This is what I call a very happy coincidence. When I set up my gallery for Filippino artists, I scribbled a quick list of names as potential collecting targets to acquire examples of. And to be completely honest, Tanghal was not on that list. The funny thing is, it was only a matter of weeks (or maybe even days) from setting up that gallery room, when I stumbled upon this fabulous color illustration of Starfire by Romeo. The first thing I thought was, “Oh, cool Perez piece!” But when I enlarged the thumbnail, I was really surprised (in a good way though).

I think this is a perfect example of the lasting influence of longtime collaborations. I think that, after a certain point, some inkers develop an almost muscle memory for their penciller’s linework. Granted, there’s a certain amount of instinct involved with inking. But like any long-term relationship, there just comes a point when you just start to “finish each other’s sentences.” Perhaps the best example of this is Ernie Chan/Chua’s long stint on Conan with Buscema. By the time they both left the book (and even before), every Conan piece Ernie drew looked like John had penciled it. Whether consciously or sub-consciously, he imbued his drawings with characteristics of both himself AND John.

I would claim that the same thing happened with this drawing. Whether consciously or sub-consciously, Tanghal was still “inking George” on this piece. The linework, the anatomy and figure work, the pose, the facial characteristics – all scream Perez. But like I said, a very happy coincidence. Would I have purchased this if it looked nothing like Perez? Absolutely!

Romeo is about as Filipino as it gets. Born and raised there, he immigrated to the U.S. just a few years after I did. While he’s known for his career as an inker, his first American comics work (a year after he immigrated) was providing the pencils for Batman #284 (1977). But once he started inking George Perez on The New Teen Titans in 1980, his place in comics history was sealed. Tanghal continued to work steadily in comics until about 2010. He won an Inkpot Award in 2013. These days, he stays active doing primarily commission work and cover recreations. Again, the focus of this gallery was to celebrate, not only my heritage, but how artists who I share that heritage with, have contributed to the history of this art form. So even though I ignorantly left him off that first list of quickly scribbled names, I am immensely proud to add this wonderful Romen Tanghal example to the gallery.

Thanks yet again to Mr. Anthony Snyder and his hardworking crew. And thanks to the CAF faithful for stopping by.

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