Larry’s World

Master cartoonist, Lauro Alcala, Mang Larry to fellow cartoonists, is gone. He died of a heart attack last June 24. It’s quite difficult to believe that he’s really gone. It’s like he’s been with us forever.

His creations transported generations of readers to a world of fantasy and zany characters. He mesmerized us with his wit, humor and the inimitable Alcala style of cartooning. He made us see the Filipino through a cartoonist’s eyes.

For many readers, his cartoons were a funny diversion from the struggles of daily living. But for a tiny fraction, his works were like an invite to follow his footsteps. So cartoonist-hopefuls like me started deforming illustration styles previously learned to follow Mang Larry’s cartooning techniques. To say that his works influenced Filipino cartooning is an understatement. Many of us practically grew up with Kalabog en Bosyo, Mang Ambo, Asyong Aksaya, Siopaoman and a horde of other colorful characters only Mang Larry’s genius could conceive.

If the world created by Mang Larry in his cartoons seemed like a fun-filled, carefree world, the world of professional cartooning in the Philippines isn’t. Reality bites. There are not enough publications for our works to be published in. And when you do manage to get your creations published, you get paid in rates guaranteed to leave you in a fit of depression only a huge dose of Prozac can get you out of. But then again, at the rates you’re paid, you can’t afford Prozac. So you just shrug your shoulders and hope for better next time. Many quit altogether and join better-paying professions; some take other jobs for sustenance but continue cartooning, hoping for that big break.

This was one of the most important lessons we learned from Mang Larry. If you really want to be a cartoonist, don’t look at cartooning as a profitable source of income. Do cartoons because you love doing them and maybe, just maybe, money and recognition might follow. He taught the readers to laugh at problems, to see the funny side of living and not to treat life too seriously. But he exhorted fellow cartoonists to take their craft seriously. He urged us to continue to develop our art and not be contented with whatever skills we think we have. He never taught us how to draw cartoons the way he did because he wanted us to come up with our ideas and not be a rubber stamp of his.

Mang Larry batted for the recognition of cartoonists as serious artists. In his travels abroad, he was feted like a VIP and welcomed like a celebrity. He saw how cartoons get elevated to a high form of art in the lands he visited. There were even museums built especially for cartoons and their creators. He found out how these countries recognized and appreciated the tremendous contributions cartoonists gave to their cultures. It was the same wherever he went, from Europe to Asia to America. And then he thought of the plight of Filipino cartoonists in his own country.

In 1978, he founded the Samahang Kartunista ng Pilipinas (skp), an organization of the country’s professional cartoonists. Through it, Mang Larry sought the much-deserved recognition of the Filipino cartoonist by the local art world and better treatment (translate: pay) from publishers and others who utilize cartoons for their business.

With his stature as a master cartoonist, Mang Larry tried to convince art and culture buffs that cartoonists should be treated seriously because their art form caters to all social strata and not just the elite few. No dice. Cartoonists were seen as glorified doodlers to these so-called art experts. As for the pay, syndicated foreign cartoons are much cheaper than local ones. It’s all economic pragmatism. Walang personalan.

Last year, Mang Larry was nominated by the University of the Philippines for the National Artist award. He didn’t get it.

And now he’s gone. Bereft of the recognition as a national artist that he truly was. He is recognized all right by the people who read his cartoon strips and the kids who religiously searched for his profile in his "Slice of Life" tableau; he was recognized by the large corporations who used his creations to endorse their products and services and by state agencies who used his cartoons to inform the nation of government programs and campaigns.

Don’t you know? Cartoons are more effective disseminators of information because people tend to read and understand them. He was recognized by a nation whose funnybones he tickled with his wholesome humor for more than a half-century. Only the so-called art and culture experts failed to recognize Mang Larry’s genius as an artist. But they don’t have to take this article seriously. It was written by a cartoonist.

Bye, Mang Larry. See you later.

The author is Chief Cartoonist of The Philippine STAR and a frequent contributor to STARweek. He is vice president of the Samahang Kartunista ng Pilipinas (skp). Email the author at [email protected]