Manix Abrera shares story behind his first DC Comics cover for 'Batman: The Knight'

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 29) — Filipino comic book artist Manix Abrera is launching his first ever published DC Comics cover for Batman next year.

Speaking to CNN Philippines' New Day on Wednesday, Abrera shared how he came up with the variant cover for the superhero comic Batman The Knight which will be released in 2022.

Known for his very own Kikomachine Komix, Abrera said his dream was fulfilled through the help of Next Comic Art and comic book shops Comic Odyssey and Sanctum Sanctorum Comic & Oddities for pitching his work to DC.

"Nagulat ako na ino-offer nila (DC) na gumawa ako ng variant cover," he confided. "Super nakakapressure kasi okay ba sa kanila yung style ko ng cartooning na surreal and weird tapos yung style ko talaga sa Kikomachine?"

[Translation: I was surprised to hear that they were offering me to make a variant cover for them. I felt extreme pressure because I wondered if they were okay with my cartooning style which is surreil and weird like the ones in Kikomachine.]

"Sabi naman nila, 'yes,' kasi nakita naman nila yung drawing style and okay naman sa kanila," he recalled. "Masaya ako na game na game sila sa ganoong art style ko."

[Translation: They said 'yes,' because they saw my drawing style and they said they were okay with it. I'm happy that they were so game with my own art style.]

Abrera shared that he was happy to incorporate a vintage look using his own style in the new Batman comic cover.

"Actually fan ako ng mga lumang style ng mga komiks ng Batman...ginagawa ko rin ito sa sarili kong komiks, hinahaluan ko siya ng elements ng supernatural, yung mga magic, yung mga occult," he added.

[Translation: Actually I'm a fan of the old style used in Batman comics...I also use that in my own comics and I combine elements of the supernatural, with themes of magic and occult.]

For the comic book artist, this is just the beginning. Abrera sent praises for literary icon Ricky Lee, following their recent collaboration on the graphic novel adaptation of "Si Amapola" which was released earlier this month.

Abrera said he hopes to score more opportunities where he could contribute to the comic industry with his own cartoon style.

"May mga gusto pa akong ma-achieve," he said, "hopefully, isa diyan yung makagawa mismo ng story, let's say tungkol (kay) Batman, kasi marami rin akong naisip na stories na nagagawa ko sa Kikomachine pero feeling ko bagay siyang ma-translate sa superhero comics."

[Translation: I still want to achieve a lot of things, hopefully, one of them would be to eventually concecptualize stories, let's say for Batman, since there are concepts that I get to use in Kikomachine which I believe are more suited to be translated to superhero comics.]