KA-BLOG!

Just saw the Jessica Soho report last night about local komiks. The komiks scene here is pretty much gasping for air right now. Some of those interviewed said that the decline of komiks was due to TV. But for me that's not a really valid reason. Come on, TV has been around for decades. It didn't affect komiks then, why should it now?

It was sad to see what befell of komiks novelist Pablo S Gomez. He quickly found fame and fortune during the heyday of komiks (which they placed around the 70s-early 90s) but lost everything. he opened his own publishing house, even bought a mansion. But the publishing house went under, and he was forced to sell his house just to make ends meet.

One reason why komiks can hardly find an audience nowadays is that you can hardly find them. They had this story of this old guy from Antipolo who has to travel all the way to Cubao to buy komiks. Even I have a hard time tracking down komiks. The newsstand where I buy my copies recently closed (in Edsa Central) because they closed the whole Edsa Central compound.

And this one artist for Funny Komiks just proved Gerry's point about being original. He draws in an anime inspired style, and when Jessica asked him if he felt bad that there was no trace of being Pinoy in his work, he said yes, he felt bad, but the Japanese style sells so that's why he does it. Really sad.

It seems the komiks lost touch with it's audience because it has lost its Pinoy flavor. Used to be, you can relate to the characters, the stories, because they were firmly set in our roots. Most komiks selling before were dramas, action, comedy etc. that reflected everyday Pinoy life. I think we need to go back to that, instead of pandering to what we think will sell.