Doroteo Gerardo N. Alanguilan Jr. (20 January 1968 – 21 December 2019),[1][2][3][4] also known in the Philippines by his alias Komikero, was a Filipino comic book artist, writer, and architect from San Pablo, Laguna.
Many of Alanguilan's titles take place in the Philippines or feature Filipino characters, such as Elmer, Johnny Balbona, Humanis Rex!, and Timawa.
His first self-written comic was Wasted, originally intended for only his friends to read, and was later embarrassed by the large amounts of violence and profanity in it.
Alanguilan then got his first opportunity to work for Marvel Comics in 1997, inking Leinil Francis Yu's pencils on Wolverine Volume 2 No.
[20] Alanguilan's first work for DC Comics was when he inked Superman: Birthright, whose first issue came out in September 2003, with Mark Waid and Leinil Yu.
[15] After a long sabbatical from mainstream comics, Alanguilan, partnered again with Leinil Yu in 2012 on the art for Mark Millar's Supercrooks.
In 2006, Alanguilan self-published a four-issue miniseries titled "Elmer," depicting a world in which chickens suddenly gain intelligence and the ability to speak like humans.
From 2007 to 2009, Alanguilan's adventure graphic novel TIMAWA was serialized in Buzz Magazine, earning a nomination as 2009 comic book series of the year at the 2009 Komikon Awards.
Alanguilan wrote the story and Arre providing the art for the piece, which portrayed Darna's alter-ego Narda having forgotten her superhero identity and moved on to a life of obscurity and poverty, until fate intervenes to bring back.
[25] Commenting on the work in a Philippine Daily Inquirer interview, Alanguilan explained his motivations for coming out with the story: "I think Arnold and I were able to show that Darna, as a character, can stand to be interpreted differently to allow her to remain appealing and relevant to a new audience.
'Di mage-gets ng masa yan' ('The masses won't understand that') is a stupid, cowardly statement that ensures nothing but stagnancy.
"[25] In 2014, Alanguilan collaborated with Arnold Arre again to release the graphic novel Rodski Patotski: Ang Dalagang Baby.
[27] In 2017, Alanguilan and Kevin Ray Valentino published Bakokak, a 92-page graphic novel in which a giant frog, mutated by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan, arrives and threatens the Philippines.
In 2007, he created an autobiographical slice-of-life webcomic called Crest Hut Butt Shop, based on an earlier minicomic of the same name.
He was also one of the leading voices in the protest against the conferment of the award to Carlo J. Caparas in 2009, which was finally voided by the Philippine Supreme court in 2013.
"[36] It featured original art from early Philippine comic book industry leaders including Alfredo Alcala, Francisco Coching, Alex Niño, Steve Gan, Nestor Redondo, Tony Velasquez, and Hal Santiago.
[37] In 2009, he made a one-minute video titled "Hey, Baby", which consists mainly of him making comically lecherous facial expressions at his webcam.
Clips from the video were used in several episodes of Russell Howard's Good News, often in response to the host asking questions like "What kind of creepy weirdo would come up with that?