By Myka Santiago
 Comics has succeeded in creating its own tradition in the Philippine Literature, owing history to Filipino artist-writers who contributed art and stories to Hapi, Holiday, Hiwaga, Aliwan, Tagalog Klasiks, Espesyal Komiks and other popular comic magazines of long-ago. And then, there were the likes of Alfredo P. Alacala, Nestor Redondo and Francisco V. Conching who became well recognized in the field. Now, young readers still choose to patronize the great works of Larry Alcala and Pol Medina Jr., as new names aspire to be included in the list of Filipino comic artists.
In contemporary days, a college barkada headed by Jescie James “Da Bhoss” Palabay started a Filipino Comic Magazine publication. “Ilabas ang utak ng Pinoy” was their art’s primary thesis, and “Culture Shock” was the first title they came up with. After a short while, they changed it to “Culture Crash” which basically concerned the rowdy crash of cultures taking place in the Filipino system. Culture Crash Comics was launched in the year 2000, with the appearance of the very first issue on August. Issue No. 14, the last one to be sold in the market, was released in 2004. Culture Crash followers were disheartened when the group stopped their publications. The artists said, comic-making seems easy but it never is. Unsurprisingly, the biggest challenge they encountered was the lack of resources—time and finances.
Despite the breakup, each Culture Crash artist still has his presence felt in the comics industry. And to relate the stories of a few, Mark Navarro is now a creative director of Level Up and a freelance comic books seller, while Jon Zamar is a freelance graphic artist (concept art and digital art) for local and international companies.
And in line with their group and individual success, Jio Beltran, Jon, Mark, Melvin Calingo also known as Taga-Ilog and the rest of the gang willingly shared some tips for aspiring independent comic artists. |
