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| Finding Humor in Work: Euguene Madayag creator of Kolsenter Komiks |
This actually has been a long overdue post but since I've gotten back to doing freelance writing work during the weekends, I've been really busy. Sorry Eugene!:p
During our coverage of RDOT Jam we met with Eugene, who is the creative mind behind Kolsenter Komiks, according to their Facebook Page, Kolsenter Komiks 'is a series of self published comic strips created by Eugenio "Toto" Madayag. It chronicles his life and times as a call center agent in the Philippine BPO Industry.'
There are lot of things that people say about working in a Call Center. There are those who mock us who work in the industry and think that the work that we do is 'no brainer', they think that we don't have any goals and no direction or a career as we hop from one center to the other. They may say what they want or think what they like about our industry but I for one know not to bite that feeds me-literally but I can definitely have a laugh about some of the everyday scenarios.
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| Early sketches. Could be your team mate right? |
I saw some of Eugene's comic strips online and I immediately wanted to interview him and have a feature in the blog, so we met up during the RDOT Jam Session and had a little chat about his brainchild.
Can you tell us how Kolsenter Komiks started?
"Back in 2007 I was in training when I started drawing on Paint, I just looked for funny situations or even weird situations that happen to you in a call. In 2010 I thought about bringing the comics to a wider audience - to show other people what happens in a call center, especially to those people who don't know what it's like working in a Call Center.
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| Actual finished comic strips. |
Are you worried that people who are not in the Call Centers won't get the humor of the comics?
'Yes, I think so- There are a lot of negative and common misconceptions about working in a Call Center, I didn't really take a stand and say 'hey this is how we are in the Call Center Industry-okay ang trabaho dito' I wanted to give a different light about Call Center employees. It's definitely a challenge to make it relatable to those who don't work in Call Centers."
What were you thinking when you thought about bringing the comics to a wider audience?
"I saw it's potential to be a comic book, or a compilation, I went into a direction of working on a story line, of creating identifiable characters, there was a conscious effort to work on the stories and the characters."
When did you start drawing?
"I started drawing since High School, even until now I'm studying anatomy on my own. I still have a dream of being an artist for DC or Marvel but then I also realized it's okay to be independent since you have absolute control of the creative direction of your comics versus working for a publisher who will demand that you have a certain number of strips to draw."
What was the reaction of the people who saw your strip?
"They said it was unique, during training when I was still drawing it on Paint, they thought it was a good idea,they encouraged me to submit it to newspapers, the strips already have about 2,500 followers on Facebook. Although there are comments from people who said that the comics were 'puro kalokohan' which is of course the point -to get the humor out of a very stressful job- if you already have a stressful 9 hour job then might as well laugh about it.
I saw on your Facebook page that you were invited in a forum to talk about Government mandated benefits and I believe you were going there to represent your comics as well, can you tell us about that experience? Are you nervous? Excited?
"I'm excited about it. I take it as an opportunity to promote my comics. I'm still debating with myself if I have a social responsibility through these comics. What if people will be influenced negatively with my comics or should I just go towards the direction of humor and comedy?"
Are you looking into reaching out to big BPO organizations with your comics?
"I have been reading a lot about these organizations, as long as they are open to it then it's okay."
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| Thumbs up. Eugene with his very supportive girlfriend <3 |
"I actually have a small notebook that I bring with me where I write any ideas that I may think of, I moved to saving these ideas in my iPhone but then it was recently stolen and along with it about a hundred ideas. Hopefully I will still be able to remember them."
How long does it take for you to finish a strip?
"There are ideas that can stay in your head for 10 years but there are ideas that are done in an hour - you can't really say which is better."
Artists and writers have been known to say that their characters/creations are already their children, would you say the same of your characters?
"Yes, to the point of seeing myself in my characters. They have characteristics that come from me, in the script I really talk like that, I don't distance myself from my characters, I don't think artists should distance themselves from their creations. I still get very excited when it comes to the comics, it really is my baby."
Do you see yourself writing/drawing about something else?
"Yes definitely- I also want to draw and write about other things like Filipino Folklore but then naging buhay ko na ang trabaho ko, nakikinig lang ako sa katabi ko and I get ideas for the comic or it can even come from my own experiences so it's easier to write about those things, whereas my other ideas are pending in my notebook"
What are your hopes and dreams for your comics?
"Simple lang naman, to be able to reach to more people, I get a lot of feedback from people that my comics helps them deal with the stress of the job. If people can tell me that (the comics) helped them through the day, malaking bagay na sa akin un."
Do you plan on pursuing the comics full time?
"I haven't really thought about it, ang sakin lang is whatever time I can give it then I will work on it. I learned it's hard to be a creative person and have his passion as his means of living also. My direction (for the comics) is to go independent kung may makapansin na publisher then why not?"
Kolsenter Komiks will be at Summer Komikon 2013.
You can visit Eugene and his 'baby' on
April 13, 2013 from 10:00am-7:00pm
at Bayanihan Center, Unilab Compoud, Pasig City
Connect with Eugene!
Click here to like Kolsenter Komiks on Facebook.
You can email him at kolsenterkomiks@yahoo.com
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