Panday (fictional character)

The Panday ( Filipino for smith) is a fictional Philippine comics character created by writer Carlo J. Caparas and artist Steve Gan. His stories were first serialized in the comic series ''Ang Panday'' ("The Smith") in ''Pilipino Komiks'' during the late 1970s. The character, whose real name is Flavio, became a Philippine pop culture icon since it was adapted to film ('' Ang Panday)'' in 1980 with Fernando Poe Jr. portraying Flavio and Max Alvarado as his archenemy Lizardo. The film spawned three direct sequels, as well as multiple other more loosely connected films and television series including an animated version.

Publication history

In the 1970s, Carlo J. Caparas was thinking of a new comics adventure novel due to the wishes of his publisher Don Ramon Roces and then later he came up with a legendary folk hero named the Panday. He patterned the character to look like Fernando Poe Jr. as he instructed the artist and co-creator Steve Gan to draw the Panday's face similar to Poe's. Upon making the character, Caparas already conceived in his mind that Poe would be the Panday even before the character was still yet to be portrayed by Poe in film. The character along with its look, villains and powers also drew inspiration from Philippine history and culture.

Their creation first appeared in ''Pilipino Komiks'' in 1979 as the comic serial ''Ang Panday''. It sold hundreds of thousands copies every week during its run in the 1980s. In the 1980s, the character was later serialized in ''Liwayway'' magazine entitled ''Dugo ng Panday'' and then as a comic strip in the ''People's Journal'' tabloid entitled ''Hiwaga ng Panday''.

The first comic stories do not contain fantastical elements and the Panday is just an ordinary blacksmith named Flavio who fights criminals by using his sledgehammer and a branding iron, marking enemies with an "X" akin to Zorro's Z. He has no superpowers and no supernatural weapons. In the later stories, influenced by the first movie adaptation (which incorporated the Zorro-style mark in its first half), the Panday possesses a dagger that turns magically into a sword which he forged from a mystical meteorite. Caparas got the idea of the meteorite from his childhood where he and his playmates would find these kinds of rocks and break them open, revealing sparkling minerals that seem magical.

In 2005, an Ovaltine sponsored comics series was released about the character. The story of this comics was connected to the 2005 television series ''Panday'' aired at ABS-CBN and was still penned by Caparas but was drawn by Rico Rival and colored by Richard Bonzon.

Character background

The common story line for the Panday indicates that Flavio is a noble blacksmith and then one day a meteorite falls from the sky. He forges its ore into a dagger (''balaraw'' in Filipino), which magically turns into a sword when he raises it and points to the sky. He uses this sword to fight evil forces who are oppressing his hometown.

Flavio is just a normal human and has no special powers or skills, except for his blacksmithing and swordsmanship. He uses his magical blade that emits energy bolts to fight his supernatural enemies. The blade hums or sings when danger is near and can cut through anything without resistance. He uses a shield on occasion, which is likewise also forged from the meteorite. Flavio wears a distinctive costume, composed of a red vest, dark pants and boots.

Besides Flavio's love interest, recurring supporting characters in the franchise include a boy sidekick and an old hermit-like adviser. For example, in the first film adaptation ''Ang Panday'', there is a boy named Lando (portrayed by Bentot Jr.) that serves as Flavio's buddy and an old man named Tata Temyong, loosely "Grandpa Artemio" (played by Lito Anzures) that serves as the Panday's adviser. The Panday's initial enemies are ordinary bandits, criminals and soldiers and then later he battles supernatural beings including witches, ghosts, flesh-eating beasts and demons. His archnemesis is Lizardo, originally an ordinary bandit leader in the first movie but later becoming a dark warlock and warlord in later movies. In the Poe movies, he also has his own singing sword.

In other media

Outside the comics world, the Panday is featured in various media, most notably in film and television as well as theme songs for these medium. The character became more popular due to the portrayal of Fernando Poe Jr. in ''Ang Panday'' film series from 1980 to 1984. Poe's Panday also appeared as cameo in other films including ''She-Man, Mistress of the Universe'' and ''Ang Pagbabalik ni Pedro Penduko''. In 2010, Panday and other characters portrayed by Poe are featured in commemorative stamps issued by Philippine Postal Office.

Films

1980s

The '' Ang Panday'' original film series consisted of four films: ''Ang Panday'' ("The Smith", 1980), '' Pagbabalik ng Panday'' ("The Return of the Smith", 1981), ''Ang Panday: Ikatlong Yugto'' ("The Smith: The Third Act", 1982), and ''Ang Panday IV: Ika-Apat Na Aklat'' ("The Smith IV: The Fourth Book", 1984). These films all starred Fernando Poe, Jr. as the title character, Flavio and Max Alvarado as Lizardo. After four films starring Poe, other ''Panday'' films were produced continuing or rebooting the story line of the original series. The original ''Ang Panday'' 1980 film is considered to be one of the most persisting and frequently rebooted film in the action-fantasy genre in the Philippines.

1990s

In 1993, Ramon "Bong" Revilla, Jr. headlined the film ''Dugo ng Panday'' ("Blood of the Smith") as a descendant and namesake of the original Flavio and Edu Manzano as the antagonist. The plot of the film takes place centuries after the first Flavio's death and then his descendant finds the sword because of his pure heart, and takes up his mantle as the ''Panday''. Meanwhile, Lizardo's brain has been transplanted to an alien cyborg

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