Being influenced by different cultures is always a creative asset. I’m always delighted to read comic books like “Y: The Last Man,” “Queen and Country,” “The Losers,” “Fell,” and so on. It shows me there’s still a healthy creative staple of people out there. Mainstream seems a tad stale. I’ve always compared it to an inbred population: the same people regurgitating the same schlock with a slightly different garnish. A few years ago Whilce Portacio came up with a line of books based on Filipino folklore; I always thought that was an interesting idea, but alas I never saw a single issue of it, nor do I know what happened to that project. But I digress . . . I grew up watching anime in a time when censorship was kind of lax. So, some of its violence and dynamics were not lost. I was also influenced by European and American comics and film. Furthermore, South America’s socio-political awareness, cynicism, and dark humor became part of my formative years. Introspectively, I’m hard pressed when it comes time to dissecting each influence in my work. I guess there is an American sense of aesthetics and dialog, with European storytelling and feel, complemented by Japanese dynamism and rawness, topped by South American consciousness and irreverence. All of these elements are synthesized into a nihilistic, semi-impressionistic, hyper-realism.
In my opinion, creativity is like genetics: the more diverse the gene pool, the greater the results. As an art form, comic books have taken from Japanese wood carvings to digital art, and everything in between. The results are always amazing. I’ll see you in the page.
Oddman Out
Being influenced by different cultures is always a creative asset. I’m always delighted to read comic books like “Y: The Last Man,” “Queen and Country,” “The Losers,” “Fell,” and so on. It shows me there’s still a healthy creative staple of people out there. Mainstream seems a tad stale. I’ve always compared it to an inbred population: the same people regurgitating the same schlock with a slightly different garnish. A few years ago Whilce Portacio came up with a line of books based on Filipino folklore; I always thought that was an interesting idea, but alas I never saw a single issue of it, nor do I know what happened to that project. 
