Komiks

To many Filipino children who grew up in the 80s and 90s including myself, komiks was a big favorite. It's how many of us got into reading, and how we got over the long summer breaks from school.

I remember, I think I was 5 or 6 years old when I often got scolded by my Lola because I would sneak out in our house just to go to Aling Biring's. Aling Biring was a neighbor who had a collection of Komiks, she would let me read her komiks in their house. She doesn't want me to bring it out for the reason that it might be destroyed or I might soil it.

You can see komiks being sold in the sari-sari stores. It has been tagged and still, as "pang-masa" or folk media since it is the recognized reading fare of the lower classes. This maybe due to their being able to identify with the komiks' heroes or heroines in the varied situations in which the characters find themselves. Another factor is that the komiks may be their only source of entertainment. As a form of escape, the komiks have great appeal to the masses. With it, they can find a temporary balm to their seemingly endless and unsolvable problems.

Reading komiks was one of the past times of the Filipinos. Just in our neighborhood, you can see people of all ages reading komiks. Even children who don't know how to read yet. They get attracted to its colorful drawings, and somehow understand the story.

The first Filipino komiks was Jose Rizal's "Ang Matsing at ang Pagong." It is a tale about how a turtle outwits a monkey, even though he still loses the prize they fight for.

And then in 1929, after the Spaniards have been driven out by the Americans, Tony Velasquez created the character Kenkoy, in the strip "Kabalbalan ni Kenkoy"(The Misadventures of Kenkoy).

In 1946, Mars Ravelo created the character of "Darna." Co-created by Nestor Redondo, Darna is a Superman, Wonderwoman, and Captain Marvel, rolled into one. It is about a story or a young woman named Narda who swallows a magic stone, enabling her to switch into the superpowered form of Darna. Ravelo also created a bunch of komiks characters like Captain Barbel, Dyesebel, Flash Bomba, and Bondying.

Komiks is one of the reason why i had a very memorable childhood. Besides playing the so-called "larong pang-masa", it became a scar that cannot be removed. It thought me how to cry, laugh,and most importantly the reason why I am fond of reading at a very young age. I read everything that caught my interest, newspapers, magazines. I remember a particular magazine, the "Liwayway Magazine." I saved money just to buy that magazine and I ended having a bunch of those. Nowadays, I don't see any komiks being sold in the sari-sari stores or the streets. I think komiks became a collectible items, though I am not sure of it.

I hope I had given you a reason to reminisce those memories. Memories of komiks in your childhood (80s and 90s kids).

photos and information source: google