ARTISTRY BEYOND BOUNDS
By Elisa P. Perez

 After a two year hiatus, veteran comic book illustrator Whilce Portacio launches the first internationally-released comic book using Filipino themes and characters.
 Titled “Stone”, the book is the first release of Avalon Studios, the newest publishing venture of Whilce and co-owner Brian Habrlin.
 Scheduled to be shipped to US comic book retailers this August, “Stone” is a supernatural adventure centering on a mystique battle to take control of a number of gems called “Agimats,” which are stones of power in Filipino folklore. The book will run for five years with a total of 56 issues.
 The funny thing is that Whilce doesn’t have one Filipino writer in his staff to write a Philippine folklore-based material. He has several researchers though.
 Inspired by our own Filipino myths and legends, “Stone” will have the main character Gerry Alan, a superhero on television, locked in combat with a Tikbalang Prince of War, a vicious Manananggal, hordes of Kisapmata destroyers, Magic Hunters called Redeemers, Sirena Warrios, wise Nuno Revellers and hypnotic Kapres.
 In the story, Gerry owns50 pairs of Agimats, each giving its owner a different superpower. If both halves of a given pair are brought together, the owner becomes much stronger. However, bringing the pairs together isn’t all that good idea. The Agimats are actually fragments of a demonic being who was shattered long time ago and the more of them are brought back together, the more that being’s will is felt in the real world.
 Gerry’s character is a transition from a superhero to a normal man’s perspective. Of course, he is not that normal but he goes on to become much more what he thought himself capable. Gerry isn’t very nice at first and he is everything a hero shouldn’t be. He was forced to become a real hero to save human kind. From a typical Hollywood Brat, he transforms to becoming his Filipino self again.

OUR TIME HAS COME

 People are now turning away from the super fantasies. Arnold Schwarzenneger’s character as Mr. Freeze in “Batman” is great but it is hard for the audiences to believe that he could be real. It’s only Hollywood’s shock value,” Whilce reason in an exclusive interview with C’st La Vie.
 Whilce has just arrived in Manila after a very successful “Stone” launch in Chicago where he signed autographs and did sketches for fans.
 He and Brian manned the Avalon booth six to eight hours a day with two TV monitors playing the “Stone” video featuring Whilce drawings and 3D CGI images of “Stone” characters.
 Also looped on the other monitor were flash animations done on the computer for the internet. The Preview Book, which serves as a sneak peak of the first three titles, were sold out by day two of the convention.
 Having been raised in the United States, Whilce has a shallow knowledge of his own legends and myths. Therefore he was just as curios to discover the richness of Philippine mythology peppered with ‘underworld characters” like the aswang (witch), kapre (black hairy giant with a large cigar), dwende (gnome or troll), engkanto (fairy), tiyanak (goblin believed to be the spirit of an infant who died unbaptized), and Tikbalang (with a horse’s neck, head and hoofs).
 “’Stone’ is an emotional vehicle to introduce the fantastic heroes and villains that foreign audiences have never heard before, just like troll who acts as a tour guide and a royal warrior family of horse-like creatures set to rule the world. I hope to expose the international audiences to all the legends , myths and folk tales locked in the Filipino psyche,” Whilce declares.
 Whilce expressed disappointments on the Filipino’s tendency to lose interest in our cultural background while they indulge in Japanese-made creations like “Power Rangers” and “Dragon Balls” which are miles away from what is Filipino.
 “It’s unfortunate that the Philippines has been overrun by other countries. Therefore, what has been handed down to us are fragmented to say the least. As a creator, this is a fantastic opportunity to embellish and fill in what was left out,’ he adds.
 Whilce has been enjoying international prestige for 12 years now and he could have launched a similar project years ago but due to “politics”, he had to wait a while.

PINOY INVADES MARVEL

 I have always wanted to create something Filipino but everytime I do that something always comes up at the last minute. I could create it anytime but am I reaching an audience? But slowly, I saw that there was a market for it and from then on, there was no turning back,” Whilce recollects.
 For “Stone,” Whilce had to make a compromise by injecting elements which peoplefrom other cultures can relate to. His main goal therefore was acceptance.
 That explains why the main character originally named Gerry Alanguilan, his best friend, was changed to Gerry Alan, which is easier to pronounce.
 Whilce admits that there had been changes in the visual representations of the mythical characters.
 “I have to apologize for some inaccuracies but I’m not doing a historical book,” he reasons.
 Unlike some other lines, Avalon Studios is owned by the creators and they are not written and drawn by the same person.
 Owner/creator Whilce is a Fine Arts graduate of the Philippine Women’s University (PWU). He is a founding member of the highly-popular independent comics publishing conglomerate Image Comics and is best known as the creator of “Wetworks” and “Bishop” for Marvel Comics’ X-Men series. He is responsible for the training and landing Leinil Yu (penciler) and Edgar Tadeo (inker) their jobs on Wolverine,” one of Marvel Comics’ number one X-Men books.
 Co-owner Brian on the other hand, co-created the popular title ‘Witchblade” and his digital color house, Haberlin Studios, is regarded as the finest in the industry. Writer Brian Holguin (“KISS” Psycho Circus, “Cyberforce7”) has been tapped as the editorial director of Avalon Studios. Francis Takenaga, who formerly manned the writing helm of Image Comics’ “Wetworks” id some of the writing chores for “Stone” and helped in developing other Avalon projects.

MADE IN THE PHILIPPINES

 Avalon Studios is an international company in scope. The main offices and production facilities and editorial staff are located in California, USA. The comics will be published in Malibu Beach, USA, and printed in Canada where it will then be distributed all over the world. The main artist studio is located here in the Philippines. All the artists involved in creating the artwork for the first three books (“Stone,” “Hellcop” and “Aria”) are from the Philippines.
 The whole Avalon line is heavily influenced by European and Asian Comics both in its art and story, which emphasizes magic and mystery more than American comics tend to. “Stone” in particular decided to sport a horror edge.
 “I think that genre has more power to move us, whether you’re a child who’s still scared in the dark or an adult who thinks he’s gotten over over his childhood fears but still has a close attachment to what the fear was like back then. Even though they are only scattered and fragmented stories, if you bring up the names of manananggal or aswang, the automatic responses is fear,” he utters.
 Whilce is overwhelmed by the broad international support that “Stone” has been getting prior to its release. Three Hollywood productions have already expressed interest to do animation but Whilce vows to do it only if it will be produced by Filipinos or at the very least will be shot here in the Philippines. He prefers a television series though.
 In addition, the number one independent comics publisher Marc Silvestre of TopCow Comics (publishers od “Darkness” and “Whichblade”) has signed on as the publishing partner for Avalon in the US. Also, a deal has just been struck with Image Comics so that all Avalon Comics will be published with the Image Trademark. This makes Avalon part of the populous Image family of comics.
 Local efforts are likewise being mobilized to make “Stone” not only the first internationally released comic book but a truly huge event.
 Local “Stone” business partner Salito Malca has landed a deal with Sony Records which will produce a soundtrack for the “Stone” comic book by the end of August.
 Recording artist from Japan, United States, Britain, Australia and of course the Philippines are contributing to the album. Sony Philippines recording artists Chill, Wolfgang and Razorback, will record the song. The album will be sold on the internet and released in record stores all over the world to coincide with the released of the comic book.
 Avalon is also in agreement with Harris Publishers (“Vampirella”) for a possible re-released of their once-popular “Creepy” book, a collection of comic-style horror stories. They are looking for comic book pencilers and inkers to fill the art teams on those books for 1999. Interested illustrators can send photocopies of their works at the Learn Center lacated at 5th floor of SM MegaMall. The center holds comic book courses to train artists for the contact base for a nationwide search for artist and inkers.