ART TRIP 9: Farewell to a Friend

Back in the 80s when leotards and tangas ruled and Gary Valenciano wore shoulder pads, my idol was neither a movie star nor a singer. His name was Vincent Benjamin Kua Jr. and he was a komiks scriptwriter and illustrator. I worshipped the ground that man walked on. I used to spend all my meager school allowance in komiks-for-rent stalls, eagerly awaiting each installment of his novels.

With works like Ad Infinitum, Cecilia’s Lullaby and Pokwang, I was turned into a rabid Vincent fan and a stalker of sorts. From Aklan I wrote him letters and literally jumped with joy when he wrote back. That started a budding friendship that went on for several years and culminated in his being my mentor in komiks scriptwriting and illustration through his VK Komiks Studio Plus.

We lost touch in the 90s when I moved to Baguio, then Cebu in the course of my work (komiks was simply a sideline for me then). When I went back to Manila ten years later, the komiks industry was dead and Counterstrike ruled. I tried renewing ties with him but he was nowhere to be found. Or perhaps I didn’t look hard enough.

Then yesterday, I stumbled onto another artist’s blog and learned in one of the entries that Vincent died of a stroke last October 2005. I was stunned. He was too young to die.

Farewell my friend. Rest in peace.

Some of my work published in Kilabot, Shocker and Fantasy Komiks: