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Gerry Alanguilan
Born	(1968-01-20)January 20, 1968 San Pablo City, Laguna, Philippines
Died	December 21, 2019(2019-12-21) (aged 51) San Pablo City, Laguna, Philippines
Nationality	Filipino
Notable works	Wasted Elmer Wetworks X-Men Superman: Birthright Wolverine Fantastic Four Supercrooks "Hey, Baby" video
http://komikero.com/

Doroteo Gerardo N. Alanguilan, Jr. (January 20, 1968 – December 21, 2019), also known in the Philippines by his alias Komikero, was a Filipino comic book artist and writer from San Pablo, Laguna. He was an important figure in the Philippine comics renaissance of the 1990s and early 2000s, and is known internationally for his graphic novels Wasted and Elmer, and for his inking on American superhero comics such as Wetworks, X-Men, Superman: Birthright, Wolverine, and Fantastic Four.

Many of Alanguilan's titles take place in the Philippines or feature Filipino characters, such as Elmer, Johnny Balbona, Humanis Rex!, and Timawa. He incorporated elements of social commentary in his work, especially Elmer, which satirizes racism. The protagonist of Whilce Portacio and Brian Haberlin's comic series Stone, Gerry Alan, is named for him.

Early life

Gerry Alanguilan was born in the city of San Pablo, Laguna in the Philippines. According to family lore, their surname was originally San Gabriel and they trace their origins to the barrio/barangay of Sta. Catalina, now part of San Pablo City and known as "Sandig" before the Spanish conquest. Their surname was changed supposedly because a witch placed a curse that would make them destitute for seven generations. Alanguilan would later use this tale as the basis for his story San Dig 1944 in the Siglo: Freedom anthology. The word "alanguilan" is itself is the tagalog name of Cananga odorata, a flowering tree now better known by the Spanish variant of its name, "Ylang-ylang."

As a child, he owned a chicken named Solano, which would later become the inspiration for his graphic novel Elmer.

Alanguilan has cited Barry Windsor-Smith, Alfredo Alcala, Frank Miller, Katsuhiro Otomo and Alan Moore as creative influences, in particular Moore's 1980s reinterpretation of Marvelman.

Comics career

Wasted

Alanguilan studied to become an architect, but turned his hobby of comic book illustration into a career in order to be with his then-girlfriend. At first, much of Alanguilan's work in comics was on conventional American superhero titles. His first self-written comic was Wasted, originally intended for only his friends to read, and was later embarrassed by the large amounts of violence and profanity in it.

He published Wasted in the Philippines from July 1994 through July 1996, and from there its popularity spread to the United States, where it was praised by Warren Ellis, and established him as an independent comics creator.

Work with US-Based Comic Book Publishers

Starting around 1997, Alanguilan began to be known as an inker for American comic book titles like Wetworks, X-Men, Superman: Birthright, Wolverine, High Roads, Fantastic Four, and Silent Dragon, sometimes working alongside fellow Filipino comic book creators Leinil Francis Yu and Whilce Portacio.

After a long sabbatical from mainstream comics, Alanguilan, partnered again with Leinil Yu in 2012 on the art for Mark Millar's Supercrooks.

Elmer

In 2006, Alanguilan self-published a four-issue miniseries titled "Elmer," depicting a world in which chickens suddenly gain intelligence and the ability to speak like humans. It was collected and released as a trade paperback in 2009. In 2010, it was published in France by Editions Ca Et La and North America by Slave Labor Graphics. It eventually won the French ACBD Prix Asie (Asia Prize for Criticism) Award and the Prix Quai des Bulles Award in 2011. It was also nominated for the 2011 Best New Graphic Album Eisner Award.

TIMAWA

From 2007 to 2009, Alanguilan's adventure graphic novel TIMAWA was serialized in Buzz Magazine, earning a nomination as 2009 comic book series of the year at the 2009 Komikon Awards.

Rodski Patotski

In 2014, Alanguilan collaborated with Arnold Arre to release the  graphic novel Rodski Patotski: Ang Dalagang Baby. Written by Alanguilan and illustrated by Arre, the Philippines' National Book Development Board awarded Rodski Patotskiwith that year's National Book Award under the category of Best Book of Graphic Literature in English.

Other Works

Alanguilan also created several other titles which were published in various Filipino publications, such as Johnny Balbona for Mango Comics' humor publication "Mwahaha", and Humanis Rex! in Fudge Magazine. He collaborated with architect Arlan Esmeña to publish the graphic novel Where Bold Stars go to Die. He also contributed to local landmark anthologies Siglo: Freedom, Siglo: Passion and Filipino Komiks. In 2007, he created an autobiographical slice-of-life webcomic called Crest Hut Butt Shop, based on an earlier minicomic of the same name.

Critical and industry reception

His self-created titles attracted fans including comic creators Neil Gaiman and Warren Ellis.

Komiks advocacy

Alanguilan worked hard to promote Komiks as an art form appreciated by Filipinos, notably playing an important part in re-familiarizing the public with the work of Francisco Coching, leading to Coching's posthumous elevation to National Artist of the Philippines in 2014. He was also one of the leading voices in the protest against the conferment of the award to Carlo J. Caparas in 2009, which was finally voided by the Philippine Supreme court in 2013.

Komikero Artists Group

In 2002, Alanguilan organized an informal group of artists based in Laguna Province to create the Laguna Artists Group, which was soon renamed as the Komikero Artists Group. This group began simply as a group that would meet on the shores of Sampaloc lake to discuss komiks, but would later organize the San Pablo City Comics Festivals, which became a precursor of many later comics conventions in the Philippines. The influential group include Jonas Diego and Johnny Danganan, who would later serve as the visual inspiration for the titular character in Alanguilan's Johnny Balbona.

San Pablo City Comics Festivals

In 2003, the Komikero Artists Group organized the San Pablo City Comics Festival, at the Mariño Residence along Sampalok Lake in San Pablo City, with the aim of showcasing original komiks art works past and present. Alanguilan noted that "mini-comics conventions" had been happening in the Philippines as early as 1994. But the San Pablo City Comics Festival marked the first time such a convention happened outside Manila. It also became the precursor to the annual Komikon Comics Convention, which had its first run in the Bahay ng Alumni in UP Diliman a year later, in 2004.

Alanguilan played an active role in organizing the second San Pablo City Comics Festival, which took place at the San Pablo City Lion's Club along Sampalok Lake in 2009. The third run of the festival saw the Komikero Artists Group collaborating with the UPLB Graphic Literature Guild and holding the festival at the Ultimart Shopping Center, which is at the center of San Pablo City. The Fourth San Pablo City Comics Festival was held on January 20, 2019 - less than a year before Alanguilan died.

Komikero Komiks Museum

In 2016, Alanguilan founded the Komikero Komiks Museum, a brick-and-mortar museum in his hometown of San Pablo City, which he said was meant "to show our countrymen our rich history in the medium as well as to showcase the talent that we have.” It featured original art from early Philippine comic book industry leaders including Alfredo Alcala, Francisco Coching, Alex Niño, Steve Gan, Nestor Redondo, Tony Velasquez, and Hal Santiago. Alanguilan curated the museum until his death in 2019.

"Hey, Baby" meme

In 2009, he made a one-minute video titled "Hey, Baby", which consists mainly of him making comically lecherous facial expressions at his webcam. This video became popular on YouTube, and was featured on the January 25, 2011 episode of American television show Tosh.0. Clips from the video were used in several episodes of Russell Howard's Good News, often in response to the host asking questions like "What kind of creepy weirdo would come up with that?" In October 2010, Alanguilan was declared "The Greatest Man On The Internet" by video blogger Ray William Johnson. His creepy smiling face was also a popular meme in Indonesia, known as Ayo sini sama om ("come here to uncle"), usually used for comedic effect combined with other memes. As of 2019, the video had been viewed over 6 million times.

Other works

Alanguilan played the role of a human trafficker in Tin-tin,15, a short film created in 2010 to increase awareness of child trafficking in the Philippines.

Death and legacy

Alanguilan died on December 21, 2019, at the age of 51 years old in San Pablo, Laguna, Philippines.

Alanguilan is considered a vanguard of what has been called the "new wave" or "renaissance" of Philippine comics in the 1990s and 2000s. By that time, Philippine publishing industry had gone into decline, resulting in Philippine-made comic books disappearing from newsstands. But the rise of independent publications like Alanguilan's "Wasted" eventually gave rise to a growing culture of "indie" comics.

Awards

• 2011
  • Winner (for Elmer) Quai des Bulles – Ouest France 2011, St. Malo, France
  • Winner, Best Asian Album (for Elmer), Prix-Asie ACBD, France 2011
  • Nominee, Best New Album (for Elmer), Will Eisner Industry Awards, USA, 2011
  • Global Pinoy Awardee, SM Calamba, 2011
• 2010
  • Gawad Pinakamaningnining na Alagad ng Sining (Visual Arts), 2010
  • Outstanding San Pableño for Visual Arts, 2010

References

1. "Gerry Alanguilan Dies at Age 51". Newsarama. Retrieved 2019-12-20.
2. Rappler.com. "Filipino comic book legend Gerry Alanguilan dies". Rappler. Retrieved 2019-12-26.
3. "Filipino comic book artist Gerry Alanguilan passes away". Sunstar. 2019-12-21. Retrieved 2019-12-26.
4. ^ Alanguilan, Gerry (2012-11-16). "Who says Pinoy 'komiks' are dead?". The Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on 2012-11-20. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
5. ^ Southeast Asian cartoon art : history, trends and problems. Jefferson, North Carolina. p. 62. ISBN 978-0-7864-7557-5. OCLC 864676696.
6. Vera, Denise Angela De; Arong, Marie Rose (2019-01-02). "Cracking the Filipino sequence: two factors that shaped contemporary Philippine komiks". Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics. 10 (1): 106–121. doi:10.1080/21504857.2017.1419981. ISSN 2150-4857.
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13. "WASTED REVIEW - From the Desk Of Warren Ellis". Archived from the original on 2011-09-27. Retrieved 2011-08-12.
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15. Rosero, Earl Victor L. (2019-06-04). Andrews, C. F. (ed.). "Comics artist Gerry Alanguilan: Beyond the doubts, rejection and tears". GMA News Online. Routledge. pp. 61–78. ISBN 978-0-429-02811-3. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
16. Rumpus, Ron (July 18, 2011), "RonReads Interview: Gerry Alanguilan," Ron Reads. Retrieved January 13, 2017
17. Tano, Duy (June 2011), "Comics Cube Revies Eisner Nominated Elmer," Comics Cube. Retrieved January 13, 2017
18. "Prix Quai des Bulles," Quaidesbulles (French). Retrieved January 24, 2017. English translation
19. Chikiamco, Paolo. "Komikon Awards 2009: Nominees and Voting". Rocket Kapre – Fantastic Filipino Speculative Fiction. Archived from the original on 2009-10-27. Retrieved 2020-01-06.
20. https://www.philstar.com/lifestyle/lifestyle-features/2014/04/14/1312568/rodski-patotski-level-60
21. http://booksphilippines.gov.ph/rodski-patotski-ang-dalagang-baby/
22. https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/lifestyle/artandculture/181118/gerry-alanguilan-romanticizes-dead-bold-stars/story/
23. http://varsitarian.net/news/20101028/tales_of_cancer
24. "Neil Gaiman Review". Archived from the original on 2011-09-27. Retrieved 2011-08-12.
25. Marcelo, Sam L. (2016-04-13). "Favorite Things: The Art of Komiks". BusinessWorld. Archived from the original on 2019-07-20. Retrieved 2020-01-06.
26. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgHAfcjNJeI. {{cite AV media}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
27. ^ Toledo, Ryan (2011-11-25). "The 3rd San Pablo City Comics Festival". FlipGeeks. Archived from the original on 2012-03-10. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
28. "4th San Pablo City Comics Festival". The Alternative Magazine. 2019-01-18. Archived from the original on 2019-01-31. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
29. Olivares, Rick (2019-12-21). "Gerry Alanguilan: World-class illustrator who never forgot his roots". ABS CBN News and Public Affairs. Archived from the original on 2019-12-21. Retrieved 2020-01-06.
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31. ^ Hey, Baby! (Original Upload) by Komikero, retrieved 2019-12-20
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36. https://www.marvel.com/articles/comics/remembering-gerry-alanguilan-1968-2019

• Myka Santiago (2009-02-06). "Taking Comic Seriously". 88DB.com Philippines Lifestyle Magazine. Archived from the original on 2009-06-07. Retrieved 2009-10-08.

External links

• Komikero - Official website
• Taga San Pablo - deviantART
• - YouTube channel
• Futureal Studio - Interview with Futureal Studio
• The Comics Reporter Interview with Tom Spurgeon at the Comics Reporter blog

• 1968 births
• Filipino artists
• Filipino comics artists
• Tagalog-language writers
• Filipino speculative fiction writers
• People from San Pablo, Laguna
• Artists from Laguna (province)
• Writers from Laguna (province)
• 2019 deaths