Severino "Nonoy" Marcelo (January 22, 1939 – October 22, 2002) was a Filipino cartoonist born in Malabon, Metro Manila, Philippines, an alumnus of the Institute of Arts and Sciences from Far Eastern University, and a former cartoonist in the The Advocate (the official student publication of Far Eastern University),. best known for creating the character Ikabod Bubwit ("small rodent" in Tagalog) in the comic strip Ikabod. He also created the comic strips Plain Folks, which appeared in the Daily Mirror during the early 1960s, and Tisoy in 1963 for the Manila Times, which tells about the lifestyle of young Filipinos. His main character, Tisoy (slang for "mestizo"), and cast members such as Aling Otik, Maribubut, Caligula, Tatang, Tikyo and Kinse, soon became established in Philippine pop culture. marcelo went to new york in the 70s and took up advance animation for visual arts promoting pinoy pride & culture through underground community magazines with fellow filipino artists. he became a major staff artist at the evergreen review and art director of mcgregor and warner in washington d.c.
Tisoy became a 1977 film directed by Ishmael Bernal, starring Christopher de Leon and Charo Santos.
Nonoy Marcelo's Tadhana (Destiny) is possibly the first-ever full-length animated feature made in the Philippines. Based on a series of volumes on Philippine history officially written by Ferdinand Marcos (unofficially written by a whole team of historians), and produced by his eldest daughter, Imee, the film was broadcast on September 21, 1978--the sixth anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law. It was supposed to be replayed and even have a commercial theater release, but for reasons never made clear that broadcast was it; it was never seen again..
Ikabod ran from the late 1970s to 2002. It was a satirical strip that re-cast the Philippines as a nation called Dagalandia. The strip humorously depicted the socio-political woes of ordinary Filipinos, as represented by the tailless Everymouse hero, Ikabod - who became as iconic in his own way as that other popular cartoon rodent, Mickey Mouse. Marcelo often used the strip to caricature political figures. He was a voracious reader, trivia collector & news addict , he immersed himself in philippine history his last major work was a lovingly illustrated cartoon history of the malabon that he never really left.Nonoy marcelo inpired a lot of us & continues to inspire more future generations of artists to come.
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