It is said that the first comics was written by the Philippines' national hero Jose Rizal when he illustrated the tale of "The Monkey and the Tortoise" on the back of painter Juan Luna's sketchbook. However the concept of comic strips as a serial published in mass media only appeared in the early 1920s as page fillers in Tagalog magazines.

In 1922 two of these news and variety magazines, Telembang and Bagong Lipang Kalabaw, carried satirical cartoons. These could be considered as the precursors of today's komiks.

These magazines featured two prominent comic strips that became very popular: Telembang had "Si Kiko at Angge", and Lipang Kalabaw had "Ganito Pala sa Maynila."

Art historians Alfredo Roces and Alfred McCoy attribute the illustrations of both these comic strips to National Artist Fernando Amorsolo. Indeed, Roces featured one of the issues of "Ganito Pala sa Maynila" in his seminal study on Amorsolo.

In 1923, the Tagalog magazine Liwayway was born. Although the magazine did not contain any comic serials in its early years, this was about to change in 1929, with the publication of Tony Velasquez' "Album ng Kabalbalan ni Kenkoy" as a filler in the magazine's entertainment section. Kenkoy became the star of the magazine, a funny everyday Filipino teenager who became representative of the colonial-minded youth of the 30s.

The character became so popular that his image was more recognizable than any of the leading political or social personages during that era, a similar status to that of Charlie Chaplin, when the Little Tramp became the world's most famous icon.

"Album ng Kabalbalan ni Kenkoy" developed the komiks serial form. From half a page it developed into a single page and with bright colors to boot. Eventually Velasquez created more comic strips like "Ponyang Halobaybay," "Talakitok," and "Nanong Pandak."

Other cartoonists soon followed the path of the komiks serial. Velasquez' contemporary, J.M. Perez created "Pamboy at Osang," "Pakitong Babuy," and "Huwapelo," all for the Liwayway magazine. In 1932, Pedrito Reyes and Francisco Reyes jointly created "Kulafu," also for Liwayway. "Kulafu" soon became Liwayway's second most popular series. « Back