Aaron Felizmenio -- TDKPH April 2016 Artist of the Month

Aaron Felizmenio, better known by his colleague as Gwapoman, is one of the rising talents in the local comicbook industry. His unique style and great attention to detail will land him a project with any of the international comicbook publishers some day. Believe us, Aaron is born to dazzle the audience with his striking artwork.

Besides his artwork, people in the local community enjoy his company. He's a down to Earth guy with a good sense of humor. He usually post one-liner jokes on his facebook wall everyday. Some of the memes he created was even recognized by the international community. In jest, he said last year that if he didn't work out as a comicbook creator, at least he will have the comedy industry as a fallback.

At an early age, Aaron was influenced by his cousin who is now a painter based in California. Everytime his cousin would work, he would watch him and try to draw on his own. It was at that moment that he fell in love with art. 

drawn and colored by Aaron in 1996

While honing his skills, he realized that the fine arts was not for him. It was until college when his classmates introduced him comics where he realized that he wanted to be in the comicbook industry. The comicbooks that represented the characters he loved growing up. It was an instant connection that made him enjoy drawing comicbook characters.

He wasn't a solid comicbook reader back then, but his first comics were those DC reprints released by PSICOM. One of the books he clearly remembers contain stories from JLA, Batman, and Superman: Birthright. This book introduced him to the great Gerry Allanguilan--who was at that time, the rockstar of the local comicbook industry. Aaron's passion for drawing comicbook characters grew when he realized that Gerry and Leinil Yu were Filipino artists that made their mark in international comics.

"I thought, hey if they can do it, maybe I can do it too! That's what kick-started my uh, comics 'career'."

Aaron, in the year 2008, was a sophomore art student in UP Diliman when he had his break out year. He made a mark in the local community by independently publishing Gwapoman 2000. That release set the tone for the new generation of comicbook creators that are ready to take on the challenges of making it into the international industry.

Gwapoman 2000 was unique to the Filipino readers. It provides a new take on dark and gritty superheroes trying to be the catalyst for change. Many readers consider his work as ambitious and unprecedented. The book can be compared to Batman v. Superman in a sense that it tells the tale of two different characters--Gwapoman and Alas. Moreover, the script is both deep and comedic just like BvS.

Besides Gwapoman 2000, Aaron has other works like Minkowski Space Opera and Manila Accounts 1081. As an independent publisher, the only problem he had was exposure. Coming up with stories and publishing them is easy. It is more of getting his creations available to the public. The only solution he can think of is to allow local publishers to distribute his works. But that would mean he'll get less royalties from his work.

Despite having problems with distribution, he doesn't let this stop himself from writing and drawing comicbooks. Thank God for Meganon Comics publishers who help local talents distribute their works in bookstores like National Bookstore and Fully Booked. 

"Andito na rin lang ako, might as well just push it some more. 'Di talaga sumasagi sa isip ko na tumigil."

His advice for those who would want to make their mark in the local comicbook industry is to quit as early as now. No, really, he said that jokingly. His advice for them is to enjoy the moment. There are some hardships in the industry, but aspiring talents should not treat failures as setbacks and losses. Aaron believes that aspirants should see it as an opportunity to grow.

One day, Aaron hope to handle art duties for DC's Constantine. His unique style matches the tone and feel for the book. But as regards story-telling, he wants to write Batman stories. With his passion for his craft and his unmeasurable talent, we believe that this dream is not far-fetched. Aaron Felizmenio will make it in the big leagues.