University of Santo Tomas

Faculty of Arts and Letters

Manila

Behind the Wit and Humor: An Analysis of Kevin Eric Raymundo’s Webcomics in his
Facebook Page ​Tarantadong Kalbo

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the course Philippine Literary History

Submitted by:
Hidalgo, Alyannah M.
Huyo-a, Joshua James D.
2LM4

Submitted to:
Mr. Paolo Tenchavez, MA

May 27, 2020

 Table of Contents

Introduction 2

Thesis Statement 5

Definitions of Terms 5

Background of the Webcomic 6

Discussion Proper 7

Conclusion 12

Bibliography 13

List of Figures

Figure 1. V.I.P by Kalbo, March 22, 2020 8

Figure 2. Pringles by Kalbo, April 10, 2020 9

Figure 3. Dimasalang by Kalbo, April 15, 2020 10

Figure 4. Kinky by Kalbo, May 13, 2020 11

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Introduction

The first appearance of comic strips is dated back in the late 19th century. They
usually appear in newspapers, magazines, and supplements not until 1929 (Ramsey,
2013). The first stand-alone comic book, ​The Funnies was first conceptualized by
George T. Delacorte Jr. of Dell Publishing in 1929 (Goulart, 2000). It ran for eight years
with 36 issues.
The rise of superhero comics gave the comic industry more limelight. This
superhero comic era is considered “The Golden Age of Comics” especially when DC
Comics introduced Superman in 1938 (Petersen, 2016). Asian countries like Japan also
embraced the comic industry. Manga became popular in post-war Japan when Osamu
Tezuka, considered as God of Manga, of Kobunsha Publishing serialized Astro Boy in
1952 (Solomon, 2009). Different genres such as romance, science fiction, horror, and
humor were introduced in the later years.
With the advent of technology, especially the invention of the Internet and the
World Wide Web, comics were developed into webcomics in the late 80s and early 90s.
Usually, college students who were in the field of computer and technology were the
comic artists at that time. The first to claim as the first online comic was the ​Witches in
Stitches by Eric Monster Millikin of Michigan State University in 1985 (Garrity, 2011).
This online comic was a parody of Wizard of Oz and was uploaded to the server called
CompuServe. On the other hand, the first internet comic was claimed by ​Where the
Buffalo Roam of Hans Bjordahl of University of Colorado in 1991. It was a gag comic
strip on the server called Usenet and was the first webcomic to be updated regularly
online (Peterson, 2005).
Webcomic continued to emerge in the following years. From1996 up to the 2000s
different webcomic styles exploded all over the Internet (Garrity, 2011). Webcomics are
not only published because of the entertainment value but also used to express different
answers, opinions, and criticisms to different intrapersonal, interpersonal, societal, or
even political cues (Meskin & Cook, 2014).

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 In the Philippines, between 33-40 percent of the population considered
themselves to have read at least one comic in their lives however, this number is
definitely reduced because of the rise of the new media including the webcomic
(Macaraig, 2010). Still, a lot of Philippine publishers like Visprint and the different
newspaper companies make comics but also they are now publishing various
webcomics on their new media platforms such as social media pages and websites to
get along with the sign of the times. On the contrary, webcomics are now considered as
an innovative form of comics and not an art form that destroys the comic industry. There
are lots of local artists that publish webcomics on the Internet. Below are some of the
well-known webcomic artists or ​komikeros​ in the Philippines.

John Amor
John Amor is a proud Cebuano who earned his fame from his award-winning book
called the “One Week in the Library” that ​garnered an Eisner nomination for a best short
story (Shiach, 2016). Aside from comics, he is now also making webcomics that he
posts on his Facebook page, The Art of John Amor. The main content of his work is a
horror content that he could evoke in a relaxed setting.

Andrew Drilon
Andrew Drilon is a famous komikero in the country. He was known for being a
finalist in the 2008 Philippines’ Free Press Literary Awards. Also, Drilon is a recipient of
the Philippine Graphic/Fiction Award ​(Tanjuatco, 2017)​. His best work is known as
“Kare Kare komiks” which has received praise from writers like Warren Ellis, Emma Bull,
and Matt Fraction (Mah, 2014). His work was seen in the famous kid’s magazine which
is K-zone and he was a regular cartoonist in a newspaper in the Philippines. Some of
his webcomics are posted on his Facebook page, Andrew Drilon Comics Artist. His
main content focuses on his sci-fi, psychedelic, and chaotic mind.

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Xerx G. Javier
Xerx G. Javier is known for using eye angles in his webcomics to be used as a
great effect in every facial expression in the characters of his comics (Tanjuatco, 2017).
He has his own art online platform on the internet in which he posts a lot of his
comics-related to the site. He does not create comics only but he also draws in his style
that is his advantage on why he is great and famous in this kind of field. The main
content in his webcomics is fictional and superhero characters.

Rob Cham

Rob Cham is the editor of the famous comic book ​Abangan: The Best Philippine
Komiks. His first published work titled “Light” is being bought and read in Adarna’s
House’s comics imprint. Now, he supplies comic strips in different kinds of magazines
such as Young Star, Scout Magazine, and Rogue Magazine. Also, he made webcomics
that have been featured in Pepper.ph (Concepcion, 2018). His main content focuses
more on fantasy and adventure.

Lizette Daluz

Lizette Daluz is the author of the famous comics strip ​“Ang Hari ng Komyut” ​that
was published by Anino comics. Her comic strip was included in the Best Reads of 2018
​ as also published in her Facebook
National Children’s Book. ​Ang Hari ng Komyut w
Page, Art of Lizette Daluz together with her other webcomics. Lizette’s main content is a
slice of life.

The mentioned webcomic artists above use different genres like a superhero,
fantasy, adventure, science, horror, and thriller. But of course, webcomics in the
Philippines are not limited to these genres. One ​komikero i​ s having great attention
nowadays in social media from his socially and politically inclined webcomics written
with puns and humor. He is Kevin Eric Raymundo, the illustrator of the famous
webcomic ​Tarantadong Kalbo.

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Thesis Statement

Webcomics can reflect the social and political landscape of the country. It is an
effective mode of communication to reflect the general attitude of the public towards a
certain societal issue. Behind the different styles of the artists, serious or even
humorous, webcomics can take the form of a protest that addresses political and social
issues with direct action.

Definitions of Terms

1. Comic​- a medium of expression that communicates ideas via images, often

combined with text or other forms of visual information. It usually takes the form
of alternating and integrated series of panels of images that makes a sequence.
Short textual devices are evident like callouts, speech balloons, captions, and
short narrations, and sound effects to indicate dialogue and other information
(Merriam-Webster.com, n.d.).
2. Genre​- ​a category of artistic, musical, or literary composition characterized by a
particular style, form, or content ​(Merriam-Webster.com, n.d.).
3. Internet​- ​and electronic communications network that connects computer
networks and organizational computer facilities around the world
(Merriam-Webster.com, n.d.).
4. Internet Trolls​- ​someone who makes intentionally inflammatory, rude, or
upsetting statements online to elicit strong emotional responses in people or to
steer the conversation off-topic (Vicente, 2020).
5. Komikero-​ ​a Filipino term for a comic artist. They are the illustrators and
storytellers who use sequential images to develop characters and plots through
comic strips and books, including webcomics (Burt, 2017).
6. Mass Testing​- clinically testing of a targeted population. The scope covers only
persons under investigation (PUI) and persons under monitoring (PUM) with

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 symptoms; and high-risk persons such as health workers, pregnant women, and
those with other medical conditions (Peralta, 2020).
7. Webcomic​- is a digital comic strip or few panels of illustration that is published
online. It is usually developed using digital art programs and software. These
webcomics are published on the artist’s social media accounts, personal
websites, and blogs (Computer Hope, 2019)
8. World Wide Web​- ​a part of the Internet accessed through a graphical user
interface and containing documents often connected by hyperlinks
(Merriam-Webster.com, n.d.).

Background of the Webcomic

Kevin Eric Raymundo, also known as “Kalbo” is the animation director of Kalbo
Animations. He is known for his Facebook page ​Tarantadong Kalbo which he started in
July 2019. Raymundo named his social media pages ​Tarantadong Kalbo because this
is what his friends and relatives call him whenever he pulls off artworks, especially
webcomics that throw some shade to the government and to the double standards of
the society. In this page, he posts his artworks and various webcomics related to social
and political issues, and daily Filipino frustrations. Raymundo is gaining a lot of
followers on his different social media platforms. As of May 26, 2020, Tarantadong
Kalbo has 47,808 followers on Facebook, 8,670 followers on Twitter, and 2,310
followers on Instagram.
According to his interview with Vera Files (2020), the 34-year-old draws and
writes his comics in a humorous way because he sees that jokes and puns are easy to
pick up nowadays because Filipinos are living in a stranger world where we have
everyday frustrations because of the society and the government. The toxic political
landscape Philippines has is what inspires and motivates him to make more webcomics.
However, he refused to be considered as politically woke rather he wants to be
remembered as a man of principles. Furthermore, ​Raymundo  also  advocates  mental 

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health  awareness  on  his  page  as  he  was  also  a  victim  of  bullying  that  makes  him have 
anxiety.  He  considers  his  page  as  his  escape  from  anxiety  (Uy, 2020). The page shifted 
to  be  more  political  during  the  COVID-19 pandemic bust some of his webcomics before 
were  about  mental  health  such  as  anxiety  and  depression  brought  by  different 
situations.  
Tarantadong Kalbo is gaining more popularity these days because of his
webcomics regarding the COVID-19 management of our government. His followers are
continuously increasing during the course of the quarantine period. Most of his avid
readers are fond of his content because he incorporates humor to the issues the
country is facing and he often uses pop culture references and personalities in history
as characters of his webcomics. Most of the comments and reviews he receives are
about how entertaining and witty his webcomics are, humorous but with substance.

Discussion Proper

Corruption, poverty, mishandling of funds and resources, unemployment,

diplomatic ties with other countries and territory issues are some of the national issues
we hear nowadays especially that we are in the middle of a pandemic. These issues
leave frustrations to the citizens. Kevin Eric raymundo perfectly portrays our daily
frustrations into his witty and humorous webcomics.
Mass Testing is one of the prominent issues the pandemic faces. Kalbo made a
webcomic regarding this mass testing issue and posted it to his page, ​Tarantadong
​ igure 1 shows his webcomic entitled “V.I.P” that talks about how normal people
Kalbo. F
are unfairly treated when it comes to COVID-19 mass testing. This webcomic has
reached over 21,000 shares and over 15,000 likes on Facebook. On top of that, some
politicians involved in the scheme namely, Mayor Isko Moreno, Senate President Tito
Sotto, Sen. Miguel Zubiri, and Francis Tolentino were tagged in the post.

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 Figure 1. V.I.P by Kalbo, March 22, 2020

In the first frame, you can see that an old man is talking to a health worker and is
requesting to be tested, however another person called the health worker. In the second
frame, an intimidating man is asking the health worker to test him for his publicity
purposes. In the third frame, the health worker gets back to the old man but he is
already gone. In the last frame, you can see the sad eyes of the health worker who is
speechless.
This webcomic of Kalbo has a lot of symbolic elements regarding the issue. We
can say that the old man symbolizes the masses. The health worker symbolizes the
health sector of our country and the intimidating man symbolizes our politicians and
their families. A lot of politicians were prioritized in the testing, as they are considered
as VIPs, despite the fact that a lot is under investigation and monitoring and the nation
is under a serious public health emergency. According to CNN Philippines (2020), the
Department of Health Secretary, Francisco Duque III confirmed that some prominent
personalities made a direct request to be tested to see if they are positive of the virus.
This news made the public especially the netizens go mad expressing their anger to the

8
government because even now all of our lives are at risk of the virus, politicians still
care of their self-interest. The crisis is still not able to break the status quo.
After the election of President Rodrigo Duterte in 2016, the rise of online or
internet trolls became evident. These online trolls are paid to defend the administration
whenever there are online criticisms against the governance of Duterte and his people
(Etter, 2017). Usually, these trolls are used to concoct fake news and they attack
arguments using different logical fallacies such as Argumentum ad hominem (argument
directed to the person). Some webcomics of Kalbo portrays our frustrations in
encountering trolls about our political posts in the social media. Figure 2 shows his
webcomic entitled “Pringles” that shows how internet trolls answer to your post and how
to identify that they are trolls. This webcomic has reached over 2,000 shares and over
3,000 likes on Facebook.

Figure 2. Pringles by Kalbo, April 10, 2020

In the first frame, you can see Antonio Luna posting the famous line from the
movie Heneral Luna (2015) ​“Walang naka-aangat sa batas kahit pa Presidente”.​ In the
second frame, someone answers to his post attacking his physical feature and

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comparing him to the logo of the famous potato chip brand, Pringles. In the third frame,
Heneral Luna is in outrage, saying s curse word in Spanish. In the last frame, Heneral
Luna consulted the Brain of the Revolution, Apolinario Mabini if the commenter is a troll.
Affirmative, he concluded that he just has to ignore the online troll.
Heneral Luna is a symbol of a brave Filipino criticizing the wrongs of the
government. These Filipinos are generally patriotic and want justice for each citizen of
the country. During this COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of criticisms of how Duterte
mishandles the health crisis is all over the Internet. He irresponsibly gives statements
without proper basis and calmly lets go of the politicians and authorities who disobeyed
the law. His inconsistent statements and mishandling of the crisis make the public
outrage. However, the online trolls are ready to protect him.
Another webcomic that showed frustrations to online trolls during this pandemic
is “Dimasalang” as shown in Figure 3. From the first to third frames, you can see Dr.
Jose Rizal a.k.a. Dimasalang reading the typical lines of online trolls during the health
crisis. The third frame stated "​Buti pa mga tao dati, wala masyadong angal. Tahimik
lang!​" to which Rizal replied in frustration as shown in the last frame: "Bitch, ​pakiusap.​ ",
portraying implicitly his fight against the Spaniards.

Figure 3. Dimasalang by Kalbo, April 15, 2020

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 Abuse of power of authorities especially of the policemen is not a new issue for
every Filipinos. From extra-judicial killing of the Duterte administration to the different
assault and crimes people report against the Philippine National police during this
pandemic, definitely trust to these authorities are declining.
When the government implemented the Enhanced Community Quarantine
(ECQ), a lot of rules and regulations were implemented. Some of these are the social
distancing and the banning of social gatherings. Last May 8, 2020, ​Metro Manila Police
Chief Major General Debold Sinas had a surprise birthday party at Camp Bagong Diwa
(Talabong, 2020). Public criticized the officer and the gathering saying that no one is
above the law even the government officials. Figure 4 ​shows Kalbo’s webcomic entitled
“Kinky” that shows a policeman arresting someone because of holding a mass
gathering but it turned out that it is himself. This webcomic has reached over 5,800
shares and over 6,000 likes on Facebook.

Figure 4. Kinky by Kalbo, May 13, 2020

From the examples above, it is really evident that Kevin Eric Raymundo
expresses his principles through his art. He is very detailed in terms of the webcomic

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components mainly visual spatial and textual. He makes sure that the audience must
process his art work and integrate the components into one critical understanding of his
message. R​eading these webcomics actually involves much more complex processing
just like what Dale (2007) said about reading comic books.
With Raymundo’s webcomics also, he gives opportunity and another medium for
non-critical people to understand more easily the social and political issues our country
is facing. Webcomics is an effective way of communicating these issues to the masses
as proven by the number of shares and likes his artworks reached.

Conclusion

Many see webcomic’s purpose as something to entartaintain and tell funny

stories. They are confined by that purpose and even some just like them for their
aesthetic vibe. However, webcomics are more than that. It reflects our one’s culture and
it can also reflect the social and political landscape of the country. Nowadays, people
are more open and embracing to different art forms, they are not jeopardizing what is
traditional and not. They have learned to appreciate different arts consciously or
subconsciously and webcomics are well-liked by many. By this, we can say that
webcomics is an effective mode of communication to reflect the general attitude of the
public towards a certain societal issue. It is composed of different facets and symbols of
the issues we are experiencing. Behind the different styles of the artists, serious or even
humorous, webcomics can take the form of a protest that addresses political and social
issues directly and because of the webcomic movement one who was engaged can
respond and act to help resolve these issues thus, making the webcomics as a form of
social history and tell us about the landscape of the time.

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