Gerry Talaoc is a Filipino

comics artist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the literar ...

best known for his 1970s work for

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

and horror anthology titles.

Biography

Gerry Talaoc was among the vanguard of Filipino comics artists — including

Alfredo Alcala Alfredo P. Alcala (August 23, 1925 – April 8, 2000) was a Filipinos, Filipino comics artist, born in Talisay, Negros Occidental, in the Philippines. Alcala was an established illustrator whose works appeared in the ''Alcala Komix Magazine''. ...

, Nestor Redondo,

Steve Gan Steve Gan (born May 22, 1945) is a Chinese-born Filipino comics artist. He is best known for co-creating Panday with Carlo J. Caparas and Marvel Comics' Star-Lord and Skull the Slayer. Biography Steve Gan was born as Santos S. Gan but changed ...

Ernie Chan Ernesto Chan (July 27, 1940 – May 16, 2012), born and sometimes credited as Ernie Chua, was a Filipinos, Filipino-Americans, American comics artist, known for work published by Marvel Comics and DC Comics, including many Marvel issues of series ...

and

Alex Niño Alex Niño (born May 1, 1940) is a Filipinos, Filipino comics artist best known for his work for the American publishers DC Comics, Marvel Comics, and Warren Publishing, and in ''Heavy Metal (magazine), Heavy Metal'' magazine. Biography Early l ...

— recruited in 1971 for American comic books by DC editor

Joe Orlando Joseph Orlando (April 4, 1927 – December 23, 1998) was an Italian Americans, Italian-American illustrator, writer, editor and cartoonist during a lengthy career spanning six decades. He was the associate publisher of ''Mad (magazine), Mad'' and ...

and publisher

Carmine Infantino Carmine Infantino (; May 24, 1925 – April 4, 2013) was an American comics artist and editing, editor, primarily for DC Comics, during the late 1950s and early 1960s period known as the Silver Age of Comic Books. Among his character creations are ...

, following the success of the pioneering

Tony DeZuniga Antony de Zuñiga (November 8, 1932 – May 11, 2012) who worked primarily under the name Tony DeZuniga, was a Filipinos, Filipino comics artist and illustrator best known for his works for DC Comics. He co-created the fictional characters Jonah ...

. Initially working through countryman DeZuniga's studio, Talaoc's first published work in the United States was the story "Phony Face" in ''

House of Mystery ''The House of Mystery'' is the name of several horror comics, horror, fantasy comics, fantasy, and mystery fiction, mystery comics anthology, comics anthologies published by DC Comics. It had a companion series, ''The House of Secrets (DC Comi ...

'' #205 (Aug. 1972). He drew multiple issues of ''

Ghosts In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...

'', ''House of Mystery'', '' Star Spangled War Stories'', '' The Unexpected'', and ''

Weird War Tales ''Weird War Tales'' is a war comic book title with supernatural overtones published by DC Comics. It was published from September - October 1971 to June 1983. Publication history The original title ran for 12 years and 124 issues. It was an an ...

'', among other titles. Talaoc's art was celebrated for its distinctive mix of the real and the cartoony, a style pioneered by such

Golden Age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during wh ...

cartoonists as

Milton Caniff Milton Arthur Paul Caniff (; February 28, 1907 – April 3, 1988) was an American cartoonist known for the ''Terry and the Pirates'' and ''Steve Canyon'' comic strips. Biography Caniff was born in Hillsboro, Ohio. He was an Eagle Scout and a re ...

and Chester Gould. In the mid–1970s, Talaoc also worked on comics adaptations of literary classics published by

Pendulum Press Pendulum Press was a publishing company based in West Haven, Connecticut, that operated from 1970 to 1994, producing the bulk of their material in the 1970s. The company is most well known for their comic book adaptations of literary classics. The ...

. In 1984, Talaoc moved to

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

, where he worked primarily as an inker. His first work there was on ''

The Incredible Hulk The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of '' The Incredible Hulk'' (May 1962). In his comic book ...

'' #291 (Jan. 1984) paired with

Sal Buscema Sal Buscema ( ; born Silvio Buscema, , on January 26, 1936) is an American comics artist, primarily for Marvel Comics, where he had a ten-year run as artist of ''The Incredible Hulk (comic book), The Incredible Hulk'' and an eight-year run as art ...

. Other Marvel work included ''

Alpha Flight Alpha Flight is a fictional team of Canadian superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The characters premiered in ''The Uncanny X-Men'' #120 (April 1979), and were created to serve as part of the X-Men member Wolv ...

'' and the ''

Comet Man Comet Man (Stephen Beckley) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in ''Comet Man'' #1, dated February 1987. Creation The character was created partly due to wide publ ...

'' limited series inking over Kelley Jones' pencils. Talaoc retired from the American comics business in the early 1990s. During his career, Talaoc worked exclusively in the Philippines, although he now lives in the United States.

Bibliography

DC Comics

* '' Elvira's

'' #11 (1987) * '' Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion'' #15 (1974) * ''

'' #10, 13–14, 16–18, 23, 27, 31, 87 (1972–1980) * ''

G.I. Combat ''G.I. Combat'' is an American comics anthology featuring war comics, war stories. It was published from 1952 until 1956 by Quality Comics, followed by DC Comics until its final issue in 1987. In 2012 it was briefly revived. Publication histor ...

'' #226, 233, 238, 245, 249, 251, 253, 264, 271, 275 (1981–1985) * ''

'' #205, 210–211, 215, 217–218, 224, 226, 228, 231, 282, 303, 315 (1972–1983) * '' House of Secrets'' #105, 108, 110–111, 114, 121, 131, 150 (1973–1978) * '' Limited Collectors' Edition'' #C–32 (1974) * ''

Phantom Stranger The Phantom Stranger is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, of unspecified paranormal origins, who battles mysterious and occult forces, sometimes under their Vertigo (DC Comics), Vertigo imprint. The character ...

'' vol. 2 #27–31, 34–37 (1973–1975) * '' Secrets of Haunted House'' #6 (1977) * ''

Secrets of Sinister House ''Secrets of Sinister House'' was a horror-suspense anthology comic book series published by DC Comics from 1972-1974, a companion to '' Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion''. Both series were originally inspired by the successful ABC soap opera ''D ...

'' #10 (1973) * '' Star Spangled War Stories'' #183–204 (Unknown Soldier) (1974–1977) * '' Tarzan Family'' #66 (1976) * '' The Unexpected'' #141, 150, 154, 156, 161, 165, 168, 176, 183, 188, 191, 198 (1972–1980) * '' Unknown Soldier'' #205–210, 212–213, 215, 217–218, 220–222, 225–234, 236–268 (1977–1982) * ''

'' #9, 11–12, 15, 18–19, 29–30, 32, 57, 68, 76, 81, 104, 106, 109 (1972–1982) * '' The Witching Hour'' #25, 27–28, 63, 75, 79 (1972–1978) * ''

Young Romance ''Young Romance'' is a romantic comic book series created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby for the Crestwood Publications imprint (trade name), imprint Prize Comics in 1947 in comics, 1947. Generally considered the first Romance comics in the United ...

'' #194 (1973)

Marvel Comics

* ''

'' #29–38, 66–67, 72, ''Annual'' #1 (1985–1989) * ''Amazing High Adventure'' #1–2 (1984–1985) * ''

Animax , stylized as ANIMAX in all caps, is a Japanese animation satellite television network, dedicated to broadcasting anime programming. Launched on July 1, 1998, Animax is the first 24-hour network in the world dedicated to anime.The Anime Biz' - ...

'' #1–4 (1986–1987) * '' Clive Barker's Hellraiser Summer Special'' #1 (1992) * ''

'' #1–6 (1987) * ''

Conan the Barbarian Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero created by American author Robert E. Howard (1906–1936) and who debuted in 1932 and went on to appear in a series of fantasy stories published in ''We ...

'' #248 (1991) * '' Daredevil'' #219 (1985) * ''

'' vol. 2 #291, 293–294, 296–309, 311–313, ''Annual'' #13 (1984–1985) * ''

Kickers, Inc. ''Kickers, Inc.'' is a twelve-issue comic book series published by Marvel Comics from 1986 to 1987 as part of the New Universe imprint. Created by Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz, the series featured a group of former professional American football pla ...

'' #11 (1987) * ''

Marvel Comics Presents ''Marvel Comics Presents'' is an American comic book anthology title that was published in three series by Marvel Comics: from 1988 to 1995; 2007 to 2008; and in 2019. Volume 1 The first volume was released on a bi-weekly basis and lasted for ...

'' #47, 50–52 (1990) * ''

Power Pack Power Pack is a superhero team consisting of four young siblings appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Louise Simonson and artist June Brigman, they first appeared in their own series in 1984, which las ...

'' #40 (1988) * ''

The Punisher The Punisher (Francis "Frank" Castle, born Castiglione) is an antihero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita Sr. and Ross Andru. The Punisher mad ...

'' vol. 2 #20 (1989) * ''

Rawhide Kid The Rawhide Kid (real name: Johnny Bart, originally given as Johnny Clay) is a fictional Old West cowboy appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. A heroic gunfighter of the 19th-century American West who was unjustly wanted a ...

'' vol. 2 #2–3 (1985) * '' Savage Sword of Conan'' #183 (1991) * ''

Strange Tales ''Strange Tales'' is a Marvel Comics comics anthology, anthology series. The title was revived in different forms on multiple occasions. Doctor Strange and Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (feature), Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. made their d ...

'' vol. 2 #7 (

Cloak and Dagger "Cloak and dagger" was a fighting style common by the time of the Renaissance involving a knife hidden beneath a cloak. The term later came into use as a metaphor, referring to situations involving intrigue, secrecy, espionage, or mystery. Over ...

) (1987) * '' West Coast Avengers Annual'' #3 (1988)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Talaoc, Gerry 20th-century Filipino artists 21st-century Filipino artists Comics inkers Filipino comics artists Filipino emigrants to the United States Living people Year of birth missing (living people)