Philippine Comics

Philippine Comics () have been popular throughout the nation from the 1920s to the present. Comics scholar John A. Lent posited that the Philippine comics tradition has "the strongest audience appeal, best-known cartooning geniuses, and most varied comics content" in Asia after Japan and Hong Kong.

The origins of Philippine comic strips trace back to the early 20th century, and Comic books gained widespread readership after World War II. These early comics were deeply rooted in Western styles and formats, yet they possessed a distinctive character as melodramas enjoyed by both children and adults. Marked by ornate, baroque illustrations drawn in thick lines, Philippine comics peaked in popularity as a national pastime during the 1980s. They also served as source material for movies, as well as for promoting government initiatives. However, by the end of the 20th century, public interest began to wane, with alternative forms of entertainment such as television and the Internet taking precedence, leading to the decline of nationally distributed comic books. Subsequently, self-publishing and independent publishers flourished, and comics communities formed through conventions. The emergence of webcomics provided a new avenue for publishing works.

History

Origin: 19th century–World War II

Some believe that the origin of indigenous Philippine cartoons can be traced back to the independence activist José Rizal. Rizal privately created several picture stories, with one notable example being his 1885 illustrated rendition of the Filipino folktale ''The Turtle and the Monkey'', which featured a combination of words and pictures akin to modern cartoons.

As in many countries, commercial cartooning in the Philippines originated with single-panel political cartoons in satirical periodicals. Magazines and newspapers such as ''Te con Leche'' and ''El Tio Verdades'' during the Spanish colonial period, followed by ''Lipang Kalabaw'' and the ''Philippines Free Press'' under the American rule, extensively criticized both the colonial powers and the local government through cartoons. Early political cartoons personified the nation as "Filipinas", a naive maiden courted by Uncle Sam, who later was replaced by Juan dela Cruz, a slipper-wearing common man introduced by Jorge Pineda in ''The Independent''. Noteworthy painters of this era, such as Fernando Amorsolo and Botong Francisco, were also known for their cartooning.

The weekly ''Liwayway'', the first literary magazine in the Philippines, introduced its first comic strip in 1929. Titled ''Mga Kabalbalan ni Kenkoy'' (Misadventures of Kenkoy), the strip was centered around Kenkoy, a Filipino trying to imitate Americans. This notable character was created by writer Romualdo Ramos and by illustrator Tony Velasquez, who was 18 years old at the time, by commission from publisher . The short comic swiftly expanded to occupy a full-color page, then advanced into the magazine's various language editions. The moniker "Kenkoy" was ingrained into the Filipino vernacular as a term meaning "someone who is boisterously hilarious, funny or amusing", and the character persisted in comics and visual media well into the 21st century. Velasquez has come to be called "father of Filipino comics," partly due to his role as a publisher in later years, providing numerous creators with a platform to publish their works.

During the 1930s, Filipino comics heavily mirrored American comic strips. José Zabala-Santos was renowned for his Popeye