15 Komiks you should be reading right now
We at Super super love Pinoy komiks. We think more people should discover the joys of Pinoy komiks and so we asked Komiket president Paolo Herras to list 10 komiks we should all be reading right now from Komiket, of course, plus other publishers.
“Sorry, I couldn’t trim it down to 10,” he told us. No apologies needed because to us, the more komiks, the merrier. On this page you’ll see his full list—15 titles you need to check out.
But what if you want to do more than read? What if you want to join the colorful and creative world of Filipino komiks?
Herras, also an author and film director, has long been an advocate of Pinoy komiks. He’s one of the founders of Komiket, the nonprofit that works to nurture and grow the Filipino komiks community. Komiket organizes comics art markets and publishes Filipino komiks. “We’ve been creating spaces to make komiks accessible to readers,” Herras said.
Komiket doesn’t just champion existing comic books, authors and artists, they also have programs to help develop new ones. Komiket has produced a number of award-winning books and some of their authors have gotten book deals abroad and have titles that have been picked up for international release.
It’s the 10th year of Komiket University, their annual comic book creator’s workshop. This year it will happen on Aug. 17, Aug. 18, Aug. 24 and Aug. 25. You can apply via bit.ly/komiketubatch10. They’re collecting entries for Komiket’s Kommunity 2024 Comics Anthology, with animal comics as its theme until Aug. 1. They welcome all kinds of comics featuring animals—“including anthromorphs and furries, in any art style or genre, from realism to the fantastic, whether comic strips or narratives.”
But perhaps the most exciting thing on Komiket’s calendar is the Philippine International Comics Festival (Picof) happening in July. “It’s the only comics festival in the world, it’s like Cinemalaya for comics. We have an official selection of graphic novels in English. Why English? Because we’re trying to position Filipino comics as global and that would trickle down to local readership,” said Herras.Want to join Picof? They’re accepting entries until April 30.
Find @Komiket and @PhilippineInternationalComicsFestival on Facebook for more details.
1. “Sa Wala” by Renren Galeno (Komiket)
2. “Death Be Damned” by Mike Alcazaren, Noel Pascual and AJ Bernardo (Komiket), winner of Best Graphic Novel in English at the 41st National Book Awards
3. “Josefina” by Russell Molina and Ace Enriquez (Anino Comics), winner of Best Graphic Novel in Filipino at the 41st National Book Awards
4. “Way Way Out There” by Cat S. (Komiket), winner, The White Ravens 2023 (Germany)
5. “Duty Ka Ba?” by Tepai Pascual (19th Avenida), finalist for Best Graphic Novel in Filipino at the 41st National Book Awards
6. “Spirit Sprints” by Bernie Mercado, Nina Torralba and Hansel Dimapilis (Penlab)
7. “Silakbo Volume 1” & “Volume 2” by Various Creators, Edited by Logihy (Penlab)
8. “Godhark” by Sean Manaloto, finalist for Best Graphic Novel in English at the 41st National Book Awards
9. “Libing-Isa” by Malayo Pa Ang Umaga (Anino Comics)
10. “Sining Killing” by Randy Valiente (Komiket)
11. “Depikto” by Ruvel Abril (Komiket)
12. “Rurok Erotic Comics & Art Anthology,” finalist for Best Anthology at the 41st National Book Awards
13. “Maharlika” by Rexy Dorado and John Ray (Penlab)
14. “Somewhere In My Past Volume 1” by Gigi Chan (Komiket)
15. “Aswang High” by Macoy & Cy Vendivil (Komiket)
