BOTH the Japanese manga and the Filipino komiks were heavily shaped by American cultural influences like Disney animation and by comics such as Superman.
That is one view. For Japan and the Philippines to disabuse those opinions, each has to draw on historical precedents.
ORIGINS
Japanese scholars proudly point to scrolls that date back to the 12th century, the kibyoshi of the Edo period, other woodblock prints, even theatrical images as precursors of today’s manga.
Kibyoshi are picture books from the late 18th century that had graphical narratives which contained humorous, satirical, and romantic themes, mostly for adults.
Filipinos, on the other hand, tip the hat to Jose Rizal as the first Filipino comics artist when he drew in sequential drawings “The Monkey and the Turtle.”
It is a tale on morality where the oppressed comes out as the victor - akin to the Japanese tale “The Monkey and the Crab.”
Having a national hero as the pioneer of comics seem to have more gravitas.
However, while my idol Rizal’s komiks were originally just meant for the eyes of a friend, the forerunners of manga were for wider audiences.
LITERACY FACTORS
Why so? Japanese were relatively more literate.
The Filipino masses were generally kept from reading and writing for more than 300 years by their Spanish colonizers, limiting the pleasure of erudition to the local elites and middle class.
Education was controlled by religion.
It was only after the next colonizers, the Americans, introduced public education system at the turn of the 20th century, did a greater number of Filipinos came upon the wonders of deciphering written symbols and codes.
The Japanese were more sophisticated in what academics call as semiotics, where people have deeper grasps of meanings in words, drawings, and other visuals or signals.
INFLUENCE OF AMERICAN COMICS
In a profound sense, comics is an amalgam of signs that makes use of how people perceive their worlds.
Literacy spells the longevity of manga and komiks. Sino ang may baon, at sino ang wala.
In comparing Japanese manga and Filipino komiks here, we use the end of World War II as the rebooting line, after both peoples were exposed to comics brought by American G.Is.
Filipinos were hot at the gates. They came out with Halakhak Comics magazine in 1946 that showcased new and eager-to-prove-their-mojos cartoonists like now National Artist Larry Alcala, Liborio Gatbonton, and Hugo Yonzon, Jr.
Halakhak died after 10 issues.
DARNA IN THE PHILIPPINES
At the start of the 50s, two separate comics characters would blaze the trails in their respective countries.
Darna, created by novelist Mas Ravelo and illustrator Nestor Redondo in 1950, was a flying super-heroine who fought criminals and monsters.
Although Ravelo said that she was based on Superman, Darna’s physical look is apparently inspired by Wonder Woman with the accoutrements of power bracelets and the brief attires emblazoned with stars and wings.
Darna, an alien, may look modest with a loin cloth but her belly button shows while WW midriff has always been covered.
ASTRO BOY OF JAPAN
Japan’s Astro Boy was conceived in 1952 by manga artist Osamu Tezuka who had admitted that his creation was inspired by the eyes, proportion, and mien of Mighty Mouse and Mickey Mouse.
Originally named Mighty Atom, It tells of a robot boy living with humans. It had an emphatic subtext: Japan will rise with technology.
Darna was immediately made into a feature film, beating Wonder Woman by almost seventy years. It has had 14 reincarnations in the movies.
Astro Boy ran for 112 chapters in 16 years and was compiled into 23 volumes that sold more 100 million copies worldwide. It has been made several times into an anime for television and for the film theaters in later years.
Darna was last revived as komiks in 2001 by Mango Comics and won a National Book Award. (To be continued)