Number 935
Rubeny
When the Filipino comic artists were introduced to us American comic book readers nearly 40 years ago, I quickly came up with some favorites whose work I looked for. Ruben Yandoc, who sometimes went under the name Rubeny, is an artist I like. Yandoc had honed his skills for years in the local Philippine comics industry. The blog, PilipinoKomiks says, "Yandoc was at his best when illustrating fantasy and horror stories, the kind of which I consider Philippine gothic. It was a very popular genre in the early years of komiks in the Philippines." He includes a 4-page story by Yandoc from 1951.
These stories are some from copies of DC's mystery comics I had close at hand. "Fear Is A Nameless Voice" is written by George Kashdan and is from The Unexpected #143, 1973; "The Totem's Threat" by Carl Wessler and Yandoc, is from The Unexpected #147; "Over My Dead Body," also by Wessler, is from The Witching Hour #34. Kashdan also wrote "Blood Of Our Fathers," for The Witching Hour #42, 1974, which fits the description of gothic.
Pappy, I'd always supposed Ruben Y/Yandoc and the similar styled Gerry Talaoc were of Mayan, Incan or Aztec descent, (to go by the elements of their surnames), or at the very least, South Americans - turns out they're both Filipinos!
ReplyDeleteAs ever, you've been an education!
Borky, the Spanish connection comes from the Philippines being ruled by the Spanish for 300 years. The Filipinos, with the help of the Americans (remember the Spanish-American war, instigated by publisher William Randolph Hearst) kicked the Spanish out at the end of the 19th Century, but Filipinos didn't care much for the Americans, either, and fought them for a few years in the early 20th Century. (The 1911 .45 automatic pistol made by Colt was reported to have been developed for hand-to-hand combat by American Marines in the Philippines.)
ReplyDeleteStick with Professor Pappy and earn a Ph.D. (Piled higher and Deeper).
Yandoc was one of my favorites also. I am lucky to have some of his original pages and the poor printing quality in those 1970's DC books often did not show off his excellent line work very well. I think Yandoc was also an inspiration to Alex Nino.
ReplyDeleteIt's unfortunate that the introduction of the Filipino artists, with their incredible line work, was around the same time as World Color Press in Sparta, IL, printer of all the comic books at the time, went from metal plate printing to plastic plates, which mashed any kind of fine lines into some sort of dark pulp.
ReplyDelete