Francisco V. Coching

Widely known as the “dean of Filipino illustrators,” Francisco V. Coching was a central figure in the development of komiks, or Filipino comics. Coching used the popular art form to raise awareness about the experience of colonialism in 19th-century Filipino society, as well as to explore folkloric and mythic themes. Coching’s colorful narrative illustrations have had a lasting influence on younger Filipino illustrators, and in 2014 he was posthumously named a National Artist for Visual Arts —the highest honor for a Filipino artist. The son of novelist Gregorio C. Coching, he was exposed to the publishing world from an early age; as a teenager he apprenticed under Tony Velasquez, the father of Tagalog comics. Coching went on to create dozens of iconic komiks series —including Hagibis (1947) and Pedro Penduko (1954) —almost all of which were adapted for television and film.