A highly decorated graphic novelist and comic book creator, Capas has created some of the most remarkable comic book characters which found their way to the big screen and television.
Like his fellow graphic novelist and comic strip creator, Mars Ravelo, Carlo J. Caparas found fame through his timeless masterpieces. His most memorable works get adapted, over and over again, with some of the industry’s finest actors taking on his iconic characters in film and on television. Caparas’ stories varied through an array of genres and storylines. His portfolio is marked by a relatively higher number of massacres, action, and superhero films he wrote and directed. As he is also a director, most of his works adapted to a TV series or a film were directed by him. He also often wrote the scripts.
A big part of Caparas’ success in movies and television is made possible by various TV adaptations of his fantasy-themed creations, where a masculine and a superhero prototype is the protagonist. Both ABS-CBN and GMA Network had their share of adapting some of their works on television. The following four titles are arguably the most popular of those TV adaptations:
Ang Panday
If Ravelo has Darna as his most important creation, Caparas has Ang Panday. Caparas owes much of the sword-wielding warrior’s massive popularity to the first actor to breathe life into the character, Fernando Poe Jr. Poe first played Ang Panday—also called Flavio—in 1980. Three more films were subsequently produced on the heels of the first film’s massive success.
On television, ABS-CBN delivered its highly-anticipated TV adaptation to Filipino audiences, in 2005, with the prime leading man, Jericho Rosales, taking on the title role. Despite its lackluster performance in viewership, the adaptation remains among the best Caparas creation ever made into a TV series.
Gagambino
Gagambino is practically Caparas’ version of the famous Marvel superhero, Spider-Man. The TV adaptation of his comic book serial premiered on GMA Network’s Telebabad block on October 20, 2008. Dennis Trillo was tapped to play the title role, whose power comes from a giant spider who helps him fight terror in a dark-infested Manila.
Joaquin Bordado
The 2008 TV adaptation of Caparas’ another creation, Joaquin Bordado, is based on the 1988 film of the same title, which starred the late Ramon Revilla Sr. The adaptation had Robin Padilla play the title role, whose mystical power and strength come from the many tattoos inked all over his body. According to AGB Nielsen, its TV rating in Mega Manila was recorded at 36.6% during the pilot, and 40.8% during the finale.
Kamandag
Kamandag marked Richard Gutierrez’s fifth starring role on a primetime TV series. He previously portrayed the Mars Ravelo superhero, Captain Barbell, for its first and second Kapuso TV adaptations. In Kamandag, Gutierrez played Vergel, who transforms into the half-human, half-serpent warrior, Kamandag. The series was a definite success based on AGB Nielsen data, as TV ratings peaked at 43.6% in Mega Manila.
Which of these TV adaptations is your ultimate favorite? Did you think another title should have made it on the list? Name them in the comment section!
