Thirteen Going on Eighteen: Val & Judy

When I was a child, I was not influenced at all by Pinoy funny comics – quite unlike many of my contemporaries here in the Philippines, nor was I ever hooked on any American superhero. My passions often lie in the process – of the unfolding of either an piece of art or story.

John Stanley’s teenage humor comic book back in the 60s, published by Dell Comics. My aunties collected these – along with many other books. The books were only going for 60 cents!!

Thirteen Going on Eighteen has very expressive characters and wholesome American 60s humor. Call me a over the hill swing & disco baby, but I enjoyed watching the characters move and reading their gags. The Archie’s (which are still in print today) pale in comparison chiefly because their lines are too “sticker” &”poster” and don’t sing like Val & Judy’s hip curves.

There are webcomics these days that often have characters whose expressions are either weak or all too easily resort to manga expressionistic devices. At times character anatomy is butchered and then their parts cut & pasted into the required poses for the sake of expediency. Gratuitous use of photographed backgrounds in cartoon strip panels doesn’t convince me as a style – only as a timesaving device. The word “busy” has primarily decided the artistic fate of many webcomics and “economy” is a word not far behind. (I’m guilty of this.) Maybe it’s a far cry from the cartoonists of yesteryear, or maybe it’s because the cartoonists of long ago didn’t have as many distractions, a PC, or a digital camera. These days anyone can be a cartoonist and even the good ones (with few exceptions) have to keep a day job.

I’ve been a big fan of art that shows illustrative expertise since I first picked up my first copy of Thirteen Going on Eighteen. The story and comedy are still appealing to a degree, but it’s the art that made me scan a page and post it up. Now everyone’s got their idea of “illustrative expertise”. The idea that it’s all about communicating separates the draftsmen from the artist. But the same idea lets “artists” get away with their poorly drawn crap. Frankly, based from my experiences as an illustrator, illustration not only has to communicate – it has to sing.