In a moment of retrospection, Carlo good-naturedly boasted that there were times when he was writing 36 hit novels—all published.

Inevitably, local pop culture flourished as original Caparas creations such as Panday, Andres de Saya, Totoy Bato, Bakekang, Tuklaw, Pieta, Maestro, Lumuhod Ka Sa Lupa, Kahit Ako'y Lupa, Kamagong, Kamandag, among others, found their way into Pinoy consciousness. Even film producers got caught in the fever and made movies inspired by komiks stories.

By the time he decided to hang his pen in 1987 to concentrate on being husband to his wife Donna Villa, Carlo already had an astonishing 800 komiks novels tucked under his belt.

RESURGING INTEREST. The coming of the digital age and the increasing popularity of television, pocketbooks, and glossy magazines gave the komiks industry a severe blow. Declining interest and readership steadily wiped out all the titles off the market.

But good ideas have an incredible ability to withstand time.

Interestingly, the new millennium stirred the fascination of audiences, upon the prodding of producers and networks, with fantasy stories translated into television series.

References to serve this purpose can be found—where else, but in the komiks series that held previous generations spellbound.

Modern technological advancement helped greatly in making each sequence more vivid and realistic. But more importantly, the brains behind these creations are being given their much-deserved recognition before a contemporary audience.

Along with Caparas—whose three creations Panday, Bakekang and Kamandag were all made into TV series—the works of Francisco Coching (Pedro Penduko) and Mars Ravelo (Darna, Captain Barbell), among others, are being revived, attesting to their lasting appeal.

Recognizing the perfect opportunity to resurrect the industry that made him a household name, Carlo J. Caparas recently launched a new batch of Komiks series meant to reacquaint the public with local graphic literature.

Unflinching in his role as the Komiks King, Carlo passionately pushed the new Komiks by saying, "Dudulutan naming kayo ng kakaibang putahe ng aming mga akda upang ipagkapuri ninyo na sa Pilipinas mayroong komiks na pantapat natin kay Superman, kay Batman, kay Spiderman at sa lahat ng karakters ng ibang komiks sa ibang bansa."

And like a proud dad promoting his own children, Carlo added with aplomb: "Mahusay po ang mga Pilipino na gumawa ng komiks kaysa sa kanilang lahat."