‘Bishop’ creator Whilce Portacio, in Dubai

The comic book creator and artist talks creation of Image, Filipino superheroes and diversity

You may not have heard of Filipino-American comic book writer and artist Whilce Portacio, but you’ve definitely seen his work. From The Punisher to Uncanny X-Men to X Force to Spawn, Portacio’s legacy in the world of comics runs deep. Adding to his list of achievements is his role in the founding of Image Comics: Portacio is one of the six founding members of the publishing house that launched a revolution in the comic book industry by introducing the creator-owned model, successfully giving Marvel, DC, IDW and other publishing companies a run for their money. In an email interview with tabloid!, ahead of his visit to the currently ongoing PopCon festival in Dubai (PopCon ends on October 29), Portacio talks about his work, Image comics and creating Pinoy superhero characters.

You’ve been drawing comics for a while now, even creating your own series ‘Wetworks’. How has the comic book industry changed since the time you began doing this?

The comic book industry wasn’t the huge multimillion dollar machine it is now. So, back then there was more freedom to draw and write what we wanted to. More creativity was allowed in the old days.

Were you scared about leaving Marvel? Did you think Image would become what it is today?

I was one of six guys who were at the top of our fields at Marvel. We decided to form our own comic book company where we could individually create and control our own books. We were young artists, confident in our skills and the fact that we had an audience. We knew they would follow us as long as we did comics they loved — that wasn’t hard because we loved those kind of comics, too … superhero comic books! With Image, we created a company, an umbrella that could accept and embrace creatives, to allow them to create their own comic books and be the sole recipient of their comic books’ success.

There’s been a lot of talk about diversity lately. I remember reading that Bishop was originally imagined to be Filipino. Why was he finally a black character?

I had always envisioned Bishop to be Pinoy. Because there were so many young black readers writing in to Marvel at the time asking for a new black hero, we decided to go with it. I had no problem with that decision because three months later we formed Image and I went about creating Wetworks with a Pinoy superhero named Grail as one of the main characters.

Do you plan on creating any new stories based entirely on Filipino culture?

I am. The worldwide audience has for some years now been loving the comic book movies of heroes created in the US during the ’60s, there will quickly come a time where the audiences around the world will want to see their faces and races and cultures as superheroes, too.

Do you have any advice for young artists who want to make comics?

An artist’s worth is his or her art. Many industries need artists. You will eventually get paid what you are worth, so the first priority is to get yourself exposed to the editors and the audience. Use all of the internet to expose your work, your art, gain an audience.

‘Bishop’ creator Whilce Portacio, in Dubai

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