Filipino comic book fans have been abuzz for the past few months and not just because the latest Marvel movie was setting records at the box office. No, the reason for this excitement was the introduction of a new hero named Wave. What makes her so special, aside from her being part of the New Agents of Atlas is that Wave, a.k.a. Pearl Pangan, is a Filipina. It’s a landmark moment in American comics for sure, as Marvel Comics, DC Comics, and other comic companies in North America have been tapping Filipino artists to pencil their books since the 1970s. Wave, though, marks the first Filipina superhero in mainstream comics, and contributing to her creation was none other than Filipino comics superstar artist Leinil Francis Yu.
“She was initially conceived by (writer) Greg Pak and my editors,” Leinil shares in an exclusive for adobo magazine. “I’m very happy that they tapped me to design her visuals but, as much as I would like to take credit for conceiving her, it was actually Greg Pak. Me, (artist and writer) Gerry Alanguilan, and a few of our friends had plans of coming up with a Filipino character, but Greg and our editors beat us to the punch in a very good way.”
During a recent signing event held at Comic Odyssey in Robinsons Galleria to mark the release of New Agents of Atlas #1, Leinil was joined by fellow artists Mico Suayan, Carlo Pagulayan, and Jason Paz to meet and greet fans. Mico was tapped to draw the Philippines-exclusive cover featuring Wave in the New Agents of Atlas #1 mini-series this past May. Carlo and Jason joined forces to pencil and ink interiors for the first issue of the Agents of Atlas regular series (featuring Wave) three months later. Mico also drew a variant cover for this same issue. To say that Wave’s arrival in the Marvel Universe has had a very Filipino feel would be an understatement.
Regarding how her design came about, Leinil shares that, “We started out with her being female, she’s Filipina, and she’s wearing a black wetsuit and that’s it. Everything else is my contribution.” Asked if he had anything to do with Wave being from outside Manila, Leinil says, “I’m also Cebuano but that was a great touch and really shows Greg Pak being in touch with different cultures. The fact that she’s in Cebu and (Pak) is very aware with current events surrounding those cultures and countries. It’s very impressive and it’s such an honor to work with him on this.”
Now that Wave is literally making waves in Marvel Comics, Leinil bares what he thinks is in her future: “I really think that Wave has a huge potential to be a mainstream character, not only one of the Asian Marvel heroes because Marvel is trying to be international. As I understand it, they want to have localized heroes like Marvel in Asia, Marvel in China. One of the goals I set for Wave when I started out was that I didn’t want to make her like a token Filipino character. I wanted to make her Wave, I didn’t want to make her a female Spider-Man, a female Captain America. She’s Wave. I could easily see her beside the Avengers. I really think she’d be very mainstream and she could probably have her own series. I see big things for her and I’d love to be part of it.”
To further emphasize how significant Wave already is, Marvel just introduced another Filipina superhero in the third issue of the mini-series Aero last week. Dubbed “Sea Hunter,” her introduction was marked by yet another Philippines-exclusive cover, this time drawn by legendary Marvel and X-Men artist (and Leinil’s own mentor), Whilce Portacio. “I think that it’s a very good start and we’ll see where it goes from here,” Leinil shares on this development.
“I always loved drawing since I was a kid but I thought I was going to be more like an animator or more like animation stuff,” Leinil says on how he started being interested in art. “Then, Whilce Portacio came here and promoted X-Men. That’s when I realized that it’s possible for someone like me to be in comics because of Whilce. And then a few years later, Whilce actually established a studio here and I was one of the guys that he picked (with Gerry Alanguilan’s prodding). Before that, I was just a hobbyist, just draw for fun, draw cartoons, draw comics a little bit but I never thought that it was a real career. It’s the love for drawing, Whilce Portacio, and basically, the internet that allowed for us to be exposed.”
As for what’s next for the red hot Leinil, he’s already been tapped by Marvel for the first six issues of the relaunching X-Men this October. “It’s a huge undertaking. I’ve forgotten how difficult it is to draw a team book,” Leinil notes. “I’ve always been an X-Men fan. It’s funny that I’ve drawn more Avengers than X-Men but if you ask my editor-in-chief, CB Cebulski, he’ll tell you that he’s an X-Men fan at heart. I’m the same way. I’m a 90s kid. I love Jim Lee, Whilce Portacio, Rob Liefeld, that era. So, it’s really my dream.”
After previously having stellar runs with writer Jonathan Hickman on Avengers in 2012 and New Avengers in 2013, Leinil is teaming up with the writer once more with X-Men #1 in a few short weeks from now. “I did X-Men before with (legendary X-Men writer) Chris Claremont but, artistically, I just wasn’t ready yet. My skills weren’t up for the challenge yet but right now, I think I’m better suited to do it and I’m really excited with what we’ve come up with. Jonathan Hickman is an amazing writer and our run on Avengers is probably one of my personal favorites, the two runs we did, so I’m really excited about the X-Men.”
Special thanks to Sandy Sansolis, Rowena Sansolis, Ricky Arnaez, and Ning Arnaez of Comic Odyssey.
About the Author:
Jason Inocencio was once the Digital Editor of adobo magazine who still loves seeing great campaigns from all over the world. He proudly shows off his love for all kinds of geeky things, whether it be movies, TV shows, comics, sports, or trivia.
