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Celebrate Francisco Coching's day with these comics available for free online

Lifestyle

Celebrate Francisco Coching's day with these comics available for free online

By John Legaspi

See some of the works of the ‘Dean of Filipino Illustrations’

Francisco Coching and his works Dumagit and Ang Kaluluwa ni Dante

If you’ve been watching TV5’s Bella Bandida, then you should know the man behind the comics it is adapted from.

Dubbed as the “Dean of Filipino Illustrations,” Francisco Coching was among the pillars of Philippine comics. Being the son of noted Tagalog novelist and comics illustrator Gregorio Coching, he became a natural storyteller, producing 53 comics throughout four decades of working in the industry starting in 1934.

“His illustrations and novels were products of that happy combination of fertile imagination, a love of storytelling, and fine draftsmanship,” the National Commission for Culture and the Arts says. “He synthesized images and stories informing Philippine folk and popular imagination of culture.”

As we celebrate the 102nd birth anniversary of the National Artist for Visual Arts, online Filipino comics destination Penlab is sharing two of Francisco remastered serials—Ang Kaluluwa ni Dante (1949) and Dumagit (1953).

Ang Kaluluwa ni Dante

Seeking justice for a rich life that has been taken away from him, Daniel Magtanggol gains help from Doctor Futiphar to search for it in a most remarkable out of body experience.

Dumagit

Dumagit is born of two worlds—a modern world of conflict and scandal, and the jungle world that he grew up in. His two worlds collide when men finally discover his secret island.

Comic book image covers from Penlab.

Related Tags

Comics Francisco Coching Arts and Culture

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