FCBD close encounters with Pinoy Masters Part 1: Harvey Tolibao

Aside from the free comic books they gave away generously, Comic Odyssey also assembled a formidable line-up of up-and-coming and internationally known Filipino comic book artists, who all gamely signed, sketched and posed for their Pinoy fans. I was lucky enough to have some of my comics signed by three of my favorites: Harvey Tolibao, Jay Anacleto and Gerry Alanguilan.

HARVEY TOLIBAO

The man has a gone a long way from his province far, far away, Malaybalay, Bukidnon. His major break was pencilling Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic issues 12, 17 and 18 for Dark Horse Comics.

Since then, he has gone on to work for Marvel on major titles such as Avengers: The Initiative, X-Men Nation, X-Men Revelations, Psylocke and Silver Surfer.

I was able to have Harvey sign my War of Kings: Darkhawk 1 and 2, and found him to be a very likable fellow, with none of the "hey I'm a big-shot Marvel artist" attitude. He was quite friendly and said he missed working on KOTOR. He was willing to accommodate my request for a sketch of any Star Wars character, but he still had a lot of requests lined up (he was working on a mean Wolverine piece) by the time I made it to his table.

From very humble beginnings, Harvey has made the rounds of international comic conventions and art exhibits, most recently in Singapore. He has also lent his talent in of support of socio-civic projects such as the Sketch for a Cause fund raising series.

Here is an old, but interesting GMAnews.tv article on the talented Pinoy artist:

Harvey Tolibao: Promdi artist destined for the stars

Mabuhay ang Force sa iyo, Harvey!