Case Example: The Mythology Class

Arnold Arre used his own money to fund his graphic novel. Given the size of his work, He decided to release it in four issues. The first one was basically a photocopied issue while the next three were printed when enough funds were available.

The Mythology Class broke “the one issue curse” that plagued many independent English language komiks of the 1990s. Not only did The Mythology Class break the single issue “curse”, all the issues actually came out on time. Indeed, many comics in 1990s and beyond were announced to come out at certain dates but most were late if they came out at all. Arre discovered that the availability of issues number 2 increased the sales of issue 1. “People just want to read a finished story,” Arre says. He gave the readers a 356-page one.

Eventually, Adarna Books, a publisher of Children’s’ books published a collected edition of The Mythology Class. Other self-published works followed this process. Thus creators have moved from self-publishing to the mainstream, keeping their creative vision intact. Thus, as the Rebyu puts it, the independent works, from photocopied booklets, to printed issues, to graphic novels are indeed the “new face” of Philippine comics.

SOURCES

Arre, Arnold. Personal Interview. 2 February 2010.
Doran, Colleen. Manga Pro Superstar Workshop. Cincinnati, Ohio: Impact Books, 2008.
“Independent Komiks: Ang Bagong Mukha ng Industria.” Pinoy Komiks Rebyu. Vol. 1 Issue 1. Pp. 38-43
Jurilla, Patricia May B. “Money, Vanity, Necessity: Self-publishing in Philippine Literature.” UP Diliman Forum. July-August 2007.
Siriban, Diane. “Zines as Manifestations of Residual Culture: An Analysis of Selected Writings in Southern Tagalog Zines.” Master of Arts in Comparative Literature Thesis paper. UP Diliman, 2010.

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