I was very engrossed in the story I was reading. I was on the 3rd page when my mother called my attention and said, “Roni, bitawan mo na ‘yang Komiks at may aarkila na!” [Roni, let go of that Komiks, someone wants to rent it!] With reluctance, I obeyed my mother. That was years ago… alright, many years ago.

Yes, I was reading Komiks and had many favourite serial novels. Most of them were penned by Carlo J. Caparas, Pablo S. Gomez, and Jim Fernandez; they were illustrated by Mar T. Santana and Hal Santiago. I also love the works of Elena M. Patron, Gilda Olvidado, Nerissa G. Cabral, and Lualhati Bautista.

Our family used to own a small sari-sari store [local village store] and one of our services was renting out Komiks. So yup, I was a certified Komiks junkie growing up; from being an innocent kid to becoming a curious adolescent, reading Komiks was part of my life.

I never got tired of reading Komiks back then. So many good stories were always bitin [left me wanting more] or itutuloy [to be continued]. And like the telenovelas or movie-series on TV or Netflix these days, Komiks also contained cliffhangers that were always ‘to be continued’. So, they made me want to read more. I remember Darna, Hiwaga, Tagalog Klassiks, Pilipino Komiks, TSS, Aliwan, Pioneer, Liwayway, and many more. I also remember how my mother used to send me to Muñoz Market on Roosevelt Avenue to buy the latest issues of Komiks. 

Still vivid in my memory are the reactions of my two younger sisters, younger brother, five cousins, three neighbourhood friends, a few more distant relatives, two dogs, one cat, one pig, and seven chickens (oh yeah, we resembled a mini barangay [small village] at that time), whenever they would see me coming back carrying dozens of Komiks I had bought from the market.They were smiling, jumping, shouting, waving, and dancing like the munchkins in The Wizard of Oz. They were so happy. They were eager to start reading. Yes, they were certified Komiks lovers, too. We all were.

But nobody could beat me when it came to putting 100% focus on Komiks. Not a conscious human being had the power to take my eyes away from what I was reading (except my mother, of course, or else I would not have been given baon [allowance] for school). Even the pretty lasses in our place, who had crushes on me (naks!), could not get my attention if I was reading Komiks. No matter how pa-cute they acted, I still ignored them.

I used to believe they did that because I was pogi [handsome] – until my mother told me those girls had shallow taste. Ngek! “Anak, mababa talaga ang taste ng mga dalagita dito sa atin.” [Son, the teen girls here are very shallow.] (Wahhh). If you are wondering where my father was, he was somewhere in a corner, also reading Komiks. Yes, Komiks was indeed a family addiction… I mean, tradition. 

There was no internet at that time, so of course, there was no Facebook (only slam book and notebook); no Instagram (only telegram); no X or Twitter (only real birds like maya, sisiw [chick] and itik [duck]); no TikTok (only baTok [hitting the nape] I would receive from my mother if I were stubborn); no YouTube (only picture tube inside our old black and white TV)… in short, no social media (only Social Studies as one of our subjects in school). That meant the pages of Komiks were our destined soulmate.

• Komiks was the first tool I used to guide myself in writing
• Komiks helped me sharpen my reading comprehension
• Komiks taught me to dream and imagine playing different characters
• Komiks was where I started to see that there are stories other than my own
• Komiks was where I learned that victories do not always come in beautiful packages
• Komiks was where I learned that failures are temporary (itutuloy [to be continued])
• Komiks was where I learned that success is always sweeter when we work hard for it

And Komiks is where I learned to coin my pun: “Ang buhay at parang Komiks, maraming ‘itutuloy’, at may isang ‘wakas’”. [Life is like Komiks, there are plenty of ‘climaxes’ and there is one ‘finale’]

As we continue to reach our dreams and goals, traverse this challenging time, fight for our rights, and live our lives amid this demanding and exciting world, the memories of all we have accomplished in our life journey will help sustain us. So, let’s continue to face and overcome all our life conflicts and squabbles. Let’s keep getting up in the morning. For now, your life, my life, all our lives… are ‘to be continued…’, or itutuloy, just like in Komiks.