Graphic Arts Service, Inc.

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GASI Logo

EARLY HISTORY —
Immediately after the fall of the giant Ace Publications in early 1960s, Don Ramon Roces (its publisher) met with Tony S. Velasquez, Damy S. Velasquez, and Ramon R. Marcelino, to discuss the future of the komiks industry in the Philippines.

The aging magnate decided to retire but he still wanted to continue the family tradition of mass media publications which he inherited from his father, the late Don Alejandro Roces, Sr. Specifically, Don Ramon still wanted to pursue the comics industry which he and Tony Velasquez started in 1947. But since Ace had folded up due to laborer’s strike a few months before, Don Ramon wanted to create a new comics publications which would grab back the market lost to small competitors like GMS Publishing Corporation, PSG Publishing House, Extra Publishing, Bookman, Inc., Sosayti, and the CRAF Publications, Inc.

Indeed, the comics industry was too profitable industry, that it would be unimaginable the rich Roces clan would suddenly withdraw from this business. Don Ramon did not want the company named for him though, or even carrying the Roces name, since it was just too recent that his Ace Publications closed down, lest Ace’s former employees file claims in court.

Hence, from that meeting between Don Ramon, the Velasquez brothers and Ramon Marcelino, was born the GRAPHIC ARTS SERVICE, INC. or as it became more popularly known, the GASI. The company was formally launched on August 1, 1962, with Damy Velasquez acting as publisher, Tony Velasquez as General Manager, and Ramon Marcelino as editor. GASI’s offices and printing press were located in Gen. Solano St., San Miguel, Manila.

The GASI produced within the same year the Kislap Komiks (now a movie magazine), Aliwan Komiks and Pioneer Komiks - Sept. 15, Oct. 29 and Dec. 3 respectively. The following year, GASI introduced two more titles: Holiday Komiks (March 23), Pinoy Komiks (May 23). Pinoy Klasiks was put out next on April 18, 1964. The last baby of GASI under Tony Velasquez was Teens Weekly Komiks, which first saw publication in 1970.

GASI RESTRUCTURING —
In June 1968, a major revamp on the top management of GASI was implemented by Don Ramon, who now decided that it was time to put the Roces name on GASI. Hence, Ramon Marcelino resigned from GASI to organize the new Ace Publications (also under the Roces clan) and Damy Velasquez replaced him in the editorship.

Tony Velasquez remained as General Manager of GASI. The position of publisher was given to Dona Elena Roces-Guerrero, one of Don Ramon’s two daughters. The other daughter, Dona Carmen Roces-Davila took charge of the new Ace Publications founded by Ramon Marcelino.

By the end of the 1960s, the Roceses were once again on the top of the comics publishing business in the Philippines. Their competitors either sold their comic titles to the Roceses (like PSG’s United Komiks, Kidlat Komiks and Universal Komiks) or closed down permanently (like CRAF Publications and Sosayti). Others held on until well into the early 1970s, until heavy censorship under the Martial Law regime forced them to fold up too.

In 1972, Tony Velasquez retired as General Manager of GASI, and was replaced by Mrs. C.P. Paguio, a protege of Dona Elena Roces. In gratitude to his long service to the Roceses, and his immense contributions to the Philippine comics industry, Don Ramon gave Tony Velasquez lifetime royalties to the sales of GASI comic books. In addition, Don Ramon gave Tony Velaquez a big apartment inside the GASI property (now located in 18th Avenue, Cubao, Quezon City) lifetime free of rent. Velasquez refused this generosity, thinking “delicadeza” that other editors might regard it as favoritism. But the old man insisted, saying that it would not accept no as an answer. Hence, from that time until Velasquez death in 1997, he and his wife Pilar lived in that big house in GASI. After Roces’ death in 1993, Velasquez was pressured by the heirs to vacate the house.

THE MARTIAL LAW YEARS —
On September 21, 1972, President Marcos placed the entire country under Martial rule. The komiks, as well as other media, was heavily censored. The content of komiks must adhere to the moral regeneration program of President Marcos’ New Society.

The economic policy of Marial Law also affected the physical look of the komiks. To support local paper manufacturers, Marcos ordered that the publishers use cheap local paper materials instead of the most durable imported paper they were used to print their magazines. Hence, the look of the komiks became also cheap.

With komiks printed in cheap paper, the writers forced to write stories that only adhered to the social program of President Marcos, the komiks inevitably lost its appeal to the mass readers. Even Tony Velasquez, shortly prior to his retirement in GASI, was forced to lend his prestige to the kind of komiks approved by Marcos. At Marcos’ insistence, he wrote a novel entitled “The Green Thing”, a fantasy novel that encouraged the Filipinos to support Imelda Marcos’ program of “Green Revolution”.

In the late 1970s, GASI produced three more titles in addition to its existing line of komiks: Lovelife Komiks, Precious Komiks and Silangan Klasiks.

A KOMIKS RESURGENCE —
It was only after the lifting of Martial Law that the komiks somewhat regained life, regaining most of its lost mass-readership. Yet, in all those years of censorship under Martial Law, the Roceses’ GASI and ATLAS still dominated the field of komiks publishing. As a proof that it was still going strong, three more titles were added to the GASI comics fleet in 1982: Nobela Klasiks, Damdamin Komiks, and Kuwento Komiks.

In early 1980s, Joe Lad Santos became editor-in-chief of GASI. He served the company until  1986 when he resigned and formed Counterpoint Publishing House, Inc., another komiks publishing company of the Dona Elena Roces. Mrs. Paguio became the Publishing Manager and editor-in-chief at the same time. Though, the latter position cannot be found in the editorial box of any GASI komiks-magazines, it is true that Mrs. Paguio handled this position.

In 1985, GASI published its first and only pocketkomiks entitled Speed Komiks, which led to its competitor to follow and produce the same format of komiks. Pocketkomiks, at one time, became phenomenal, so were very successful. However, this trend did not last long. A few years after, pocketkomiks were discontinued. Some titles were reformatted into a regular-sized komiks while others were totally cancelled.

In 1986, four more komiks titles were produced by GASI: Commander Qualikomiks, Aguila Qualikomiks, Shogun Qualikomiks, and Kilabot Qualikomiks.In May 1987, GASI released four more titles: Bata Batuta Komiks, Shocker Komiks, Super Fantasy Komiks and Love Affair Komiks. In July of the same year, it published the short-lived For Children Only Komiks.

In the middle of 1989, Mrs. C.P. Paguio retired as editor-in-chief of GASI but still remained as the Publishing Manager. She was replaced by Ollie Roble Samaniego, then editor of Holiday Komiks, Space Horror Comix and Kilabot Qualikomiks and a neophyte writer as well. Samaniego introduced new ideas, concepts, and formulas in GASI komiks.

THE DECLINE OF GASI —
This resurgence in komiks interest was short-lived, however, for other factors began to affect the komiks industry once more. The advent of other alternative entertainment hurt the komiks industry.

Even in the early 1970s, the television had already been accessible to most Filipino homes. Reruns of old black and white Tagalog movies were frequently aired on the televisions, as well as game and entertainment shows like Student Canteen and Tawag ng Tanghalan. Also Japanese anime started to creep into Filipino TV screens at this time, with Voltes V, Daimos, and Mazinger Z being most popular.

But perhaps the biggest rival of komiks entertainment was the importation of American TV shows in Filipino television. They captured the attention of the Filipinos in the mid and late 1970s. The Incredible Hulk (starring Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno), Six Million Dollar Man, Wild Wild West, Combat, Charlie’s Angels, were the biggest shows on Filipino television.

Meanwhile, the arrival of the telenovelas in the 1980s (most notably Ana Liza and Flordeluna) sealed the fate of the Philippine comis industry. Now, entertainment is no longer the monopoly of komiks, and Filipinos even did not have to pay to watch television. There was no problem even in the barrios where most people cannot afford televisions. One TV set was enough in one neighborhood; it was a tradition among Filipinos to let neighbors watch on your TV.

By the 1990s, the comics industry was in such a bad state that Tony Velasquez, living in retirement, refused to comment on an interview about the prospects of the future of Philippine komiks industry. The advent of the video games, the Romance pocketbooks, all contributed to the decline of the Philippine comis industry, not to mention the later arrival of gadgets like pages and cellphones, and the birth of the internet.

GASI one by one cancelled their titles, and shifted more in publishing movie-magazines, the gossip type where popular with movie fans. More and more, the komiks was relegated as the “other publication”, being published only for the sake of tradition.

In 1997, Tony Velasquez, founder of the old Ace Publications and GASI, and the recognized “Father of Philippine Comics” died in GASI compound. He never saw the re-emergence of the industry he loved and founded, and died of a broken heart. His death saved him from further hurt, though, for later that year, GASI was finally dissolved as a publisher of comics. A curtain was therefore lowered down on one of the great publications company in Philippine comics history.

AFTERMATH —
When GASI was dissolved in the late 1990s, the company was then divided between the three children of Dona Elena Roces-Guerrero, and thus formed new komiks publishing companies. The arrangement was as follows: (1) Alfredo Guerrero:Kislap Publishing, Inc. (2) Lydia Guerrero: Solid Gold Publishing Co., Inc. and Woman’s Home Companion, Inc., and (3) Wahoo Guerrero:Sonic Triangle Publishing, Inc.

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