AWARD-WINNING comics writer and artist Gerry Alanguilan died Saturday morning. He was 51 years old.
Alanguilan’s death was confirmed by his wife, Ilyn Alanguilan, on Facebook.
Four days prior to his death, Alanguilan tweeted that he was suffering from “pain that reduces you to tears.”
Alanguilan graduated from the old College of Architecture and Fine Arts in 1989 with a degree in architecture.
He said in his online blog komikero.com that he “preferred to be a storyteller through the creation of comic books.”
“Being a komikero is hard work and not really that glorious at all. But when you see your name on the comic book, and the reader is loving it, there’s no greater satisfaction than that,” Alanguilan told the Varsitarian in a 2008 interview.
The San Pablo City-based artist created the classic comics series “Wasted” and “Elmer,” and was an inker for US-based publications Marvel, DC and Entity comics.
He worked for international titles Wolverine, X-men, Superman, Batman, Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Indestructible Hulk and Star Wars.
His “Elmer” series won in international award-giving bodies Ouest France and Prix-Asie ACBD in France in 2011. It received nominations from the Will Eisner Industry Awards the same year.
He was conferred the Gawad Pinakamaningninig na Alagad ng Sining and Ani ng Dangal by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts for visual arts in 2010 and 2012, respectively.
Alanguilan is also the curator of the museum he founded in 2016, the Komikero Komiks Museum in San Pablo, Laguna.
He also gained popularity because of a 2009 YouTube video titled “Hey, Baby” that went viral and was featured on American television shows “Tosh.O” and “Russel Howard’s Good News.”
Alanguilan’s remains be interred on Dec. 27 at the San Pablo Memorial Park. Laurd Menhard Salen
