Cartoons and Comics Make Your Imagination Soar: A Summer Escapade

My sample cartoon.

They're gone. I and my dear wife often wonder where have all the Tagalog comics gone? And the rare few I see around cost so much that Tagalog comics have ceased to be reading materials for the masses.

It seems everything around us are designed for the enjoyment of foreigners. You see English comics a lot but no Tagalog comics for the masses. Even schools plan to start classes on rainy days to consider schooling schedules abroad. Hotels and resorts are all priced for foreign tourists (and it's just incidental that some local tourists manage to afford them).

Well, at least they're "Tagalizing" English movies on TV, so you can credit that as a move for the masses, though I seldom like them.

But I wish they'd put Tagalog comics back in circulation and very affordable again for us ordinary folks. Comics help your imagination soar and it's during hot summers like this that their value is easier appreciated. Imagine--reading stacks of Wakasan, Hiwaga, or Liwayway comics under the cool, breezy shed of your mango tree while sipping on a tall iced glass of fresh mango shake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top!

I remember enjoying summer vacation extra well when my Uncle Tony used to supply us with loads of vernacular comics every weekend. I especially enjoyed humors in full native colors. Contemporaries, do you remember the following?

• Max and Jess
• Ping at Pong
• Boogey
• Smolbateribols
• Asyong Aksaya
• Siopawman

Well, some newspapers and tabloids still feature Tagalog comics but only in short strips. I miss the magazine types that invaded street comics stands decades ago.

In my elementary and high school days, I did a comics story with my flair for composing stories and drawing cartoons. Click here to see what it's about on my CS Blog for more.