Superheroes come alive in Toronto

Superheroes come alive in Toronto

Pinoy illustrators display skill drawing Marvel comics

Toronto illustrators Paul Limgenco, Kevin Briones, Oliver Castañeda and Vince Sunico. (PHOTO: Kevin Vinzon)

By Beatrice S. Paez

Toronto is often the stunt double of New York. The downtown campus of the University of Toronto masqueraded as Columbia University in the film adaptation of the Hulk. The city’s landscape usually takes the face of anonymity onscreen. Now four Filipino-Canadian comic book artists unmask the stories and faces behind the world of Marvel.

Superheroes invaded Toronto at a Kapisanan fundraising event. The illustrators were recruited to produce a series of works featuring superheroes, set alongside Toronto icons.

The deliberate use of pop culture heroes like Wolverine, Batman, and Iron Man was homage to Filipino illustrators that have splashed their ink on the pages of Marvel comics.

Illustration by Kevin Briones -Deadpool X Ford

“The comic book industry is being supported by a lot of Filipino illustrators, since the 1980s,” explained Kat Estacio. “We wanted to showcase the artists behind those characters, use them as a way to help give awareness to the artists that draw them.”

Some of the illustrators behind Marvel include: Leinil Francis Yu (Wolverine, The Avengers), Harvey Tolibao (Green Arrow, Silver Surfer), Toronto’s Francis Manapul (Flash) and White Protacio (Uncanny X-Men).

The four Toronto artists — Kevin Briones, Oliver Castañeda, Paul Limgenco and Vince Sunico — had free rein to decide how understated or conspicuous the references to Toronto would be.

“We settled on this [theme] because it would be the most relatable,” said Limgenco about the decision to use elements of Toronto.

Sunico said the most challenging part of the assignment was laying out the scenarios. “I didn’t want to just throw the superhero into the background of Toronto, I wanted to mash things up,” he said.

Illustration by Vince Sunico – Superman TTC

The result is personalized experience, featuring Superman’s close encounter with a TTC bus, as he leaps in to save a Filipino boy from on an oncoming crash.

Action also breaks out at the Exhibition Place for dueling rivals Batman and the Joker, in Limgenco’s piece, Showdown at the CNE. His illustration reads as a cover design, the entry point for a narrative yet untold. The work speaks to one of his strengths as an illustrator; he was recently commissioned to do the cover for a graphic novel, Tread Water.

In one of Castañeda’s illustrations, the Ghost Rider takes a spin by the Gooderham Flatiron building in the St. Lawrence Market neighbourhood. Castañeda’s interpretation of the assignment sets a standoff between the Toronto police and the Ghost Rider, who is regarded as the anti-hero, a vigilante.

Anti-heroes also made an appearance in Briones’s illustration. When you see his piece featuring Deadpool clutching Rob Ford by the waist, don’t mistake Ford for the villain in this scenario. Briones said he was simply interested in featuring a Toronto personality, infamous or not.

Illustratio by Oliver Castañeda – Iron Man

Though all four belong to the comic collective Spent Pencils, Castañeda and Limgenco often collaborate to draw on each other’s individual strengths as an artist. When they pair up, Limgenco often takes the lead painting in the detailed sketches drawn by Castañeda.

Among the four, Briones writes, illustrates and produces his own comic book about a bounty hunter, The Go Man, which has a place on the shelves Silver Snail, a haven for comic book enthusiasts. Meanwhile, Castañeda is looking for the right collaborator to launch his own characters.

But it goes without saying that their endgame is to fill a spot in the ranks of legendary Marvel comic book artists, as they pursue their work in illustration through freelance gigs.

“Freelancing is difficult, I still consider myself trying to break in,” said Limgenco. “This is what the event is about, getting our feet through the door a bit more.”

Prints and their original works were for sale as part of a silent auction to market their talent and to help raise funds for Kapisanan’s programming.

Illustration by Paul Limgenco- Showdown at the CNE

Though the financial success of the event will not be tallied until they roll out the second phase of the campaign (selling more prints), Estacio said it expanded their network and outreach to other artists.

For more information about the artists and their prints, contact Kat Estacio at kat@kapisanancentre.com or visit kapisanancentre.com/