The art of the cartoonist

Not everyone knew the late acknowledged dean of Philippine cartoonists Larry Alcala, but hardly anyone escaped from the man’s humor serialized in various publications. Even little kids got a big kick out of looking for the caricature of Alcala’s profile hidden somewhere in his Slice of Life.

His influence on generations of Filipino cartoonists is of course undeniable, having been a founding member of the Samahang Kartunista ng Pilipinas, the group of local cartoonists and assorted humorists who, paradoxically, found themselves bonding together in a serious manner – i.e., with the view to promoting homegrown humor and its dogged purveyors as bona fide craftsmen, and so should be properly compensated for their efforts.

Mention the name of any Pinoy cartoonist of note and he will be sure to point to Alcala as a major influence. Roxlee has tipped his ragged hat off to him, Rene Aranda has noted his old UP Fine Arts mentor’s avuncular visage, and the now Singapore-based Dengcoy Miel –whose own stockily built body and eyeglasses might recall the young Alcala –even called up long-distance to verify the sad news.

My own acquaintance with Alcala has largely been through his comic strips – notably Siopawman and Asyong Aksaya, which were staple reading fare for a boy growing up during the martial law years.

Siopawman was a subtle parody of the all-American Superman, complete with cape and, in the Pinoy’s case, sidekick. Siopawman went through all sorts of adventures, showcasing the keen narrative style of its author.

Asyong Aksaya, on the other hand, was good for its fair share of one-liners, and whose character should be seen in a new light what with the current mess of the PPA. Asyong Aksaya was even made into a movie, but we forget now the actor who played the title role.

As with many other comic strips transposed into movies that are not animation, the Alcala adaptation received mixed reviews.

One could perhaps draw parallels with the act of looking for Alcala’s caricature to readers carefully perusing the old Cesar Asar strip in the Bulletin for tips on jai alai. Many comics and gambling fans swore that Roxlee had the inside goods on what was the day’s combination, and for which they would turn Cesar Asar upside down and inside out for a clue or shade of a hidden magic number.

It should be noted that Cesar Asar has also been adapted to a full-length movie version, again with middling success because it wasn’t animation. One might hazard a guess that Roxlee first picked up the Super 8 camera at about the time Alcala was introducing the course in 8 mm. filmmaking at the UP College of Fine Arts.

As for Aranda, it shouldn’t take a rocket scientist to discern that in such strips as Sports Manny, Prof and even SPO Juan, the student owes much to the teacher.

There are as yet no plans to transpose Aranda’s characters into the big screen, although the narrative style should not make it difficult to do so; the only thing stopping it is that the strips would again suffer if the movie is not in animation.

Miel, who practically grew up with this paper, has his own distinct brand of humor that is slightly more cutting than Alcala’s, but it becomes evident that he might not even have begun to draw without first coming across the late cartoonist’s strips.

It was Alcala’s dream that the local comics would be syndicated, effectively raising cartoonist’s rates and putting a stop to their long-term exploitation, but somehow the setup may not work in an archipelago with innumerable dialects and dispositions, because what is funny in Waray might be an insult in Kankanay. The drawings then should bear the message home, he-he-ho-ha.

Nonoy Marcelo, who is in the generation after Alcala’s, has done the next best thing to syndicated strips by keeping up his PTYK, the weekly humor and satire publication that comes with the Manila Times.

The latest incarnation of PTYK, however, has a lot of prose due to the regular columnists, as compared to its issues in the late ‘80s that was strictly a forum for local cartoonists from the absurd to the downright corny.

In fact the only other homegrown cartoonist that might have a wider influential scope than Alcala may be Marcelo, whose Tisoy and Ikabod Bubwit were necessary allegories of their respective times (‘60s and ‘80s).

But while Marcelo’s social commentary was more biting and politically tuned, Alcala’s own takes on society at large were no less perceptive, though admittedly clothed in a rambunctious style that was hardly an anachronism in the rough and tumble world of Pinoy street humor.