Then came Ochlocrat. I had met writer Doug Miers via online pal Jason Maranto, who is an artist himself. Doug asked me to do a cover for his comic book Taxman (pictured on the right) for Comics Conspiracy.  It was such a pleasant experience that when Doug approached me to draw a whole book, Ochlocrat, I was quite ecstatic.  He had sent me copies of his previous books including Operator 99 and I quickly came to know Doug as quite a talented writer, who writes quirkily funny and clever stories with a twist.  Given a proper chance, I think Doug stands a very good chance of making it big.  So it was quite a buzz for me to draw one of his stories.  An added draw is the TITLE. Jeez, the title. It's so damn cool. I mean, OCHLOCRAT? Holy crap, what the hell is that? Whatever it was, it sounded something like I would want to draw. So without even seeing a script, I agreed to do the story.  The pay is small compared to what I get as an inker for Marvel or Image, but it hardly entered my mind at all. I was in it for the experience, and for the opportunity to actually ink as well as pencil my own book.  It was the chance I was waiting for for a long time. I just had to take it.

I was still up to my ears in inking work so I was concerned about the time I could devote to actually doing the book.  I think it was around early 2001 that I agreed to do it. Doug sent over the script and read carefully through it.   He wanted a Christmas release so I thought I had plenty of time. I'd ink the books I needed to ink, and I'd draw Ochlocrat in my free time.
I started sketching character and camera designs. Everywhere I would go, even during a protest rally against former Philippine president Erap, I would grab what paper I could find and start sketching whatever comes to mind. I sent over some to Doug to ask him what he thinks. Overall, he liked the look of the character although it diverged somewhat from the description he had in the script. He asked for some modifications to the look of the cameras but aside from that, I was ready to go.

Well, not exactly. Something happened to my hand that made me unable to draw for several weeks. I could draw, but it was incredibly painful. My middle finger on my drawing hand got swollen so bad that it hurt just to move it.  It was a terrible time. I had to take some medication to bring the swelling down and hopefully, to prevent it from happening again.

I was just off inking X-Force for Marvel Comics when that happened, and when I got better,  I was looking for something to do. So it was a perfect time to  work on the book. I did some pages of inks for X-Men for Leinil Yu, but I was otherwise free.  But as I was just about to start, Leinil Yu approached me with the offer to ink that year's New X-Men Annual, to be written by Grant Morrison.  Honestly, it was an offer that I just couldn't refuse.  It was tough, but I just had to tell Doug that I was going to do it. It would be a great opportunity for me personally, and it would be good for Ochlocrat later on because we could use that credit to promote the book.

I did more sketches while I inked and I started to feel I finally got the visual look of the character down pat.  I then proceeded to do the X-Mean annual fully. It was 42 pages of really involving work. Since I had to ink on originals, I had to trek to Leinil's place in Manila once or twice a week to get pages then Fedex them to Marvel.  We also did a quick six pager for that year's Fantastic Four Annual written by Jeph Loeb.  It would be June before I started real work on Ochlocrat again.

And when that blank page stared at me right in the eye I literally froze. It had been seven years since I fully drawn a book. I had drawn several pages on and off for Timawa and Tales of the Big City, but this was something else. I had drawn 90 or so pages of Wasted, and 25 or so of Dead Heart, but those were  underground books that didn't demand the same kind of exacting art that Ochlocrat did.   Drawing comics is not like riding a bike.  Once you stop doing it, you'd have to relearn it. And I had a lot of relearning to do.  Working on my first page was something else. I was excited but at the same time not overly confident. And man, that first page (Page 1), took a loooong time to finish.  And when it took me as long to finish the 2nd and the 3rd page,  it became evident to Doug Miers that this could be a problem in the long run.
In the meantime, I did the pages as best I could. I had always wanted to do a sci fi story. Ochlocrat was sci fi, but not much. It's set in the near future so contemporary things like cars and buildings would still be around, but slightly touched by technology. There were stuff that I needed to research like cars and planes, but beyond that I could bullshit as much as I want. Of course, when I say "bullshit", I don't mean that in a negative manner.  It's just a personal term I use to mean drawing completely from the imagination. One day I hope to do a sci fi story where I could really bullshit everything. I think that would be cool. 

I had bought this little limousine toy so I could use it for reference. Literally half of the book happens in and around a limousine. I spent a couple of days just looking for a toy at various malls to little success. I finally found one that wasn't so good, but I got it anyway just to get something I could look at from all angles. I just downloaded pics of limos from the net and bought car catalogue magazines for the details.

Leinil had come back from the San Diego convention and was raring to start on his new comic book for Cliffhanger called High Roads and he wanted me in on it for inking.  It put me in a real tight spot. Do I ink or do I pencil? At this point, inking was my bread and butter. And yet Ochlocrat represented my chance to finally start a pencilling career. I'm getting married in December of 2002 and I have been thinking  a whole lot about my future. By that time I wanted to have something tucked away at the bank.  Coming up with the decision was quite  struggle. To pass up Cliffhanger is like passing up a considerable amount of money, and a chance to work with a very talented artist like Leinil Yu on a book that's quite different than what I had seen before.  Passing up Ochlocrat is like passing up my chance of finally doing what I had always wanted to do, and leaving a bad record of not finishing projects and leaving a great guy like Doug flapping in the wind.

So I did what is probably the craziest thing I've done so far. I chose both.  I decided to continue to draw Ochlocrat. I mean, I'd be crazy not to. It was a FUN book to work on and I had been really enjoying myself on it.  And it was a commitment, and I try very hard to honor my commitments once I've made them.  But I also decided not to pass up Leinil. I'd be crazy if I did. So that put me in an even tighter spot.  That meant I had to work overtime and doubletime everyday.  At that time I had also been dealing with PULP Magazine for the re-release of Wasted on December, talking with a filmmaker who wants to create a Wasted movie, and attending to my duties as member of the San Pablo Chapter of the United Architects of the Philippines.

I guess it just became too much that I just fell terribly ill on October that I had to be hospitalized for several days. I felt so terribly weak that I could barely stand the first week I was out. Walking outside to look at plants or just gettng up to check email were enough to exhaust me. I wasn't able to work for several weeks after that. I had a talk with Leinil and he understood my position and allowed me to finish Ochlocrat before I continued to ink our project. I told him that I'd undertand if he got another inker, but he insisted he wanted me, God bless him. I nevertheless inked him on a couple of illustrations he did for Play Station Magazine and Superman.

I began working on Ochlocrat again in earnest. Doug Miers had written to me very concerned about the status of the book. I totally understood his position. And if I were in his shoes I'd feel the same way. I resolved to finish the book as quickly as I can without sacrificing the quality of the drawings. The next half of the book would have a female Ochlocrat that the main character would do battle with.  Before I started the project and Doug was throwing ideas at me, I had expressed concern that I may have some difficulty in drawing women.  It was a weakness that I readily admit to, inspite of the fact that I just absolutely love women and I like looking at them. I did some quick training, but I had to get on the pages right away so I did the best that I could. I thought I might be doing allright, but when my girlfriend saw one of the drawings, she kept pointing to all kinds of things, specially the hip. "Honey, you gotta give her more HIPS!"  or "Honey, she looks like a MAN!" 

After several months of roller coaster events and emotions, it's finally all done. I gotta say it's one of the most interesting experiences I have had in comics.  I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Doug for taking the chance on me, and for having the incredible patience to bear with me during various delays. For that, you're A1 on my book man!! 

I'm very happy to have on board long time web pal Jason Maranto, who is a great artist in himself doing the lettering onthe book. Kevin Senft did that really cool coloring on my cover to Comics Conspiracy's The Taxman and it looks like he's doing a real good job on the cover to this one too!  I haven't met Mike Bohatch yet, the guy responsible for the beautifuly rendered alternate cover, but I'm happy to see him aboard. Man, that cover is enough to attract a lot of people!

For better or for worse, the book is here, and I'm damned proud of it, warts and all. "Ochlocrat" will now be an indelible part of my life because it's been with me through high and low.  Buy the book, read the book, tell us what you think!   Anyone who sends the most interesting letter be it lavishly complimentary or savagely critical, will get a free Ochlcorat sketch! If you want one that is.

For email, write me here. Visit the official Ochlocrat Website.