MIGUEL "MIKE" ALCAZAREN began his career doing animation and films, and some of his works even managed to reach the international stage.
For instance his horror film, Puti, had an international premiere in Brussels, Belgium. The film narrates the story of a counterfeit painter (played by Ian Veneracion), who goes color blind and starts experiencing strange occurrences.
His experience in Brussels led to a discovery that would push him to venture into a different field.
"When I went to Brussels, I was surprised that there was a huge market for zombie films. Here I was making an art film, we are just a handful of people who watched it," revealed Alcazaren in an exclusive with SPIN.ph.
During that period, zombies were so prominent across different platforms. From video games (e.g. Left 4 Dead), to TV shows (e.g. The Walking Dead), and films (e.g. World War Z).
And so he was inspired to follow the trend, and upon returning back home, a new idea emerged.
The creation of 'Patay Kung Patay'
"When I came home, I just thought of making something commercial. I came with a sequence outline, but it would be a hard pitch to a producer."
"So I thought about trying this as a comic book first, so I contacted Aj (Bernardo) and Noel (Pascual)."
He was grateful that he had contacts who introduced him to both Aj and Noel and together they created 'Patay Kung Patay' (English: Death Be Damned) and intended to release 8 issues. However the limited budget meant that they could only produce two.
But eventually came progress.
"We launched here at Komiket, October 2015, the first issue and we did well. It was enough to fund the next issue until we finished it at 2021," he narrated.
The transition from film to comics was no easy task as Alcazaren had to learn the ropes.
"We have limited physical space, there's a layout, so it's a very different medium, but essentially it works like a storyboard for a film, but it's a different discipline so I had to rely on sina Aj and Noel," he revealed.
Hacienderos, social justice, and zombies
Looking at his comic book series, Alcazaren focuses on topics centered on injustice in Philippine society, inspired by George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead's social commentary.
The story goes that a group of showbiz reporters gate crashed a party of the elite in a hacienda. Eventually a zombie revolution, led by a 12-year old hero erupts.
"Initially it was just a revenge story against the hacienderos and everything happens in one night. The reason behind that is because when thinking of a zombie plot, I wanted to Philipinize it," explained Alcazaren.
He added: "The vestige of the colonial setup with the hacienderos and social justice. It's really just window dressing for what is basically a revenge story, or what Aj likes to call it as a zombie novela."
His concept alongside the efforts of his peers yielded an award as Patay Kung Patay was awarded the Best English Graphic Novel during the 41st National Book Awards.
Given the impact and the themes of their graphic novel, perhaps this could eventually translate well into film or a TV series.
And for those who wish to earn a copy, Patay Kung Patay can be purchased on Komiket's Shopee market.
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