Apolonio "Pol" Medina Jr. (born April 6, 1960) is a Filipino

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

best known for his

comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

Pugad Baboy ''Pugad Baboy'' (literally, "swine's nest" in Tagalog) is a comic strip created by Filipino cartoonist Apolonio "Pol" Medina, Jr. The strip is about a Manila community of mostly obese people – "fat as pigs" (''baboy'' is Tagalog for pig). It ...

''.

Biography

Education and early career

Pol Medina graduated from the

University of Santo Tomas The University of Santo Tomas (also known as UST and officially as the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, Manila) is a private, Catholic research university in Manila, Philippines. Founded on April 28, 1611, by Spanish friar Miguel ...

in 1983 with a degree in Architecture. In 1985, a year after securing his professional license, he went to

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

at the height of the

Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. It began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for almost eight years, until the acceptance of United Nations Security Council ...

to work for an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

construction company. It was at this juncture that he experienced "the most maddening" two years of his life.

''Pugad Baboy''

In 1986, Medina started scripting and drawing characters for a new cartoon about a community of fatsos and a dog named Polgas. A year later, he worked as an architect for a firm in

San Juan, Metro Manila San Juan, officially the City of San Juan ( fil, Lungsod ng San Juan), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 126,347 people. It is geographica ...

, where he became Chief Architect. On May 18, 1988, Medina debuted ''

'' on the ''

Philippine Daily Inquirer The ''Philippine Daily Inquirer'' (''PDI''), or simply the ''Inquirer'', is an English-language newspaper in the Philippines. Founded in 1985, it is often regarded as the Philippines' newspaper of record. The newspaper is the most awarded bro ...

'' on May 18, 1988. Despite earning only ₱35 per strip, Medina decided to quit his architecture and become a full-time cartoonist. His career picked up when he published his first compilation book ''The Very Best of Pugad Baboy'', but he was only earning a small percentage of the book's gross sales. ''Pugad Baboy Book 9'' became the first book self-published by Medina and his wife. In 1994, Medina published the ''Pugad Baboy'' graphic novel ''

Pirata Pirata may refer to: * ''Pirata'' (album), a 1989 album by Litfiba * Pirata (footballer) (born 1987), a Portuguese footballer * ''Pirata'' (graphic novel), a graphic novel by Pol Medina, Jr * ''Pirata'' (spider), a genus of wolf spiders * ''Il p ...

''. 175px, Pol Medina Jr. at Philippine Book Festival In September 1992, Medina co-founded Pugad Baboy, Inc. with seven other people. The company adopted ''

Ad Astra Per Aspera ''Ad astra'' is a Latin phrase meaning "to the stars". The phrase has origins with Virgil, who wrote in his ''Aeneid'': "''sic itur ad astra''" ('thus one journeys to the stars') and "''opta ardua pennis astra sequi''" ('desire to pursue the h ...

'' for its motto, inspired by

Harper Lee Nelle Harper Lee (April 28, 1926February 19, 2016) was an American novelist best known for her 1960 novel ''To Kill a Mockingbird''. It won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize and has become a classic of modern American literature. Lee has received numero ...

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

-winning novel, ''

To Kill a Mockingbird ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' is a novel by the American author Harper Lee. It was published in 1960 and was instantly successful. In the United States, it is widely read in high schools and middle schools. ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' has become ...

''. Three years later, the company folded when he left in order to pursue a career in the advertising industry. Medina currently has another company, Pol Medina Jr. Novelties, dedicated to merchandise based on the strip, including compilations.

Resignation and later career

On June 8, 2013, after a 25-year run with ''Pugad Baboy'', Medina formally resigned from the ''Inquirer'' after St. Scholastica's College threatened to sue the paper over his June 4 strip, which reportedly lambasted hypocrisy among Christians against homosexuals when certain sectarian schools condone such students among their ranks. Five days later, he transferred to

Rappler Rappler (portmanteau of the words "rap" and "ripple") is a Filipino online news website based in Pasig, Metro Manila, the Philippines. It was founded by 2021 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa along with a group of fellow Filipino journalists ...

, continuing ''Pugad Baboy'' as a

web comic Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on a website or mobile app. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or comic books. Webcomics can be co ...

. Since March 5, 2018, Medina has been working for ''

The Philippine Star ''The Philippine Star'' (self-styled ''The Philippine STAR'') is an English-language newspaper in the Philippines and the flagship brand of the Philstar Media Group. First published on July 28, 1986, by veteran journalists Betty Go-Belmonte, ...

'' and its sister publications ''

Pilipino Star Ngayon ''Pilipino Star Ngayon'', self-styled as ''Pilipino Star NGAYON'' and first known as ''Ang Pilipino Ngayon'', is the leading tabloid newspaper of daily nationwide circulation in the Philippines. It is written and published in Filipino, the nationa ...

'' and ''Pang-Masa''. In addition, he published his first all-English graphic novel ''Blood of the Shinobi''.

References

External links

*
PMJunior
– Pol Medina's Official Website Medina, Pol Jr. Medina, Pol Jr. Medina, Pol Jr. Medina, Pol Jr. Medina, Pol Jr. Medina, Pol Jr. Pugad Baboy Artists from Metro Manila University of Santo Tomas alumni Philippine Daily Inquirer people {{Comic-strip-creator-stub