Thursday, March 26, 2009

Whilce Portacio - New Guard Guru


In the world of Pinoy illustrators in the U.S.A., Whilce Portacio needs no introduction. What Tony Zuniga was to the old guard of Pinoy artists in America, Portacio is to the new guard. Portacio briefly opened a comic book art school in the Philippines, and introduced to his students the ways of American comics, particularly the Image style. Many of his former students now work for DC, Marvel, Image and other publications. Some are featured in this blog. Portacio has worked for all the major comics publications here. He has just finished Batman Confidential for DC Comics.

Portacio also has the distinction of being the only Filipino to have founded (together with 6 other American artists) a major comics publication - Image Comics. In 1992, seven artists frustrated for not getting equal rights to the characters they created, Portacio one of them, left Marvel Comics to form Image Comics. Image is now one of the top four comics publications in the U.S. In Image Portacio was able to showcase what might be his creative masterwork - Wetworks, in which he is both creator and illustrator. Featured below are images from Wetworks. Also featured below is a two-page biography of Portacio published by Image Comics. The caricature of him, while, there is no credited artist, I believe, was done by J. Campbell-Scott.

The Blogger with Whilce Portacio
at the Wizards Convention in L.A.
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7 comments:

  1. humawinghanginMarch 26, 2009 at 11:14 PM

    ok yung copies nyo ng wetworks sir, in Black and White. san po kayo naka acquire nito? may nirelease po ba na ashcan or B&W version ng wetworks, tulad nung ibang titles ng image?

    jim

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  2. Rodolfo SamonteMarch 27, 2009 at 5:32 PM

    Jim,
    Yes, this is a black and white version, no balloons, I think it's a pre-release to introduce Wetworks, and a little smaller. The other pages show a description of the characters filling up the whole page with a tiny illustration on the corner showing what the character looks like. Maybe I'll post those too.
    Rod

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  3. - jjApril 2, 2009 at 12:05 AM

    Wow Ang Galing ng Pinoy! Hope u can post more work of arts.

    Btw, I'm also a Pinay now living abroad. I have just started my own blog: TheShanghaiExpat. Please feel free to visit and let me know what you think for a link exchange.

    Cheers,
    Nikou

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  4. kc corderoApril 18, 2009 at 4:12 AM

    mukhang chickboy ka pa rin, mang rod!

    -KC

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  5. Rodolfo SamonteApril 18, 2009 at 10:09 AM

    KC,
    Thanks, hahahaha. Picture was taken in the 2004 Wizards Convention. My, how time flies.
    Rod

    ReplyDelete
  6. Mark RosarioApril 19, 2009 at 7:47 PM

    Your posts are always very interesting, Sir. hope to seeing more about Pinoy comics artists profiles :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Rodolfo SamonteApril 19, 2009 at 9:30 PM

    Mark,
    Thank you. There is indeed more coming up.
    Rod

    ReplyDelete

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