Formerly the most popular medium of literature in the country during the 20th century, Filipino comics are being revived amid the online landscape of entertainment today
Think back to your earliest childhood memories. Perhaps the Internet was but a dream at the time, or maybe dial-up made it challenging to enjoy. But if you grew up without ready access to Wi-Fi or LTE, you may have a special place in your heart for comic books. I remember dusty old boxes of Archie, Garfield, and Calvin & Hobbes at home, poring over them on a bright Sunday afternoon. This was the reality for many of those who grew up before the 21st century—and in the '70s, '80s, and '90s, Filipino comics were the likely choice.
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"More people read comics in the Philippines than newspapers and magazines," says Rexy Dorado, co-founder and president of Kumu. "It was the most popular print medium locally." But with the advent of TV and the Internet, interest in the artform began to dwindle.
"One of the reasons why the comics industry kind of broke down before was because the industry was not taking care of its creators," explains Nissie Arcega, a comics enthusiast and one of the co-founders of Penlab Philippines. "Even though we have some publishing companies, they don't really invest a lot in comics [anymore]. Not a lot of people [even] know that there's still a comics scene, even if the community is still very much alive and creating. It's still in a bubble."
There was also the fact that before the 2000s, the comics industry was pretty niche. "There were only a few players actually in the '70s or '80s. And so when they shut down, everybody also disappeared," explains Bernie Mercado, who co-created the comic Katipunera Warrior, also available on Penlab.
"It was basically one or two companies by the end of the '90s. And then those companies shut down, they took the industry down with them. So it's more of an industry shock rather than demand-driven," says Dorado.
The solution then? An inclusive online platform that can support a variety of Filipino writers and creatives.