'COLLAB' : How Pinoy Comic Book Artists Unite for a Good Cause

"Collab tayo," we often hear our artist friends say, almost like a kind of greeting when they happen to be in the same place at the same time.There's this immediate excitement to share ideas and work on something for the awesome fun of it, with the resulting collaboration -- from teaser pin-ups to collectible anthologies -- turning out to be pretty awesome too.

In the last couple of years, we've also seen the members of the local comics community come together for another kind of 'collab' -- raising funds for a cause.

Just a few years ago, Anvil Publishing released Renaissance: Ang Muling Pagsilang, a compendium of artwork meant to benefit the victims of Typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana). The roster of artists who were part of this effort was, simply put, epic. Veterans Jun Lofamia, Rico Rival and the late Tony de Zuñiga joined international fan favorites and prime movers in the Phililppine comics scene in illustrating heroism the way we as a people understand it. Proceeds from the sale of the book as well as the auction of the original works of art were donated to the +Philippine Red Cross.

Then there were the various "sketch for a cause" sessions and art auctions organized to defray the medical expenses of ailing colleagues, the latest of whom was our friend Vergil Espinosa.

We have to say we were _floored_ by the response to the charity auction for Vergil and the victims of the Bohol quake at the +Komikon last Saturday. +Johnny Danganan provides the figures in his blog; but all totaled, the Pinoy Komiks Assemble auction yielded over PhP100K in funds. To quote Johnny, "Whohooh, grabeh talagah!"

Now just a week later, two more fundraisers are going to be held this time for the victims of Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan). Again, the gathering will be epic and while we wish no more disasters will visit our country, we know these artists won't hesitate to once again join together and freely give of themselves to help others.

Our friend and fellow comics-geek, +Mark Rosario, said it best when he pointed out that Pinoy comic book artists, "like the superheroes that they love, are quick to respond and rescue whenever the need for it arises."

"So proud to be friends with these kind-hearted human beings!" he added, "God bless you all for your goodness."

We were not the only ones who responded with, "Amen." :-)

Our friends are alive!!!

After six agonizing days, we finally heard from +Jay Acosta! At 6:13 a.m. today, he sent this message via sms, "Ate Rob, me, my bro and my cousins are alive but my house is gone. Tacloban is in chaos. Please pray for my city :("

We immediately called him up, and what followed was a long conversation that alternated between sobs and rambling expressions of relief. He spoke of the moment the storm shattered their windows and it felt like their house "exploded from inside." He spoke of the nightmare days that followed, searching on foot for supplies in the city he grew up in but now lay in ruins all around him. He told us about how, in the debris-strewn streets, complete strangers would greet each other, asking "kamusta," "how are you, did you lose your house too?"

It was in one of these sorties to their former downtown that he saw another friend, Nico Medroso, whom we had also been worried about. Jay said Nico and his family, including his little baby, survived as their neighborhood was farther away from the areas battered by the storm surge. They may be planning to leave Tacloban soon and we've updated the Google Person Finder record we created for Nico with this new information. We're hoping we'll also get to hear from Nico himself once his family is settled and safe.

Jay is on his way now to Manila, with his brother and his brave younger sister who traveled all the way back to their former home, stopping at nothing until she found her brothers. We have to say we're immensely thankful she succeeded in finding them and that all three siblings are well.

Before we said goodbye, Jay told us he would like to join our old gang at this Saturday's +Komikon. We said everyone would be beyond happy to see him again. We'll spend the day talking about all things geek, browsing through new comics, and laughing about BK boybands (long story) among other things. Not because we want Jay to forget what he has been through, no one possibly could; but because we would like Jay to know, even for just a few hours, that it's all right to heal.