Filipino Comics Art Fridays | Anton Caravana

Every Friday, I take a look at the work of one of the almost 200 Filipino artists who illustrated horror, sword-and-sorcery/fantasy, western, sci-fi, and war comics for American publishers during the 1970s and early 1980s. The “Filipino Wave,” as it came to be called, saw the likes of Nestor Redondo, Alfredo Alcala, Alex Niño, Tony DeZuniga, Rudy Nebres, Ernie Chan, E. R. Cruz, and many others pencil and/or ink scores of issues for DC, Marvel, Warren, and other outfits, helping define the look of an era.

This week’s featured artist is Anton Caravana.

The careers of the Filipino Wave artists took on various forms and different routes. The holy trinity of Filipino comics artists in American comics—Alex Niño, Nestor Redondo, and Alfredo Alcala—became some of the most popular comics artists of the 1970s, respected by their peers, emulated by younger artists, their works adored by readers the world over. Others, like Tony DeZuniga, Rudy Nebres, E. R. Cruz, Romeo Tanghal, and Ernie Chan, may not have achieved the same level of international renown as Niño, et al, but they still became industry stalwarts, among the elite at their craft, in high demand among editors, often asked for by name by eager prospective collaborators. Most, however, had a more mundane experience of it. They did their gigs for DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Warren Publishing, or Pendulum Press, produced competent but perhaps not particularly standout work, and when the assignments dried up or when better opportunities in American animation or the Filipino komiks industry presented themselves, that was mostly the end of it for their stints in American comics.

There were a few, however, who flashed the potential to become the next Niño or Redondo or Nebres, but due to unfortunate circumstances, never got the opportunity to fulfill their promise. One of those artists was the late Anton “Tony” Caravana.

A student of the great Nestor Redondo, Caravana had the same meticulous rendering style and straightforward, reliable storytelling instincts, honed in the fast-paced, highly competitive komiks market of the Philippines in the 1960s.

Caravana's American comics debut was a three-page strip (“The Devil's Own”) in DC Comics' Ghosts #25 (April 1974).

Caravana wasn't merely content to ape his mentor. In the introductory strip to DC's The Witching Hour #50 (January 1975), Caravana displayed a playful sense of caricature not commonly associated with the Filipino artists working for DC at the time.

As was the case with many of the best Filipino Wave artists, Caravana also contributed to Marvel's The Savage Sword of Conan magazine.

However, it was when Caravana started working for the adult comics magazine company Warren Publishing in 1980 that he really started garnering attention. Caravana began employing a heavy ink wash over his illustrations in an almost painterly style, perhaps in an effort to lend more texture and volume to the black & white format of Warren's publications.

Readers' responses to his earliest Warren Publishing art were unanimous in their praise, even when opinions on the quality of the actual stories they served were mixed. Within months of his Warren debut on Vampirella #90 (September 1980), Caravana was given the task of illustrating the lead story (“Call it Chaos!” written by Archie Goodwin) in Vampirella #100 (October 1981), one of publisher's best-selling titles. Below is a six-page sample from that story:

Unfortunately, Caravana's highest profile assignment would also turn out to be his last. The artist, who still lived in the Philippines, was killed in a traffic accident not long after he had mailed the finished art to Warren's offices. Vampirella #100 included not just Caravana's story, but also his obituary.

For his work on “Call it Chaos!,” Caravana would be posthumously awarded the 1981 Warren Award for Best Art, as selected by Warren Publishing founder James Warren.

Anton Caravana's American comics bibliography (partially based on data from ComicBookDb and the Grand Comics Database):

To read all of the Filipino Comics Art Fridays entries, click here.