Carlo Vergara
Encyclopedia
Visconde Carlo San Juan Vergara or simply known as Carlo Vergara (born January 25, 1971) is a Filipino
graphic designer
and illustrator
best known for creating the comic book
character Zsazsa Zaturnnah
.
, he opted to take Marketing Management at the De La Salle University
, and graduated in 1990.
It was during his stay at the De La Salle when he won his first literary award from the university's annual awards for literature--Solitude bagged third place in the English poetry category. He was also an art staff of a university news publication The La Sallian. A few years after graduating, Vergara joined the university's theater organization, the Harlequin Theater Guild, where he acted in productions of Shirley Jackson
's The Lottery, Susan Glaspell
's Trifles, Agatha Christie
's Towards Zero, and Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero
's Forever.
Beginning in 1993, Vergara spent almost a decade working in public relations and corporate communications as a staff writer, photographer, graphic designer, and on occasion, special events host. It was during this time when he began to take serious interest in graphic design.
Though drawing had always been his hobby, Vergara never attempted to tackle a full-blown comics project until mid-1993. Flashpoint was a comics series he co-created with friends from De La Salle, and was published by Straight Lines International. After four issues, Flashpoint was discontinued, and Vergara stopped drawing comics for a few years. He, however, became a member of Alamat, an informal group of comics creators and enthusiasts.
In 1994, he auditioned for a part in the New Voice Company production of the Asian premiere of Tony Kushner
's Angels in America
. He bagged a part, alternating the role of Louis Ironson with Philippine theater veteran Bart Guingona. Though reviews to his professional debut were mostly lukewarm to negative, Vergara continued his acting training with the New Voice Company. He subsequently performed in the independently-produced productions of David Gobeil Taylor's Waiting for Homo and Anton Chekhov
's The Boor. It was during these years when he had feature articles published in the now defunct Cutting Edge magazine and The Manila Times.
In 1999, he went back to the De La Salle University
to teach a website
design course for a term. During this period, he collaborated with writer David Hontiveros on an independent comic book "Pantheon", marking his return as an artist to the comics medium.
His first foray into self-publishing was in 2001, when he produced, wrote and illustrated One Night in Purgatory
, a short comics tale about homosexual love. The comicbook was nominated by the Manila Critics Circle for a National Book Award
the following year, and was cited by the Sanghaya Yearbook of the state-run National Commission for Culture and the Arts
.
In 2002, Vergara produced his second graphic novel
, Ang Kagila-gilalas na Pakikipagsapalaran ni Zsazsa Zaturnnah
(The Spectacular Adventures of Zsazsa Zaturnnah). The graphic novel earned recognition from the Manila Critics Circle in 2003, thus giving Vergara his first National Book Award
. The book was later adapted into a musical and feature film in 2006. In the nominees list of the 30th Gawad Urian (an award-giving body composed on film critics), Vergara was cited along with Dinno Erece in the screenplay category.
For the musical's soundtrack album, Vergara asked musical director/composer Vincent deJesus for a slot in the track list. deJesus did a piano arrangement for the song "Ayoko Nang Mabuhay Nang Ganito" ("I Don't Want To Live This Way Anymore"), the lead character's torch song, to which Vergara lent his vocals.
Formerly the art director of Summit Publishing's Real Living magazine, and creative director
of the company's Special Publications group, Vergara is currently the creative director of the Philippine edition of Good Housekeeping magazine, a publication licensed through Hearst Magazines International. He is also developing the sequel to the Zsazsa Zaturnnah story.
Filipino people
The Filipino people or Filipinos are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the islands of the Philippines. There are about 92 million Filipinos in the Philippines, and about 11 million living outside the Philippines ....
graphic designer
Graphic designer
A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, printed or electronic media, such as brochures and...
and illustrator
Illustrator
An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...
best known for creating the comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
character Zsazsa Zaturnnah
Zsazsa Zaturnnah
Zsazsa Zaturnnah is a fictional comic book superheroine created by Filipino illustrator and graphic designer Carlo Vergara in December 2002. Zsazsa Zaturnnah or Zaturnnah, attracted considerable attention from Philippine media in the years following her first appearance and currently enjoys a cult...
.
Biography
The son of a tax lawyer and an English teacher, Vergara began to draw even before he started school. He considered drawing a hobby, and did not want it to be part of his profession. Though he had been accepted in the College of Architecture at the University of the PhilippinesUniversity of the Philippines
The ' is the national university of the Philippines. Founded in 1908 through Act No...
, he opted to take Marketing Management at the De La Salle University
De La Salle University
De La Salle University is a private Lasallian university in Malate, Manila, Philippines. It was founded in 1911 by De La Salle Brothers as the De La Salle College in Paco, Manila with Blimond Pierre serving as its first director...
, and graduated in 1990.
It was during his stay at the De La Salle when he won his first literary award from the university's annual awards for literature--Solitude bagged third place in the English poetry category. He was also an art staff of a university news publication The La Sallian. A few years after graduating, Vergara joined the university's theater organization, the Harlequin Theater Guild, where he acted in productions of Shirley Jackson
Shirley Jackson
Shirley Jackson was an American author. A popular writer in her time, her work has received increasing attention from literary critics in recent years...
's The Lottery, Susan Glaspell
Susan Glaspell
Susan Keating Glaspell was an American Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, actress, director, novelist, biographer and poet. She was a founding member of the Provincetown Players, one of the most important collaboratives in the development of modern drama in the United States...
's Trifles, Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie
Dame Agatha Christie DBE was a British crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections , and her successful West End plays.According to...
's Towards Zero, and Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero
Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero
Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero was a Filipino playwright, director, teacher and theater artist.He has written well over a hundred plays, 41 of which have been published...
's Forever.
Beginning in 1993, Vergara spent almost a decade working in public relations and corporate communications as a staff writer, photographer, graphic designer, and on occasion, special events host. It was during this time when he began to take serious interest in graphic design.
Though drawing had always been his hobby, Vergara never attempted to tackle a full-blown comics project until mid-1993. Flashpoint was a comics series he co-created with friends from De La Salle, and was published by Straight Lines International. After four issues, Flashpoint was discontinued, and Vergara stopped drawing comics for a few years. He, however, became a member of Alamat, an informal group of comics creators and enthusiasts.
In 1994, he auditioned for a part in the New Voice Company production of the Asian premiere of Tony Kushner
Tony Kushner
Anthony Robert "Tony" Kushner is an American playwright and screenwriter. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1993 for his play, Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes, and co-authored with Eric Roth the screenplay for the 2005 film, Munich.-Life and career:Kushner was born...
's Angels in America
Angels in America
Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes is the 1993 Pulitzer Prize winning play in two parts by American playwright Tony Kushner. It has been made into both a television miniseries and an opera by Peter Eötvös.-Characters:...
. He bagged a part, alternating the role of Louis Ironson with Philippine theater veteran Bart Guingona. Though reviews to his professional debut were mostly lukewarm to negative, Vergara continued his acting training with the New Voice Company. He subsequently performed in the independently-produced productions of David Gobeil Taylor's Waiting for Homo and Anton Chekhov
Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
's The Boor. It was during these years when he had feature articles published in the now defunct Cutting Edge magazine and The Manila Times.
In 1999, he went back to the De La Salle University
De La Salle University
De La Salle University is a private Lasallian university in Malate, Manila, Philippines. It was founded in 1911 by De La Salle Brothers as the De La Salle College in Paco, Manila with Blimond Pierre serving as its first director...
to teach a website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
design course for a term. During this period, he collaborated with writer David Hontiveros on an independent comic book "Pantheon", marking his return as an artist to the comics medium.
His first foray into self-publishing was in 2001, when he produced, wrote and illustrated One Night in Purgatory
Purgatory
Purgatory is the condition or process of purification or temporary punishment in which, it is believed, the souls of those who die in a state of grace are made ready for Heaven...
, a short comics tale about homosexual love. The comicbook was nominated by the Manila Critics Circle for a National Book Award
Philippine National Book Awards
The Philippine National Book Awards, or simply the National Book Awards, is a Philippine literary award sponsored by the NBDB and the MCC . It is the national book award of the Philippines...
the following year, and was cited by the Sanghaya Yearbook of the state-run National Commission for Culture and the Arts
National Commission for Culture and the Arts (Philippines)
The National Commission for Culture and the Arts of the Philippines is the official arts council for the Philippines.-History:In 1987, then President Corazon C. Aquino penned Executive Order No. 118 creating the Presidential Commission on Culture and Arts...
.
In 2002, Vergara produced his second graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
, Ang Kagila-gilalas na Pakikipagsapalaran ni Zsazsa Zaturnnah
Zsazsa Zaturnnah
Zsazsa Zaturnnah is a fictional comic book superheroine created by Filipino illustrator and graphic designer Carlo Vergara in December 2002. Zsazsa Zaturnnah or Zaturnnah, attracted considerable attention from Philippine media in the years following her first appearance and currently enjoys a cult...
(The Spectacular Adventures of Zsazsa Zaturnnah). The graphic novel earned recognition from the Manila Critics Circle in 2003, thus giving Vergara his first National Book Award
Philippine National Book Awards
The Philippine National Book Awards, or simply the National Book Awards, is a Philippine literary award sponsored by the NBDB and the MCC . It is the national book award of the Philippines...
. The book was later adapted into a musical and feature film in 2006. In the nominees list of the 30th Gawad Urian (an award-giving body composed on film critics), Vergara was cited along with Dinno Erece in the screenplay category.
For the musical's soundtrack album, Vergara asked musical director/composer Vincent deJesus for a slot in the track list. deJesus did a piano arrangement for the song "Ayoko Nang Mabuhay Nang Ganito" ("I Don't Want To Live This Way Anymore"), the lead character's torch song, to which Vergara lent his vocals.
Formerly the art director of Summit Publishing's Real Living magazine, and creative director
Creative Director
A creative director is a position often found within the graphic design, film, music, fashion, advertising, media or entertainment industries, but may be useful in other creative organizations such as web development and software development firms as well....
of the company's Special Publications group, Vergara is currently the creative director of the Philippine edition of Good Housekeeping magazine, a publication licensed through Hearst Magazines International. He is also developing the sequel to the Zsazsa Zaturnnah story.
External links
- Carverhouse - Personal Blog of Carlo Vergara
- GayLeague - Interview with Carlo Vergara by GayLeague
- INQ7 - Interview with Carlo Vergara by the Philippine Daily Inquirer
- Manila Bulletin - Article about Carlo Vergara by the Manila Bulletin
- Jazma Online - Interview with Carlo Vergara by Jazma Online