’t you?, though Mars Ravelo is older than writers I just used for inkling above (yes older than my father). Probably because Mars Ravelo and Carlo J. Caparas’ immortal novels made their way to Philippine TV series and movies recently. Komiks is simply the English word “comics”, probably adapted to fit the orthography of Tagalog. I was one of the lucky persons who have seen the fruits of the finest publications like the “GASI”, “ATLAS” and more.
Forgive my age, some of the names I knew doesn’t ring a bell in your ears especially those who are grown up with the computers and internet. But, I wouldn’t trade my growing up years for we also have rich memories in comics. Rich as what you have- and the new “you brag about” Manga classics and Marvel comics. Manga is just as old as Komiks I should say, up to this day, young people still addicted to anime and Manga comics which rooted from the art of comics.



Planet Opdi Eyps - Roni Santiago 1979

Sundays of the 80s were like days of launching Sony PSP portable consoles in Japan, the enthusiasm was the same of that level. Why? Funny Komiks and Holiday komiks were coming (Yoo-hoo!)Woot woot! Aling Pilar(1) yelled at us not to crowd the window sill of her store as we crammed for a queue. I like Funny Komiks it was one of my favorites not because it is the only laminated paperback issue, it’s because of Tomas and Kulas (though a parody of Tom and Jerry), Superkat, the stubborn kid NikNok and the famous “Planet Opdi Eyps”. More also to “Devil Car” – the front runner story of Holiday Komiks by Vic Poblete (probably influenced by movie “The Hearse”) it was paired with finest illustration of Lan Medina teamed with contributing artist like Karl Comendador. Funny Komiks brought fine upbringing to my young mind those days. I was inspired by superkat hero, combating villains that really expressed heroism as a noble virtue. The Matsutsu and Bardagul duo of Planet Opdi Eyps, that sometimes frustrate you when you see the page like “Ipagpaumanhin nyo po ang kadahilanan na ang Planet Opdi Eyps ay sa susunod na Linggo na lamang ilalathala” (Yaikks). “A week of waiting and writer can just hang us to nothing (hump!)”. Renting of comics cost 35 to 50 centavos a piece by reading it at the stand. At night it cost 75 cents by taking it home. Aling Pilar’s daughter Ate Susan(2) would always string two lengthy thin braided ropes to hang and separately itemized the old and the new arrival issues. The first layer stashed the old one and the highest level as for newest issues. I used to hate Ate Susan for hanging the frequent readable komiks way beyond my reach. I hated my height, and wished I could be taller; I have always lost the grabbing competitions on getting the newest komiks on display. Upon arrival of issues, Ate Susan has always ridiculed us by halting the rent queue. It’s because of cardboard layering needed to be sewn with ridge through the centrefold to tighten the binding which were just staplers. Finally after half an hour, she had finished it and we were done drooling with our saliva to read it. The frustrating part was, if the first reader of the copy was my arrogant friend Romano. He was a very good example of a spoiler, who telltales what had happened to Armageddon car when it was hit by the possessed Devil Car. Spoiling it just like watching a replay movie where plot is already heard. So I just shut my ear not to hear him. Sometimes I retaliated by telling them a newer stories about Zuma (snake freak Man) when I luckily grabbed the Aliwan and Pioneer at its pristine issues from my uncle (he’stall and could get easily to unreachable comics stand).



Holiday comics- Courtesy of GASI Graphic Arts Service, Inc.

It was the wonderful years of my life. Imaginations sometimes are larger than life. I can tell you, even the 80s komiks’ stories can’t be produce by Philippine Cinema to properly depicts the story that conveyed by the writers. However our mind those days could perceive and imagine what those stories were about. Figure drawings and symbols sometimes were easily grasped even the intensity of what illustrator wanted us to think. Ate Susan usually knocks on our door early in the morning to collect our borrowed komiks because somebody was on queues waiting to rent them. I strongly disagree that Komiks could pollute our mind, where parents those days were telling us. Living in a small town with an inadequate public library, I recall the absence of encyclopaedias. We turned all of us to “komiks” as research page. When my classmates had assignments that we couldn’t illustrate, we just cut and paste from Komiks pages with appropriate illustration as what our assignments described. Just wait for Ate Susan to scold us and let our parents bought the komiks for good (You already knew why).
I learned a lot from Komiks besides interactive conversation readings. You will learn also to draw from komiks. Were all things I had loved to do from tracing the hard-to-copy one and carbon-copy the easiest one.. My better sketching ability then became my hobby today probably because of loved to komiks. Often times we mingled and criticized as well as praised some of the writer’s story. There were times we were betting for the next plot that would be published on the following week and we brainstormed our critical opinions for the next issues. Remember the clause like … “Abangan ang Susunod na Kabanata” and …”May Karugtong…” When you were hung by a thread with story and clause like that. There was no difference if you’re watching TV series like “Heroes”, “Lost” and today’s suspense. It is indescribable. Months had passed and my sister Aileen competed with the same rentals hence made me not to queue anymore (Nice!)
So I went back to my room and waved goodbye to noisy kids, letting them to shout to what level they want.”Bye buddies easy on flipping. Use saliva!” -I said (gesturing my finger damping by it)
Walking back to my door, I suddenly asked myself, “What happened to those “Kinalakihan kong Komiks? So here I am, injecting something to Blogosphere. Thank you, Mr. Google… “Bing Bam Bung” (Famous Larry Alcala komiks’ series – I just used it as incantation) and article is done. I was recently aware that komiks still exists and also there is a contemporary way on luring readers – “web comics” for you to read. See http://www.webkomiks.com/.
Continuing my web surfing to get excerpts as well as confirmed my rusty memories about those writers and illustrators, wow! They are blogging (nope! not that they are using web that makes me amazed) It’s because I see them in pictures. There were just vague names for me they were older but still with humorous attitude. They were blogging and telling about their masterpiece, what had inspired them and what had made them written such stories. These people were my once admired citizens. I remember, I have dreamed of becoming like them. When I was on my 4th Grade, the one I admired was Vincent Kua Jr. I like his style on horror genre’, reminds me of Tim Burton’s style of storytelling and character illustrations of course. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, watch “Corpse Bride” and read two of Vincent’s masterpiece the “Gallery of Terror” and “3 Minutes of Horror” any similarity? You bet there is! Take note it was illustrated by Vincent Kua Jr during 80s. By the way “Pokwang” certainly got his moniker or screen name from Vincent’s “magnum opus”-Pokwang. You know what? Pokwang the comedian looked better similar to Liborea McCormick also one of Vincent’s finest comedy story. Though he died last October 2005, I’m his fan now in Facebook. I am still looking for other writers, hoping there are still alive or better yet can still use Facebook so I can be a fan of them. For each one I will find, I will post this write-ups and a simple message where I have been keeping it till now. The words are… “THANK YOU!!!””THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR FILLING UP MY YOUNGER YEARS!!”

-by Cornelio Cenizal

(1) Pilar Dimaala – our neighbor in Manlayo still alive today and with her Grocery Sari Sari Store.
(2) Susan Dimaala – youngest daughter of Aling Pilar, successor of her business.

Works Cited
Cruz, J. Dela. Web Komiks Your Pinoy Komiks Portal. (accessed October 7, 2009).
Komiklopedia. December 27, 2007. (accessed October 7, 2009).
Magic, Black. Vic J. Poblete’s Devil Car. October 2005. (accessed October 7, 2009).
Valiente, Randy. Vincent Kua Jr. Official Site. (accessed October 7, 2009).
Santiago, Roni. “Planet Opdi Eyps.” Pilipino Funny Komiks. 1979.