The One & Only... ROSS MATIENZO
In the old komiks industry, Coching and Redondo were the most copied by the younger illustrators. These younger illustrators had developed their own styles after a few years. Some became unique, others became a clone forever, and still a few remained just so-so.
And yet, there was one character whose style was something akin to what an out-and-out hippie would emphatically stand for: non-conformism.
Ross Matienzo was that character. He had his own style: unconventional, angular, bizarre if you will. His drawings were a celebration of the grotesque.
The one and only... ROSS MATIENZO.
posted by TheCoolCanadian at
11:13 PM
43 Comments:
JM
Thanks for posting Ross Matienzo's artwork. Noong bata ako, may natatandaan akong lumabas na nobelang iginuhit itong si Ross matienzo na lumabas yata sa Superyor Komiks. Tipong warrior yata iyon at noon pa ay humanga na ako kanyang sariling style. Inabot ko pa siya noong late 80's ng maging active ako sa komiks. Nakakasabay din namin siya madalas sa Gasi kapag may collection. Mataba siyang lalaki at nakasuot lagi ng tsaleko. Mas active siya noon as an entertainment writer. Noon ko rin narinig ang tsismis na nakabangga daw ito ng actor na si Edu Manzano. Sayang at maaga siyang nagretiro as an artist at ang pagsusulat na lang ang kanyang binalingan kaya wala na akong nakitang mga illustration niya sa komiks noon.
Arman:
Hindi kataka-taka kung nagkaroon sila ng hidwaan ni Edu. Very intense kasi si Ginoong Matienzo. Si Edu ay hindi naman mainitin ang ulo, pero hindi lang siguro sila nagkaunawaan nang mga sansaling iyon. But, despite Mr. Matienzo's vehemence, hindi naman siya tulad kay Giovanni Calvo na kung minsan ay wala nang basehan ang mga sinusulat sa tabloid at komiks. May merit namang palagi ang mga bagay na sinusulat ni Ross Matienzo, kaya kinawilihan ko ang maraming mga sandali ng aming pag-uusap.
JM
Soooo ugly, yet sooo unique!
There's something about Matienzo's drawing that would draw you into it, it was, after all, irrisistible to look at.
Thank you so much for showing his drawing.
He was original.
Not bad. This is Ross Matienzo? Looks Good. Some traces or faint hints of Ruben Yandoc. Otherwise, its quite an original looking drawing style.
It would be interesting to see this in actual size though. You will notice that most of time, bad-looking and original sized comics art, look very impressive when reduced in size as is what was done here, moreso when you have a brightly lit computer monitor enhancing the image as opposed to the faintness in the original paper.
Nevertheless, this is quite a revelation. We have Matienzo, Ilag, who else were these unsung Pinoy comics artists who had interesting drawing styles that went against the Redondo-Coching grain?
The other good artists but were snubbed by the readers?
They were:
• TANCHI MENDOZA
• JOEL MAGPAYO
• MANVIR SORIANO
• FED C. PERONA
• ROGER BRILLIANTES
and many others. I wish I could post their drawings here but it's rather difficult now to find them. If I found some, I would certainly post their work.
JM,
i remember FC Ferona doing the artworks for my short stories when i was just starting in 1989. tapos bigla na lang siyang nawala, baka nag-abroad.
It's either that o baka lumipat na sa kabilang ibayo ng buhay, kung saan mga espirito lamang ang namamayani.
Inabutan ko pa sa GASI si Mang Ross. Akala ko nga dati siya si Mar Santana. Manong JM, bisitahin mo naman uli blog ko. Nag-update na ako uli.
yap! naalala ko rin si joel magpayo!
musta naman dyan pards!
Ever-Lito:
Ever bright :)
Eto, Spring na, pero ang lamig pa rin. Nakakapagod na. Masyadong humaba ang Winter sa northwest ngayong taong ito. Kaya nga magbabakasyon na uli ako sa Costa Rica para mainitan na uli ako, dahil lalo pa akong nanlamig dahil nalugi ako ng grabe sa stock market. Ngayong PULUBI na ako, luluhod na ako at magpapasampal kay BOYET FAJARDO :(
JM,
Matienzo was certainly an original. I didn't notice any derivatives from local or foreign comics illustrator. Talagang, the one and only....His extremely stylized and baroque rendering, sets him apart from the mainstream illustrators of the 60s.
Other artists of the era who didn't get due recognition: Dionisio Roque, Adrian Amorsolo, Angel Trinidad Jr,Tunying Ocampo, Vic Crisostomo, Maning P de Leon ( cartoonist), Carlos V. Lemos, Pastor Justimbaste, Mike Lombo, Ruben Fabian, Moises Agualada, Rodrigo Benitez ......
Nadale ang Stocks mo ? LOL ! ako naman dito na sting ng Legacy scam Lol!
Auggie
Yeah, Matienzo was indeed a
RA RA A VIS.
I will post some of the works of the guys you mentioned so the younger people will see them.
And yep, again, I really lost a lot of moolah. The ones I have for Disney is still stroing, though. But still, naghahanda na nga akong lumuhod at magpasampal kay Boyet Fajardo dahil poor na ako ngayon.
Anong legacy scam naman itong nasuotan mo? Haber nga, ipaliwanag ito.
Legacy Scam ? gimmick ito ng pulitikong si De Los Angeles, Governor ng Sto.Domingo, Albay ( formerly Lib-og), at alleged financier/bankroller ng political career ni Vice P. Noli de Castro ( would you still vote for this guy after this scam?). This guy is supposed to be a genius in finance and will make you rich in a short time. The government is accusing him of PONZI SCHEME ( pyramiding). This guy has a lot of lending/loans scheme all over the country including rural banks. wasn't aware that he has already Western Visayas in his palms. I invested some money in one of the rural banks here, thinking it was safe, it wasn't ! good it was covered by PDIC, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I will get my investment back. But that's what the French says: CES'T LA VIE
Auggie
Lol!
Holy Crap. Eh, di dalawa na tayong luluhod at magpapasampla kay BOYET FAJARDO?
HHHHHHHHHHH!
Sabagay, material thing lang naman ito. Ang mahalaga, we're healthy and happy inside. Ito lang naman ang talagang importante sa tao, di ba?
So, tama ka. C'est la vie.
JM,
Nahuli yata ako sa biyahe. Ngayon ko lang nakita ito. Ros Matienzo is an original. I met him too, I already told you this of course, at Redondo Komiks in a building near Life Theater also near Ma Mon Luk. Non-stop talker, hahahaha, but certainly a nice guy. Another artist who definitely has not been recognized because of his bizarre style was Ric Hernandez. He was my mentor in komiks and he gave me my first script. Any chance you have some of his work in the old cabinet? If you have Horror Komiks and Superyor Komiks, he contributed there quite a bit. You might even find a 4 or 5-pager komiks I did, written by Rading Mina Sabater, my first komiks job ever, but it might look like Ric Hernandez's as he retouched it heavily, hahahaha, when he saw how bad it was. I signed my name then as Troy Samonte including the other komiks I did.
Rod
Rod:
Let me find the drawings of Ric Hernandez. I don't think Rading Mina Sabater stayed in komiks that long. When Horror Komiks folded up, he never wrote any comic scripts after that.
Sana makita ko yung TROY SAMONTE illustrations. He-he.
JM,
I was still a student at UST that time, and my friends said I looked like that Summer Place heartthrob, Troy Donahue, hehehehe, so in school I was called Troy. That's why I thought of that. That komiks probably appeared in Superyor or Horror Komiks, don't remember. It's easily recognizable, the format I did was, instead of the usual 6 square frames on the page, I made it 6 long horizontal ones across the page. The story was about Armaggedon or something similar with meteors falling to earth, people running amok, buildings falling. Imagine my horror to get a script like that, didn't even know where to start, but I did my best. The sample I showed to Ric was an exact copy of a Redondo splash page and previous to that I had copied Coching. Nothing I had seen before was anything like the script. So Ric was quite disappointed when I showed it to him, got his white showcard and started retouching. By the time he finished it looked like his work. I just charged it to experience.
Rod
Hi Rodolfo:
JM is vacationing in Costa Rica right now. While away, I am taking care of his correspodence. Rest assured that when he comes back in May, I will inform him of your message.
Thanks for writing and Happy Easter to you.
Sincerely,
Heather Rankin
Rod,
Troy Donahue ka pala ? sino naman si Sandra Dee ? Lol !
BTW, ang CRAF publishing editorial office na natatandaan ko sa tapat ng ARRANQUE MARKET, sa AZCARRAGA, katabi yata ng VISTA theater, sa second floor sila ng isang decrepit na building doon.
Baka SUPERYOR (ARES PUBLISHING) yung napuntahan mo ?Ki Redondo rin kasi iyun.....
Auggie
Hi Auggie:
When I was finishing my Bachelors Degree at UBC (University of British Columbia), JM helped me do my papers on Film History. I would have been in trouble because the professor didn't concentrate on history only. Instead he involved many things on it, including Drama, Literature, comic books, even film criticism and acting! Through JM's help, I was able to interpret things such as: themes, symbolism, foreshadowing, etc. APOCALYPSE NOW, BONNIE AND CLYDE, & THEOREMA would have been a mess without JM's input. I mean, I didn't see the relationship between Ferdinanad Marcos and Colonel Walter E. Kurtz until JM pointed it out. But the one that really confused the whole class was "spatialization of time and dynamization of space" (I searched the internet and there was nothing mentioned on them) But JM did know what they are and explained to me the whole nine yards. Then, we were told to discuss a comic book. I used JM's published work called PLASTRON, and I was asked by my professor why is it that the main character was wearing a mask! And how would I know the reason? It wasn't mentioned in the book. Since JM was the author, I asked him. The answer: ALTER-EGO. The character is using his "other self" to protect his own privacy and true identity. A+ was what I got in the course and now I've got my Degree.
Now, reading your messages here, you guys are all very well-informed about movies and comic books and anything under the sun. I have started collecting old Filipino comic books myself, and even if I don't know Tagalog, I love the beautiful drawings. JM gave me also a lot of old Filipino comic books. When I went home (Ireland) a few months ago, I showed them to my friends in Dublin and they were all impressed by them.
To Rodolfo: I looked up some old Filipino comic book collections here and JM has the one drawn by Ric Hernandez and Rodrigo S. Benitez. I am looking for your Troy Samonte one, but so far, no luck. JM might have them stashed somewhere. He'll be back first week of May.
- Heather Rankin
Heather:
Can you tell us how much JM lost in the stock market? I'm just curious because he said that he's willing to kneel down in front of Boyet Fajardo and let the guy slap him.
How true?
Mr. Warm
Mr. Warm:
You sounded like a paparazzi to me.
I'm sorry, sir. But I am not privy to answer your question. Ask JM himself when he comes back.
Heather Rankin
Auggie,
I never said I went to Craf. The place near Life Theater I went to, and where I met Rosauro Matienzo was Redondo Komiks. I also met Nestor two other brothers, one was a writer (not Virgilio) and the other an illustrator who went on to illustrator here in U.S. Comics too.
Heather,
Wow, what a nice story about JM. Why that, spending time in Costa Rica, hahaha. He must be swimming there right now as we write. I heard it was a great place to go. Anyway thanks for looking. My collection of old Pilipino Komiks which dated back to the late 40's were mostly destroyed in a flood in Manila, when I was unfortunately out of the country. Nobody thought about saving them. Destroyed were also copies of the komiks I illustrated when I was still a student.
Rod
Rodolfo:
Joey bought a property there in the early 1990s when he was traveling all the time. I've been there twice and you're right. It is beautiful there. Just be careful when you're out in the woods, though. Fer de lance is one snake you don't want to encounter! A Canadian woman was walking barefooted in the grass one evening and she got bit by Fer de lance. She almost lost her leg! It took her 2 years to finally recover, but the scar almost deformed her leg. It was really nasty!
It's too bad you lost all your comic book collections. The old Filipino comics had they're own unique "look" and identity. The new generation filipino illustrators look more like Japanese and American. What happened to the nice, original Filipino artistry?
There is the so-called VAISAKI festival happening right now here in Vancouver. The East Indian community is sharing their culture to everyone: free East Indian food, and lots of goodies along Fraser Street. About 12 blocks are closed to traffic due to the celebration. This is one thing I love about Vancouver, being a melting pot of cultures. It's the same all over USA and Canada, but the main difference in Vancouver is the people are very friendly, something you won't see in big cities like New York or Toronto. In New York and Toronto, if you talk to someone in the bus stop, they look at you twice as if saying, "who are you? Do I know you? Why are you talking me?"
In Vancouver, you talk to someone in a bus stop, that someone might even become your closest friend.
Heather,
We used to go to Vancouver all the time. My wife has a sister who lived right besides Granville Island. She's now sorry she ever left for the North Side. That's one of the most beautiful places I've seen. Of course we always go there in summer when it's warm and sunny, and it's always gorgeous. We went there the first time for the the World Expo. Victoria Island is another wonderful place to go near Vancouver, and of course the Butchart Gardens is a must see. JM is lucky to have bought property there. The Marcoses wanted to go there, remember, when they were ousted from power, but they settled for Hawaii. It seems there are many Filipinos too in Costa Rica.
Rod
Hi Rod:
You're right, BC is gorfeous. You should also go to the Okanagan region (4 hours drive from Vancouver). My God, that place around the Okanagan Lake is absolutely gorgeous. Last Summer JM and I and other friends drove down there and we just have a good time. JM being a fruit lover went Cherry picking. The cherries were abundant and I've never seen such huge ones in my life. We also hopped from one winery to the next and when we went home, JM's SUV was full of cherries and bottles of wines! But the biggest spectacle on the lake was the swim contest. JM against 20-something guys and JM won hands down.
So next time you visit BC, make sure to drive down to the Okanagan region. It's my favorite summer vacation.
-Heather
Heather,
I love cherries. We go cherry picking here too. However, they're expensive even though you pick it yourself. The only thing is that when you go pick it yourself, you can eat as much as you want from the tree. Whatever you gather you pay by the pound, and it's more expensive than super-market prices, hahahaha. So nowadays we just buy it from the market, cheaper too, without having to travel a hundred miles.
I know JM is a champion swimmer. Tell me, I've only known him through conversations in this blog and other blogs, and I don't know what he looks like, does he have a Michael Phelps physique?
Rod
Hi Rod:
But these cherries are the biggest I've ever seen. I'm not a fruit person but I don't seem to see this kind in the produce sections of grocery stores.
Yeah, he's muscular just like Phelps but JM is much more well-proportioned. If you were buying your CK underwear in the late 80s and early 90s, you must have seen him on the packaging. But I must tell you that just like Phelps, he also likes the WEED! Ha-ha-ha!
gosh, wait until he reads what I've been writing here... I just hope he doesn't call me GOSSIP GIRL after this. Hmmm.
Heather,
You are a gossip girl but that's fine. The weed. So JM is not exactly a saint like what he's trying to portray himself to be, huh? Someone who originally dreamed of becoming a priest and yet ended up taking off his clothes in front of the camera? I find this confusing, even bizarre, don't you think? I bet he also did cocaine and other stuff? We've heard some really bad behavior of models, both male and female. But I am impressed how he managed to get rid of all of his nude photos out of the internet. But he's not out of the woods yet. I'm sure somewhere out there his photos exist. In fact, I have a couple of his really high resolution totally nude ones and they're awesome with a capital A. You know what I mean. I'm sure you've slept with him many times and you know what I'm talking about, right, dear? But tell him not to worry. It will remain in my bedroom. Frankly, I liked him a lot, despite the "weed" thing. He has been honest and straight forward and consistent from the very beginning. If there's one thing he should really do is come out clean by admitting he was a model and posed nude in photos. THAT would be the moral thing to do, don't you agree, my dear? After all, people are not dumb and they know anyway. Incidentally, I did my own research on how much models make and shocked to find out that they range from 36K - 60K PER WEEK! That's more than a year's salary of an employee!
Now, even myself wouldn't exchange that kind of money for PRIESTHOOD! Would you?
- The Manila Collector
Manila collector:
You're the most presumptuous guy I've ever encountered in my life, and you offended me. JM is like a brother to me and your dirty mind is gagging me.
JM is one of the cleanest guys I've known in my life. Clean outside and inside. You're pretending to like him but the tone of your writing is full of innuendos and bitterness. You can take your fat ass and join the priesthood for all I care, you bastard. Don't test my Irish temperament. You'll be in for a big surprise.
-Heather Rankin
Manila Collector, be a gentleman! Pero nagugulohan ako, bakit si CoolCanadian naging si Heather Rankin????......
Kapre,
Manila collector is a rude individual. Thank you for reminding him. I surmised he's a guy, a nasty macho one who treats women like dirt.
-Heather Rankin
Heather,
Belated Happy Easter ! so JM was some sort of an adviser to you in Graduate School ? congratulations on your advance degree ! is it Masters or Ph.D ? JM has a vast knowledge of the CREATIVE ARTS, you gotta admit that.
and BTW, since you are from Ireland, I would like to ask some queries: are old Van Morrison's CDs still available there ?I'm looking for THEM, his old band from Belfast, when he was still sounding like Mick Jagger, belting out Blues-based rock.
Rod,
Mi reunion daw ngayong April sa Makati, bank-rolled daw ni Delia, are you coming ?
Auggie
Hi Auggie:
Master of Visual Art and Design.
You must be looking for the Van Morrison live concerts? I think they're still available, but mostly on vinyl LPs. Some are on CDs but they sound different. I think I've seen some in record stores like Virgin and HMV in Metrotown.
-Heather Rankin
Heather,
It was THEM, and Van was just the lead vocalist. Among the hits were : Gloria, Baby please don't go, Bright Lights, Big City, Route 66, Mystic Eyes, among others. He sounded like Mick Jagger then. Then he went solo and produced gems like Astral Weeks, MoonDance and other fine LPs.
Where can we find nice but cheap reproductions of Warhol, Matisse,Gaugin, Van Gogh et.al ?
Auggie
Auggie:
The problem with reproduction nowadays is they look very real. A Giclée painting printed on canvass looks very real. If you're looking for reproductions, giclée is the way to go. So if you have paintings that you want to sell, print them on canvass and you can print as many as you want. Canvas prints are much more durable than paper as they do not crease when rolled for mailing. Left in the sun, giclee prints will have the same color for at least 25 years!
I definitely go for giclée if I were you.
Heather,
Where can I find giclée places in the Philippines? Do you know? Haven't seen anything like that in Manila or Makati. Therefore, don't waste your time advising us to go for that. I've never even seen one yet to be honest.
Auggie:
Do you know how many little snakes there are attached to Valentine's head? Right on, bud! That's Darna's arch enemy. Better know that for an accurate giclee image of Valentina.
Har-har-har.
-McGonigle
McGonigle:
You're one nasty character. We're having a serious exchange of ideas here and you're ruining it by your nonsensical remarks. Who cares how many snajes there are on Valentina's head? Do you know how many snakes there are in Medusa's head? How about your pubic hair? Have you counted it yet? You should do it now for accuracy's sake! I suspect you're the Manila Collector.
If you are, go to hell and eat shit. That's what you deserve!
-Heather
Wala na. Na-baboy na naman ng mga kababayan natin ang usapan. Nagdadala kayo ng kahihiyan sa lahat ng mga Pilipino. Maski saang blogs, laging pinoy ang asungot.
-Bluepen
Heather,
This Half-Wit and Low-Life is even using my name trying to be cute. Please don't mind him. Sick minds are everywhere, trying to attract attention. Anyway, just edit all the nasty missives that are being sent, and just delete all the offensive ones.
Back to Giclee: how much for a repro of Warhol's Marilyn Monroe, or The Campbells Tomato Soup, including handling & postage ?
Auggie
Auggie:
I didn't know that blogging can be this bad sometimes. Yes, I have rejected messages that were so bad and didn't deserved to be read ar all.
Giclee prints have different prices. I have seen some Warhol at the Vancouver Art Gallery for $45. Usually they range from $40-85 depending on the size.
Btw, there is an event coming to Vancouver and I will post it next.
Hello po sainyo, Ako nga po pala si Jericho Perona, apo po ako ni Pedro Perona o mas kilala sa palayaw na FC Perona. Siya po ay nakatira sa Hagonoy, Bulacan. Kilala siya sa pag-iilustrate sa mga komiks. Ikinalulungkot ko po na pumanaw na si FC Perona noong March 3,1999. Nalungkot po ako dahil di ko man lang nakita ang magaling na dibuhista sa kasaysayan. At di ko man lang nakita ang mga komiks na ginawa nya dahil sa panahon na naluma na ito. At dahil sa nakita ko ang mga page nagaya nito ay natuwa ako dahil ang lolo ko ay kilala pala sa pagiilustrate sa komiks. Salamat po pala sa gumawa ng mga page na gaya nito.
Hi Jerico:
Hayaan mo't mag-bubungkal ako sa aking collection ng mga gawa ng iyong grandfather at ipo-post ko dito.
Cheers!
JM
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