Tony Velasquez
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Antonio "Tony" Velasquez (29 October 1910 – 1997) was a Filipino illustrator regarded as the Father of
Tagalog Tagalog may refer to: Language * Tagalog language, a language spoken in the Philippines ** Old Tagalog, an archaic form of the language ** Batangas Tagalog, a dialect of the language * Tagalog script, the writing system historically used for Tagal ...
comics a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...
and as the pioneer and founding father of the
Philippine comics Philippine Comics () have been popular throughout Philippines, the nation from the 1920s to the present. Comics studies, Comics scholar John A. Lent posited that the Philippine comics tradition has "the strongest audience appeal, best-known ca ...
industry. He was the co-creator of ''
Kenkoy Francisco "Kenkoy" Harabas is a Philippine comics character created by writer Romualdo Ramos and Filipino cartoon and animation, cartoonist and illustrator Tony Velasquez in 1929.Paco, Manila Paco, formerly known as Dilao, is a district of Manila, Philippines, located south of the Pasig River and San Miguel, west of Santa Ana, southwest of Pandacan, north of Malate, northwest of San Andres Bukid, and east of Ermita. It had a pop ...
. He was the sixth child of a Pangasinense father, Eusebio Velasquez, and a Caviteña mother, Andrea Santos.


Education

Velasquez studied at the Jose Rizal College. In 1934, he also completed a correspondence course on illustration and drawing from the International Correspondence School.


Early career

While a student at Jose Rizal College, Velasquez worked as a part-time illustrator for Banaag Press, a publishing company which later became known as Acme Printing in 1927 after being acquired by Ramon Roces, a Filipino-Spanish businessman and publisher. In 1928, Velasquez – together with script writer Romualdo Ramos – created ''Kenkoy'', a “Filipino comic star” character that first appeared in the Tagalog-language
Liwayway ''Liwayway''''Liwayway''
Komiklopedia, The Philippine Komiks Encyclopedia, Komiklopedia.w ...
magazine on 11 January 1929. In 1932, he also created the female equivalent of Kenkoy, Ponyang Halobaybay, a typical portrait of the Filipina woman in American-era Philippines. Other cartoon characters soon followed like Nanong Pandak, Talakitok, Talimusak, and Tinyente Dikyam.


At Roces Publications

In 1935, Velasquez became chief advertising artist for the Ramon Roces Publications, Inc. As chief advertising artist, Velasquez designed labels for Philippine products such as Tiki-Tiki Vitamins,
Castor Oil Castor oil is a vegetable oil pressed from castor beans, the seeds of the plant ''Ricinus communis''. The seeds are 40 to 60 percent oil. It is a colourless or pale yellow liquid with a distinct taste and odor. Its boiling point is and its den ...
, and Cortal, among others. Along with such product label designs, Velasquez created cartoon characters that accompanied the advertisements for the products. The characters Velasquez created included ''Captain Cortal'' for Cortal, ''Nars Cafi'' for Cafi Aspirina, and ''Isko'' for Esco Shoes, among others.


During World War II

During the
Japanese Occupation of the Philippines The Japanese occupation of the Philippines (Filipino language, Filipino: ''Pananakop ng mga Hapones sa Pilipinas''; ) occurred between 1942 and 1945, when the Empire of Japan, Japanese Empire occupied the Commonwealth of the Philippines during Wo ...
in
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Velasquez was forced to use his ''Kenkoy'' character as war
propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...
to influence the Filipinos. Refusing at first, then Philippine President
Jose P. Laurel José Paciano Laurel y García (March 9, 1891 – November 6, 1959) was a Filipino politician, lawyer, and judge, who served as the President of the Second Philippine Republic from 1943 to 1945, which was a Japanese ally during World War II. ...
was able to convince Velasquez to concede and use ''Kenkoy'' as a promotional tool for Laurel’s health programs instead of as war propaganda.


Ace Publications

In 1947, Velasquez retired from Liwayway magazine to create the publishing firm Ace Publication, a mass producer of Philippine comic books. Through Ace Publication, Velasquez was able to produce “some of the best” and “most popular” Philippine comic books, such as ''Pilipino Komiks'' (1947), ''Tagalog Klasiks'' (1949), ''Hiwaga Komiks'' (1950), ''Espesyal Komiks'' (1952), ''Kenkoy Komiks'' (1959), and ''Educational Klasiks Komiks'' (1961).


At GASI Publications

In 1962, Velasquez had to close Ace Publication due a labor dispute. Afterwards, Velasquez established the Graphic Arts Service, Inc. (also known as GASI Publications). Through GASI Publications, Velasquez was able to produce Philippine comic books such as ''Pinoy Komiks'', ''Pinoy Klasiks'', ''Aliwan Komiks'', ''Holiday Komiks'', ''Teens Weekly Komiks'', and ''Pioneer Komiks''.


Death

Velasquez died in 1997 at the age of 86 .


Influence

Velasquez was the mentor to other Filipino illustrators, namely
Francisco Coching Francisco Vicente Coching (January 29, 1919
lambiek.net
– September 1, 1998) was a ...
(who later became a National Artist for Visual Arts in 2014),
Mars Ravelo Marcial "Mars" Custodio Ravelo (October 9, 1916 – September 12, 1988) was a Filipino people, Filipino comic book cartoonist and graphic novelist. Dubbed as the "''King of Pinoy Komiks''", he is notable for creating ''Darna, Dyesebel, Captain ...
, Jose Zabala-Santos, and J. M. Perez, among others.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Velasquez, Tony 20th-century Filipino illustrators Filipino advertising artists and illustrators Filipino magazine illustrators Filipino character designers Filipino comics artists Filipino comics writers People from Paco, Manila Artists from Metro Manila Writers from Metro Manila 1910 births 1997 deaths