Filipino comics: staying alive and diverse

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SLICES OF A KOMIKERO’S LIFE, a tribute to National Artist for Comics Larry Alcala, includes 100 renditions of him displayed together on a wall. — BRONTË H. LACSAMANA

SOME of the selected titles for this year’s PICOF are Strike the Spark by Maria Maranan (left), and Watchdog of Manila by Lucas Lacorte. — BRONTË H. LACSAMANA

Philippine International Comics Festival opens market, exhibits for free

WHILE Philippine comics no longer holds the same influence in local pop culture as before, the industry lives on through a vibrant independent scene that is starting to be recognized abroad.

The ’50s up to the ’80s saw Filipinos frequent newsstands to be engrossed in classic titles, cut short in the ’90s due to many factors like economic decline, influx of foreign comics, and the increased accessibility of other media. Now sought out by a niche among the educated middle class as well as curious readers from Europe, the Philippine International Comics Festival (PICOF) is set to celebrate what Filipino comics has become today.

Running from July 10 to 12 at Ayala Malls The 30^th in Pasig City, the event will bring together Filipino and international creators, creatives, publishers, readers, educators, and comics enthusiasts. For the first time since PICOF began in 2020, the comics market, exhibits, masterclasses, comic book talks, artist battles, and live drawing events are free for all to access.

Another thing that sets them apart is that they’re the only comics festival in the world with an annual official selection of 10 graphic novel pitches, according to Komiket co-founder and director of PICOF, Paolo Herras. The selected pitches are then nurtured in a creator’s lab.

“We help the authors develop their work, from pitch to final manuscript. When they’re ready, that’s when it’s published,” he told BusinessWorld at the sidelines of PICOF’s special exhibit openings last Friday.

Some of the selected titles this year are Watchdog of Manila by Lucas Lacorte, The Ticking Stone by Vaughn Pinpin and Tristan Yuvienco, Tablay: The Graphic Novel by Katrina F. Olan and Paul Medalla, Strike the Spark by Maria Maranan, and There’s a Daemon in my Head! by Milo Galang.

Mr. Herras explained that Komiket represents the Philippines in international book fairs like the Frankfurt Book Fair, the London Book Fair, and Angoulême Festival in France.

“Some of our books are translated already in other languages,” he said. “We’re actually the most translated literary genre of the Philippines, based on the survey done by the National Book Development Board when they were the Guest of Honor last year at the Frankfurt Book Fair.”

He added that PICOF is a proof-of-concept of the grassroots approach. Last year’s National Book Awards winner for Best Graphic Novel and Comics in English, Ilongga artist Lucia Asul with her work Lucia Dreaming, came from their official selection program.

“We’re actually one of the most licensed creative industries, but we lack support,” Mr. Herras continued, pointing out that they’re now holding the event in Ayala Malls The 30^th, much smaller than last year’s venue of SM Megamall. “We have zero government funding. They spend millions on film or animation or game development — which those industries do deserve — but comics doesn’t get anything at all.”

“We have proof that we are globally competitive. The countries where our books are published and translated are not small. There’s France, Italy, Germany. It’s hard to penetrate these foreign markets, but we’re able to do it,” he added.

This year, PICOF is presented in partnership with Japan Foundation Manila (JFM), Larry Alcala 100 Years, Mozaiku Prints, and BLushCon. It is through these partners that the comics market is able to feature independent Filipino creators, publishers, and international exhibitors offering the freshest releases of comics and graphic novels.

JFM also played a role in fostering cultural exchanges with Japan, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, and Australia. One way this manifested is in the special exhibit SINTA: Queer Stories Across Asia, featuring creators from Japan and Southeast Asia who explore stories of love, identity, and belonging through comics and sequential art, curated by Kristine Michelle Santos of BLushCon.

“The future of comics is female and regional,” Mr. Herras told BusinessWorld. “There are more female creators now. There are more LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer plus) and PWD (persons with disabilities) creators now.”

Another major exhibit is the Philippine tribute to National Artist for Comics, Larry Alcala, which celebrates the centennial of his birth through his original works, Slices of a Komikero’s Life. An amusing must-see would be the one hundred renditions of his icon by independent komiks creators, all displayed together on a wall.

New releases to look forward to at the festival are Arnold Arre’s Children of Bathala Volume 4, Ian Velasquez’ The Life and Art of Tony Velasquez, Carlo Jose San Juan’s Callous’ 30^th Anniversary (in two volumes), and Arli Pagaduan’s Ode to Panels. Other highlights include Pura Luka Vega and Jap Mikel’s Vaklat, Tobie Abad’s Diliman Generation Now Vol. 1, Tish Valenzuela’s Drawn To Love, Lucia Asul’s Nightgate Volume 1, and Komiket Komiks Magazine Issue #2.

PICOF’s masterclass program will also bring industry professionals together, like Tori Tadiar, Cat Aquino, and Dominique Duran (Philippines), Masaomi Ito (Japan), Joshua Chieng (Singapore), and Kristina Turner (Australia), among many others.

“It’s actually a strategic move to call it the Philippine International Comics Festival. It’s not because we want the international people to come here or because of colonial mentality. It’s a decision to position local work as international, meaning to say our works are globally competitive,” Mr. Herras explained.

“I would compare PICOF’s role in comics to what Cinemalaya does for film, producing work that’s not in a box, which is why we resonate more with Europe than with the US,” he added.

Like how many independent films celebrated in festivals like Sundance and Cannes are able to come home with laurel wreaths and pique people’s interest, PICOF hopes that the success of titles in their official selections each year will garner similar interest for comics.

“We commit to these titles. We commit to help them develop their work and to publish them, with high royalty rates, so we don’t take the intellectual property from the writers and authors,” Mr. Herras said. “They get to keep their intellectual property rights. We just get the right to publish here in the Philippines for 7 years, usually 2,000 copies. When we have our comic events, we sell them there.”

As for why most of the comic books are in English, he explained that it’s about the demographics. “The creators are middle-class, and readers in Visayas and Mindanao don’t want to read in Filipino. They want to read in English. It’s part of our regionalism,” he said.

Mr. Herras posited that Filipinos’ aversion to paying for anything digital is a huge obstacle for all creative industries.

“Social media is free. Wattpad is free. So, when you ask people to pay, they will not pay. We’re also the number one piracy country of this world, so it’s easy to send PDFs for 20 pesos. That’s why we stick to print,” he said.

One thing comics has going for it is how it’s considered both a literary and visual art, with literary events considering them “fun books” and visual art events seeing them as “affordable art.”

For Mr. Herras, the Department of Education buying books for schools is a good start, but local government units have to follow suit for their public schools and libraries as well.

“Generally, we’re competing with international titles. Readers have access to manga, Asian webcomics, and Marvel and DC titles through pirated sites,” he said. “Our comics have to be international quality. And guess what? They already are.”

The Philippine International Comics Festival 2026 runs from July 10 to 12 at Ayala Malls The 30^th in Pasig City. Its special exhibits are already open, also until July 12. — Brontë H. Lacsamana