Komiks in 2021: better and brighter in a bleak year

Tarantadong Kalbo probably is correct in saying 2021 is the sequel of the worst year ever, and we will indeed remember it as such, when we locked down even more than we wanted, when we feared for a faster and deadlier variant of the virus.

Nonetheless, komikeros continued to create, people supported those who were making komiks, and komiks continued to thrive in its own ways this year. 

‘Trese’ Netflix anime 

Of course, we can’t talk about this year without talking about the crowning achievement of current independent komiks: one of the forerunners and one of its own has been turned into a successful Netflix animated short series, with a Filipino-American showrunner and Filipino producer, with a respected group of Filipinos and Filipino-American actors as voice talents.

While not the first international Filipino komik, the attention from Netflix assured that Trese as a comic series is now available worldwide. Much of the Philippines finally realized: there are new komiks that are not the classics, they deserve support, and there is more, lots more.

Interest from Trese the series ultimately spilled over into not just the Trese books, but also other komiks including those housed in Penlab. 

We all wish the animated series could have been longer, many wish some things were done differently. But ultimately we all hope this is the start of better things, for all of komiks. 

Success of the primary komik platforms 

Past all expectations, Penlab continued to grow and to gather the work of many komikeros, especially content only earlier available in komik conventions, and gathering komikeros previously only on international webcomic sites. They regularly reported record traffic in readership each month, across many titles. Penlab diligently and gradually garnered its position as one of the premier go-to one-stop-shop websites for Filipino komiks. 

One year of komiks and community. More than 200 creators, around 300 komiks. Pinoy komiks, all in one place.

Read now on Penlab! #PenlabDay pic.twitter.com/chLuxoUXG6

— penlab.ink (@penlab_ink) September 5, 2021

Webkom as well has continued to thrive and attract more creators at practically all levels of experience. Having so many creators to monitor has made them establish subgroups, to encourage community, as well as to facilitate feedback and improvement.

Webkom has also initiated scheduled posting and regular events that emphasize creators, titles, and characters, amplifying most of them in their turns. All of these things have improved the community within their regular readership and also improved traffic overall.

Secondary online komik platforms

• https://www.fliptoons.ph/
• https://www.kudlis.com/
• https://mixdtoon.com/

With the success of both Penlab and Webkom, several other sites and groups began to try their hand in being online hubs for komiks.

These sites either gather the komiks of a collective or group of komikeros such as Iris Comics and Chain Mason, some like Fliptoons want to emphasize creators from the regions while trying to monetize, some like Kudlis and Komikspot/MixdToon are searching for ways to more effectively monetize komiks.

There are still komikero collectives uploading as a group on social media sites (Jump Jet, Pasyon, and others), especially those from regional areas. All of these of course are worthy endeavors, and worth checking into. 

#Tumindig

On July 17, Tarantadong Kalbo’s Kevin Raymundo released the now famous character, a solitary fist standing up in protest, against a sea of fists punched straight ahead but subservient. It was iconic enough as it was, a brave statement to stand up, even if alone.

But a few days later fellow artists Kapitan Tambay, Cartoonist Zach, and others also added their own standing-up fist characters minutes to hours of each other, and a movement was initiated.

Soon, so many artists, komikeros, organizations, and individuals added their own fists, a colorful online rally, eventually leading to a website by DakilaPH, all joining to stand up, to speak up, eventually to vote wisely.

T u m i n d i g ✊? pic.twitter.com/ODYkPqRn0T

— Tarantadong Kalbo (@KevinKalbo) July 17, 2021

The solitary standing fist even made it to several actual political rallies soon after the online wave of art. This also created some art weakly defending what was being spoken against, or inadvertently emphasizing what was being spoken against.

But for a glorious few weeks of colorful unique fisted art, so many took heart that they were not alone, that so many did want to stand for what was true and right.

https://t.co/aMNkt06Mu0 ? pic.twitter.com/hXcv75Cm75

— Tarantadong Kalbo (@KevinKalbo) July 28, 2021

Komiket Kommunity 2021 

Komiket released its annual anthology, this being a time capsule of the first pandemic year. Across many topics, many concerns, and many komikeros, the anthology is a display of the many kinds of komiks currently available.