Comics to help soldiers fill spells of down time

Manila: Bundles of revived comic books will be sent to soldiers fighting rebels and terrorists nationwide, a local paper has reported.

Five new titles: Tagalog Komiks, Gwapo Komiks, Pilipino Klasiks and OFW Super Stories will be launched on September 14.

Copies of these titles will reach all the soldiers who are fighting insurgents in the south, the Abu Sayyaf, a local terror group also in the south, and the communists who are based in far-flung provinces nationwide, the Inquirer said.
Magic realism
"Komiks [Tagalog for comics] and other reading materials can help our soldiers pass the time, fill stretches of down time after fevered moments of combat," Mario Santana, of the Alliance of Relatives and Friends of the Government Soldiers (Kapatiran), said.

"You can't discount the entertainment value of the komiks. It is also the least costly form of entertainment and source of information," Santana added.
The newly published comic books cost 10 pesos each. The defence department is buying them for the government soldiers, a source told Gulf News.
"Komiks can help reach out to all Filipinos in the Philippines," said Carlos Caparas, a former komiks writer turned movie director, who was behind the revival of the Philippine komiks. He has written 800 novels serialised in komiks in the '70s.

Magic realism is the style of much of the material found in Philippine komiks. Stories range from fantasy to religion, and include supernatural characters like talking animals and thinking sea creatures. The overall theme of stories in komiks is the triumph of good over evil.
The National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA) has funded Caparas's effort to revive the publication of komiks.

Revival

Caparas launched Komiks Congress and Komiks Caravan or a nationwide tour to revive the habit of reading komiks among the young and the old. It was a pastime that ended in the early '80s, when many publishers closed shop.
The department of education has also eyed the use of komiks in its literacy programme for 12 million out-of-school youth and illiterate adults.

Masterpieces of Filipino literature must be popularised in komik-form, said Cecil Alvarez, NCCA executive director, adding that many Filipinos are more aware of Indian epics Ramayana, Mahabharata and the Bhagavad Gita because they have been printed as comics.