The Top 4 Most Successful Komiks of This Generation (Part 2 of 4)

*Read from the start: (Part 1  Part 2  Part 3  Part 4)

 Wooow…. Nokia 3310! 

Falling in at the third spot is Culture Crash Comics (first issue: 1999, last: 2004), a komiks-magazine that started another revolution in Philippine komiks. It came out during the times when the whole nation stopped to watch the epic battles of a laser-sword-swashbuckling giant robot, wide-eyed cartoon figures that can destroy a whole planet in one blast, and spirit warriors fighting in gladiatorial battles in a coliseum –the time when the Anime/Manga invasion was in full throttle.

The komiks community responded and created a new genre to adapt. Pinoy Manga (let’s use that term in the mean time) was born. Culture Crash earned loads of criticisms, but acquired legions of supporters as well. For some time, it created turmoil in the komiks industry. For a while, there was division in opinions, flaring up debates in online forums. The Manga, Classic Pinoy and Western styles of drawing komiks collided in a glorious mayhem!

On the Pinoy Manga side were young guns caught in a whirlwind of a very powerful Anime/Manga influence. The resisting parties were mostly composed of seasoned veterans, who somehow had a difficult time accepting that manga has started its course to reshape pinoy komiks culture. It has been brewing even long before, and now it is ready to take center stage.

In the end, a lot of the guys who had doubts to this new genre had to concede and accept this new bloods as bonafide brothers in the industry, rather than lost, characterless turncoats. Those guys included me!

The fans thought there was something really odd with TVJ during the red carpet premier of Iskul Bukol. ( kubori Kikiam, M. David)

Culture Crash Comics/CCCom/C3, unlike the struggling independent komiks artists in the Philippines, had the funding and mechanisms to widely distribute their stuff. James Palabay (Da Bhoss), made sure he had that covered and at the same time, he compiled a powerhouse team of Pinoy Manga talents to complete his lineup. Palabay, together with his artists, Elmer Damaso (IQ 40), Jio Beltran (JIO), Michael David (Taga-Kanal) and Melvin Calingo (Taga-Ilog) permanently inscribed their names in the history pages of Pinoy Manga, and therefore to Pinoy Komiks history as well.

They came up with a clash of cultures: a komiks unlike anything that’s done before. Being a zine, C3 was a bulletin board for movies, gadgets and pinoy pop culture. But the main dishes of course are the featured komiks created from start to finish by Filipino artists. The style was untraditional with all those sleek lines and stylized anatomy, but Filipino hints in the komiks are undeniable.

 Ada and Dodong had a lot of LQ’s the first time they moved to the big city. (Pasig, Taga-Ilog)

Although heavily criticized, mostly on originality and character, Culture Crash managed to attract a huge fan base and was able to sustain production for five years. Within that timeline, the group produced fourteen issues of pure pinoy manga goodness, and organized two anime/manga conventions.

The C3 Con gathered anime fans in one place to express themselves and their love to the craft. There pinoy manga creators sold their komiks and cosplayers performed to the fans’ delight. Such kind gathering is yet again unfamiliar to us pinoys until Culture Crash.

With the inspiration it provided to pinoy manga fans and creators, and a commercially successful run to boost, Culture Crash is at the tip of the spearhead in the growth of Pinoy Manga.   

Muy-muy and friends won the science fair with their entry, “Ang Baliktad na Halamang Tao sa Paso.” (CCCom reunion, Komikon ‘08, original photo from alpmobs)