Quite unexpectedly, my thesis partner and I ended up with writing an undergraduate study on komiks. Right now, we are working on its Chapters II and III.
How did we end up with it anyway, considering that her leaning is towards Broadcasting and mine, Advertising? To say that we both love reading and comics is not much of a reason, but it is pretty much the final take.
Comics is a commonality between us. Although I do not love it as much as Wila does, I have a great appreciation for it anyhow. I have learned to love its contributions to the Filipino culture and have also accepted its limitations as a print medium. And that, I think, is one of the first few steps in learning to love something.
Our love for it started when Wila bought a copy of Budjette Tan’s Trese: Murder in Balete Drive—the first of the three Trese books (The two others are Trese: Unreported Murders and Trese: Mass Murders). From that day on, we digested Neil Gaiman, David Hontiveros and a few others who are noted for their contributions in the comics industry. We also invested a lot of time and effort scouring libraries and web sites for anything related to komiks—especially Trese, our subject for research.
Komiks is both complex and limited as an area for research, but my partner and were set on one thing: WE ARE GOING TO GRADUATE ON TIME. And our love for komiks will aid us along the way.
Witi-Witi 