Visconde Carlo San Juan Vergara or simply known as Carlo Vergara (born January 25, 1971) is a

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

graphic designer A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography, or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, ...

and

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...

best known for creating the

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

character

Zsazsa Zaturnnah Zsazsa Zaturnnah is a fictional comic book superheroine created by Filipino illustrator and graphic designer Carlo Vergara. The character first appeared in the Filipino graphic novel, ''Ang Kagila-gilalas na Pakikipagsapalaran ni Zsazsa Zat ...

. Vergara is also a theatre performer and published playwright.

Biography

The son of a tax lawyer and an English teacher, Vergara began to draw even before he started school. He considered drawing as a hobby, and did not want it to be part of his profession. Though he had been accepted in the College of Architecture at the

University of the Philippines The University of the Philippines (UP; fil, Pamantasan ng Pilipinas Unibersidad ng Pilipinas) is a state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by Republic Act No. 9500 (UP Charter of 200 ...

, he opted to take Marketing Management at the De La Salle University (DLSU), and graduated in 1990. It was during his stay at DLSU when he won his first literary award from the university's annual awards for literature--''Solitude'' bagged third place in the English poetry category. He was also an art staff of a university news publication ''The La Sallian''. A few years after graduating, Vergara joined the university's theater organization, the Harlequin Theater Guild, where he acted in productions of

Shirley Jackson Shirley Hardie Jackson (December 14, 1916 – August 8, 1965) was an American writer known primarily for her works of horror and mystery. Over the duration of her writing career, which spanned over two decades, she composed six novels, two me ...

's ''The Lottery'',

Susan Glaspell Susan Keating Glaspell (July 1, 1876 – July 28, 1948) was an American playwright, novelist, journalist and actress. With her husband George Cram Cook, she founded the Provincetown Players, the first modern American theatre company. First known ...

's ''Trifles'',

Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictiona ...

's ''Towards Zero'', and

Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero Wilfrido María Guerrero (January 22, 1910 – April 28, 1995) was a Filipino playwright, director, teacher and theater artist. He wrote over 100 plays, 41 of which have been published. His unpublished plays have either been broadcast on the rad ...

's ''Forever.'' Beginning in 1993, Vergara spent almost a decade working in public relations and corporate communications as a staff writer, photographer, graphic designer, and on occasion, special events host. It was during this time when he began to take serious interest in graphic design. Though drawing had always been his hobby, Vergara never attempted to tackle a full-blown comics project until mid-1993. ''Flashpoint'' was a comics series he co-created with friends from DLSU, and was published by Straight Lines International. After four issues, ''Flashpoint'' was discontinued, and Vergara stopped drawing comics for a few years. He, however, became a member of Alamat, an informal group of comics creators and enthusiasts. In 1994, he auditioned for a part in th
New Voice Company
production of the Asian premiere of

Tony Kushner Anthony Robert Kushner (born July 16, 1956) is an American author, playwright, and screenwriter. Lauded for his work on stage he's most known for his seminal work ''Angels in America'' which earned a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award. At the turn ...

's ''

Angels in America ''Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes'' is a two-part play by American playwright Tony Kushner. The work won numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the Tony Award for Best Play, and the Drama Desk Award for O ...

''. He bagged a part, alternating the role of Louis Ironson with Philippine theater veteran Bart Guingona. Though reviews to his professional debut were mostly lukewarm to negative, Vergara continued his acting training with the New Voice Company. He subsequently performed in the independently produced productions of David Gobeil Taylor's ''Waiting for Homo'' and

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...

's ''The Boor''. It was during these years when he had feature articles published in the now defunct ''Cutting Edge'' magazine and ''

The Manila Times ''The Manila Times'' is the oldest extant English language, English-language newspaper in the Philippines. It is published daily by The Manila Times Publishing Corp. (formerly La Vanguardia Publishing Corporation) with editorial and administrati ...

''. In 1999, he went back to the

De La Salle University De La Salle University ( fil, Pamantasang De La Salle or Unibersidad ng De La Salle), also referred to as DLSU, De La Salle or La Salle, is a private university, private, Catholic Church, Catholic coeducational research university run by the I ...

to teach a

website A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google Search, Google, Facebook, Amaz ...

design course for a term. During this period, he collaborated with writer David Hontiveros on an independent comic book, ''Pantheon'', marking Vergara's return as an artist to the comics medium.

Published works

One Night in Purgatory

His first foray into self-publishing was in 2001, when he produced, wrote and illustrated ''One Night in

Purgatory Purgatory (, borrowed into English via Anglo-Norman and Old French) is, according to the belief of some Christian denominations (mostly Catholic), an intermediate state after physical death for expiatory purification. The process of purgatory ...

'', a short comics tale about

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

love. The

comicbook A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are oft ...

was nominated by the Manila Critics Circle for a

National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...

the following year, and was cited by the ''Sanghaya Yearbook'' of the state-run

National Commission for Culture and the Arts The National Commission for Culture and the Arts of the Philippines ( fil, Pambansang Komisyon para sa Kultura at mga Sining, ceb, Nasodnong Komisyon alang sa Budaya ug mga Arte) is the official government agency for culture in the Philippines. ...

Zsazsa Zaturnnah series

Ang Kagila-gilalas na Pakikipagsapalaran ni Zsazsa Zaturnnah

In 2002, Vergara produced his second

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

, ''Ang Kagila-gilalas na Pakikipagsapalaran ni

'' (''The Spectacular Adventures of Zsazsa Zaturnnah''). The graphic novel earned recognition from the Manila Critics Circle in 2003, thus giving Vergara his first

. The book was later adapted into a musical and

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

in 2006. In the nominees list of the 30th Gawad Urian (an award-giving body composed on film critics), Vergara was cited along with Dinno Erece in the screenplay category. For the musical's soundtrack album, Vergara asked musical director/composer

Vincent de Jesus use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , body_discovered = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinate ...

for a slot in the track list. De Jesus did a piano arrangement for the song ''"Ayoko Nang Mabuhay Nang Ganito" ("I Don't Want To Live This Way Anymore")'', the lead character's torch song, to which Vergara lent his vocals.

Zsazsa Zaturnnah sa Kalakhang Maynila

Formerly the art director of Summit Publishing's ''Real Living'' magazine,

creative director A creative director (or creative supervisor) is a person who makes high-level creative decisions and, with those decisions, oversees the creation of creative assets such as advertisements, products, events, or logos. Creative director positions ar ...

of the company's Special Publications group, and creative director of the Philippine edition of ''

Good Housekeeping ''Good Housekeeping'' is an American women's magazine featuring articles about women's interests, product testing by The Good Housekeeping Institute, recipes, diet, and health, as well as literary articles. It is well known for the "Good House ...

'' magazine, a publication licensed through

Hearst Magazines International Hearst Communications, Inc., often referred to simply as Hearst, is an American multinational mass media and business information conglomerate based in Hearst Tower in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Hearst owns newspapers, magazines, telev ...

, Vergara is currently working on the sequel to the Zsazsa Zaturnnah story. The first part of the sequel ''Zsazsa Zaturnnah sa Kalakhang Maynila'' (''Zsazsa Zaturnnah in Metro Manila'') was released in January 2012, and subsequently earned Vergara his second Philippine National Book Award in 2013. For that book, he was also nominated for Best Book Design.

Kung Paano Ako Naging Leading Lady

Vergara wrote the one-act play ''Kung Paano Ako Naging Leading Lady'' (''How I Became Leading Lady''), which was accepted and presented in June 2013 during the 9th Virgin LabFest, a festival of new theatre material, organized by The Tanghalang Pilipino Foundation and The Writer's Bloc, Inc. A comics adaptation of the play, illustrated b
Elmer Cantada
was released in November 2013.

Ma, Sarap!

In 2014, he completed art for the webcomic ''Ma, Sarap!'' (''Mom, It's Delicious!''), written by Jamie Bautista.

Bibliography

* 1993: ''Flashpoint'' (4 issues, Straight Lines International) - illustrator, letterer, colorist, art direction, editing * 1999: ** ''Pantheon: Horus'' (2 issues, self-published) - illustrator ** ''Pantheon: Avatar'' (1 issue, self-published) - illustrator * 2001: ** ''One Night In Purgatory'' - producer, writer, illustrator, art direction ** ''Angel Ace Next'' (Marco Dimaano for Alamat Comics) - contributing illustrator ** ''"He Said, She Said"'' (Quest Ventures) Isaw, atbp. - illustrator ** ''The Lost'' (2 issues, Kestrel Studios) - cover art * 2002: ''Ang Kagila-gilalas na Pakikipagsapalaran ni Zsazsa Zaturnnah'' (2 parts) - producer, writer, illustrator, art direction * 2003: ** ''Ang Kagila-gilalas na Pakikipagsapalaran ni Zsazsa Zaturnnah'' (Visual Print Enterprises) - writer, illustrator, art direction (collected edition contains bonus material) ** ''Siglo: Freedom'' (Quest Ventures and Kestrel Studios) - art direction * 2004: ''Palawan: 1944'' (Quest Ventures and Kestrel Studios) for Siglo: Passion - writer, illustrator * 2005: '' Captain Blood'' for ''

Graphic Classics ''Graphic Classics'' is a comic book anthology series published by Eureka Productions of Mount Horeb, Wisconsin. ''Graphic Classics'' features adaptations of literary classics by authors such as Arthur Conan Doyle, H. P. Lovecraft, and Edgar Alla ...

Rafael Sabatini Rafael Sabatini (29 April 1875 – 13 February 1950) was an Italian-born British writer of romance and adventure novels. He is best known for his worldwide bestsellers: ''The Sea Hawk'' (1915), ''Scaramouche'' (1921), ''Captain Blood'' (a.k.a ...

'' (Eureka Productions) - illustrator * 2006: ''

The Mysteries of Udolpho ''The Mysteries of Udolpho'', by Ann Radcliffe, appeared in four volumes on 8 May 1794 from G. G. and J. Robinson of London. Her fourth and most popular novel, ''The Mysteries of Udolpho'' tells of Emily St. Aubert, who suffers misadventures th ...

'' for ''

: Gothic Tales'' (Eureka Productions) - illustrator * 2008: ** "The Monk and the Hangman's Daughter" for ''

Ambrose Bierce Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (June 24, 1842 – ) was an American short story writer, journalist, poet, and American Civil War veteran. His book ''The Devil's Dictionary'' was named as one of "The 100 Greatest Masterpieces of American Literature" by t ...

'' (Eureka Productions) - illustrator ** ''Zsazsa Zaturnnah sa Kalakhang Maynila'' online preview - writer and illustrator * 2009: ** ''"A Silent Reunion"'' for ''Komikero Anthology'' #1 - writer, illustrator ** ''"Mission: Accomplished"'' originally for ''Love and Heartbreak'', later published online - writer, illustrator * 2010: "

The Pit and the Pendulum "The Pit and the Pendulum" is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe and first published in 1842 in the literary annual ''The Gift: A Christmas and New Year's Present for 1843''. The story is about the torments endured by a prisoner of ...

" for ''

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...

'' (Eureka Productions) - illustrator * 2012: ''Zsazsa Zaturnnah sa Kalakhang Maynila: Part One'' (Visual Print Enterprises) - writer and illustrator * 2013: ''Kung Paano Ako Naging Leading Lady'' - writer, based on his one-act play of the same title * various dates: Real Home Ideas volumes 1 to 4, Real Living's Handy Hints and Instant Makeovers, Real Living's Room by Room Makeovers, Good Housekeeping 100+ Fast & Easy Recipes (Summit Books) - art direction

References

External links

Carverhouse
- Personal Blog of Carlo Vergara
GayLeague
- Interview with Carlo Vergara by GayLeague

- Interview with Carlo Vergara by the Philippine Daily Inquirer

- Article about Carlo Vergara by the Manila Bulletin
Jazma Online
- Interview with Carlo Vergara by Jazma Online
Gay Star News
- Interview with Carlo Vergara by Gay Star News
ABS-CBN News
- "Zsazsa Zaturnnah creator debuts as playwright" {{DEFAULTSORT:Vergara, Carlo Filipino comics artists Living people 1971 births Graphic novelists Filipino comics writers De La Salle University alumni Filipino male stage actors