gerry alanguilan, 1968-2019

it would be difficult to overstate the effect sir gerry has had on today's pinoy comic book industry. he was uniquely suited to act as a guiding (if curmudgeonly) voice for pinoy komiks during its troubled transition from the old bangketa model to the dynamic multi-outlet market we have today. through his influential blog, message board (the now-defunct PKMB), and personal connections here and abroad, he helped gather around him the generation of komiks creators that would establish the "indie komiks" scene. a lot of people talked about reviving pinoy komiks back then, but i don't think anyone did more to actually bring that dream about than sir gerry.

i stopped making komiks several years ago, and one of my last purchases at the time was this:

inside were autobiographical stories about a couple of stray dogs he adopted and how one fell ill and died, and about how sir gerry first learned that his kidneys had begun to fail, the crisis that stemmed from that, and how a fortunate turn of events gave him a new outlook and renewed his thirst for life.

i read the comic, enjoyed it, put it away.

four years later, i came back to comics and attended komikon again for the first time since my hiatus, and i was able to catch sir gerry's panel on his komiks museum.

i was surprised to see sir gerry in a wheelchair. later it was mentioned that that was the last time he would be going to komikon. everyone put on a happy face but it felt to me like the end of something really important.

when i got back home, crest hut butt shop #4 somehow got mixed in with my newest purchases, and i ended up reading it again.

it gutted me.

in 2015, this was just well-executed comics. but the middle-aged me in 2019 (high blood sugar, gall bladder removed, full of self-doubt) read sir gerry's meditation on his mortality and his art in a completely new light, and i lay in bed awake, moved by its grace.

thank you. sir gerry. pakumusta nalang po kina nestor redondo at iba pa.