Filipino artists in American Comics part 1

[blackruzsa]

Me again ;) So by turtlefu's suggestion, I'm presenting a short list of Filipino artists in the American comics scene. Some you might know, some you might not, but the point I'm trying to make today is how big a part these guys play in the Comics scene.

Let's start with some familiar ones.

Leinil Francis Yu

If you haven't heard of him, I'd be shocked.



He's done lots of work for Marvel, though he went big time through Wildstorm.

He's most popular for his work on Wolverine, among other things.


Then there's Francis Manapul, Filipino-Canadian... I kinda just fell in love with his artwork, and was pleasantly surprised to learn that he has kababayan blood in him too. He did work on Flash and Superboy, and Top Cow stuff including Witchblade.




And Legion of Superheroes, almost forgot.




Whilce Portacio is one of the older, more legendary ones.

Did work for The Punisher, X-Factor, Uncanny X-men, and apparently co-founded Image comics.



and these.



He even made a Filipino comic character in an American comic, Wetworks. I'm still looking into that.

Moving on...

We also have Stephen Segovia, who did and still does do work for Marvel, on titles such as Dark Wolverine, and more recently:



His pencil work is just....

I can't put it in words.




I met this guy. He was super nice, and funny ;)

***Me: Sir, there's this whole fanclub that knows you for your art online.
Segovia: Really? Are you sure they weren't the ones I paid to make me look good?
*laughs*

***the conversation was in Tagalog

And last, for now, and near the most, is Tony DeZuniga.

If you don't recognize him... do you know Jonah Hex? He created him, with John Albano.



Guy's a legend.



One of the much earlier artists of comics.

-----------------------------



I've got quite a number lined up, but I've gotta put it all together first.

You'd be surprised ;) And if you're wondering why I'm doing this, I'm doing it for the same reason I post all other Filipino-related posts.

Comments

[thelazyreader]

Didn't Leinil Francis Yu also illustrate the Superman: Birthright miniseries?

[blackruzsa]

Mayhap. I didn't list ALL their works, since it would take up too much space.

[aaron_bourque]

Yes. He was really good in that. What. Happened.

[blackruzsa]

His inker, maybe? Or maybe he had more time to work on it.

[meicdon13]

EEEEE Manapul! I love his art! Did you seen his fanart of Captain Barbell and Darna?

[blackruzsa]

where?!

[meicdon13]

http://meicdon13.deviantart.com/favourites/?offset=72#/d1qqil5

o/

[blackruzsa]

It's beautiful ;w;

[meicdon13]

Call me shallow but I love the fact that CB's topless -- all of the latest incarnations of him have shirts. So sad. /pervs on CB

[jelly_ace]

Sadly, my copy of Superman: Birthright signed by Yu is now in the hands of another Superman fan. :(

And I have a copy of a Teen Titans copy drawn by Garcia Lopez, and was inked by a Pinoy. His surname starts with a T...*too lazy to Google*

[blackruzsa]

I'll look into that for my next post ;)

[icon_uk]

That would be Romeo Tanghal

[katok]

Well this is certainly informative. I've never even heard of Tony DeZuniga, Google time.

[bazorkin.livejournal.com]

Don't forget about Ernie Chan.
He's drawn some of my favorite black and white art on Savage Sword of Conan for decades.

[icon_uk]

I was going to mention him if you didn't! :)

Has a good webapge too

Also, the late, great Alfredo Alcala

[blackruzsa]

I'll put it on my list :)

[greenmask]

Oooh, great information! I never really pondered where most creators come from or what their background might be, only which channels their works comes to me through.

Thanks for this!

You might not know of this...

[bewareofgeek]

Whilce also worked on a comic called Stone, which was also based on Pinoy folklore & legends (particularly, agimats)

Re: You might not know of this...

[blackruzsa]

I do know this ;) I got Stone recently after a grueling search. I'm about to have a sit down and read about it.

Stephen Segovia...

[jazzypom]

Love his work. Whilce Portatio introduced me to Trevor Fitzroy, Shinobi Shaw, Bishop, Malcolm and Randall back in the day.

Is Portatio still drawing? I do remember him having complications of diabetes back in the day and was absent from comics for a while.

Re: Stephen Segovia...

[blackruzsa]

I'm not sure, but I don't think he's done anything new.

[morgana006]

Nice post!

Yu did Superman: Birthright, right? I admit I don't always like his work (he's not a bad artist, it's a style thing), but I loved his work in Birthright. (Post googling: Yes he did. :D)

Manapul's art is nice, and I've seen him at panels a couple of times at Toronto's Fanexpo, and he seems like a pretty cool guy.

The others I don't recognize as well, but I think I've seen their art around.

I know this is just part one, but do you know it there's any female Filipino artists?

[blackruzsa]

I'm still looking, but I note a shortage of female artists.

[proteus_lives]

Oh yeah. Grail was the Filipino character in Wetworks. I still have all those issues.

[blackruzsa]

I want those issues :P I'm getting them, though how many issues am I looking at?

[proteus_lives]

I think you only to check out the first volume of wetworks so I think it's 30-40 issues.

[halloweenjack]

Thanks for the info--I'd assumed that many of these artists were Latino. Tony DeZuniga goes waaaaay back.

[psychopathicus_rex]

Who is the lady way off to the right in that first scan that has the wings? I mean, my first guess would have been Wasp, but I'm pretty sure she can only grow wings when she's tiny.

[blackruzsa]

I think it's Wasp. She looks a bit small, so maybe she was shrinking midway and her wings look half grown, so midtransformation?

[psychopathicus_rex]

I suppose it's possible. Still, I thought her wings didn't grow at all until she was teeny-weeny.

[blackruzsa]

I never really noticed if that was the case...

[psychopathicus_rex]

It's part of how her powers work, as I recall - when she's full-sized, she only has the power to shrink herself; when she's shrunken down she has wings and her Wasp's Sting.

[karunya]

I've always loved Manapaul's style: the feeling of stillness within motion, the gentle heroic faces. Now I'm gonna have to learn about Captain Barbell too! *smiles*

[ogrebear]

I've looked up Manapaul's work now- wow. Very impressive portfolio.

Now to look up the others!.