Alfredo Alcala

As a teenager, Alfredo P. Alcala dropped out of school to pursue his artwork. He did many odd jobs, such as painting signs and designing household implements. During the World War II Japanese occupation, he used his drawing talents to provide the Allies with maps of where to find hidden Japanese pill boxes. Influenced by American cartoonists such as Hal Foster and Lou Fine, he started his career in comics in 1948. He worked for Ace Publications, the largest publisher in the Philippines. Here, Alcala developed the work ethic and speed for which he became famous - it is said that his fastest page rate was twelve pages in a nine-hour sitting. Alcala did his own inking and lettering, feeling that "the minute you let someone else have a hand in your work, it's not you any more." Becoming an established star of the Filipino comics scene, his work was featured in a publication called Alcala Komix Magazine. In 1963 he created his fantasy strip 'Voltar', which earned him international fame. This comic introduced Alcala to fantasy fans in the United States, where he won several science fiction awards in the early 1970s. At this time, he was recruited by DC Comics, where he worked mostly on fantasy and horror titles. He managed to build one of the more eclectic professional portfolios in the 1980s and early 90s, working on titles ranging from 'Destroyer Duck' to 'Hellblazer'. In 1984 he collaborated on the adaptation of street crime novel 'Daddy Cool', by Donald Goines. Heidi MacDonald and Phil Yeh have written a book about this artist, called 'Secret Teachings of a Comic Book Master - the Art of Alfredo Alcala'. One of the most productive and eccentric comic artists - he is said to never have slept on a bed, but always on the floor or his desk - Alcala died, after a long battle with cancer, in April 2000.