A 24-PAGE COMIC BOOK (WITH A TWIST) IN JUST 24 HOURS?

SEE IT TO BELIEVE IT!

Ask graphic artists Jamie Bautista and Elbert Or, creators of the hit comic series Cast, what would give them a really big kick this Halloween and you'll most likely get this response: Creating a 24-page comic book in 24 straight hours.

Believe it or not, these young, fearless artists are psyching themselves up for more than 24 sleepless hours as they take on the 1st Philippine 24-Hour Comic Book Challenge, which will take place on October 28 to 29, 2005, at Coco Aroma, White Beach, Puerto Galera.

Inspired by the 24 Hour Comics Day of Scott McCloud, a leading comic book theoretician in the United States, the 1st Philippine 24-Hour Comic Book Challenge will fuse creative visual storytelling with indigenous Philippine martial arts and folklore to give Pinoy audiences a different kind of visual experience. During this event, Bautista and Or will capture different fighting poses and techniques inspired by kali and arnis, the Philippines's own martial arts, and will attempt to create compelling stories that will capture the grace, the strength, and the valor of Filipino warriors.

It won't be their first time to touch on themes of Philippine history, culture, and heritage. The graphic anthology Siglo: Freedom, which won the 2004 National Book Award for Comic Book, and on which Bautista and Or collaborated with renowned writers and comic book artists Gerry Alanguilan, Dean Francis Alfar, Nikki Alfar, Arnold Arre, Jason Banico, Marco Dimaano, Andrew Drilon, Honoel Ibardolaza, Lan Medina, Vin Simbulan and Carlo Vergara, captured stories of life, love, and the struggle for emancipation set in each decade of the 20th century.

The 1st Philippine 24-Hour Comic Book Challenge, however, is even more demanding than the pair's previous projects because it requires them to produce credible work on an aspect of Philippine heritage which has not been sufficiently documented in the past.

Paul Zialcita, an arnis practitioner and a musician who has been advocating the integration of Philippine indigenous martial arts and folklore into mainstream media, hopes that this first attempt to create kali -and arnis-inspired art will pave the way for more creative collaborations. He lends his percussive power to the 1st Philippine 24-Hour Comic Book Challenge by marking the hours with a Kali Drum, a large instrument made of a recycled garbage can and cowhide that is played using arnis strikes.

Aside from Zialcita, more local and foreign martial arts enthusiasts, visual artists, and comic book fans will join Bautista and Or on the shores of White Beach, Puerto Galera to learn and to demonstrate new fighting techniques, to create their own versions of martial arts-inspired art, or simply to enjoy Puerto Galera's emerald-green waters.

Interested to join in the fun but not quite confident with your artistic or fighting skills? Don't worry: Bautista and Or will kick off the 1st Philippine 24-Hour Comic Book Challenge with a FREE comic book workshop. Meanwhile, Zialcita's team of local warriors will be patrolling White Beach's shores, all game to teach novices a thing or two about responsible stick-fighting.

The 1st Philippine 24-Hour Comic Book Challenge is made possible by the collaboration of Likha Communications Consulting, Nautilus Comics, Digipost, and Coco Aroma. Email Niña Terol of Likha Communications Consulting at nterol.likhacommunications@gmail.com , or call (0917) 644 45 66, for details.