A king’s homecoming: Exhibit on National Artist Francisco V. Coching now in Pasig City

The worlds of Francisco V. Coching return to his home city as Pasig City Museum mounts King of Komiks: Francisco V. Coching from 16 to 31 October in celebration of Museums and Galleries Month. The exhibition honors the life and legacy of the National Artist for visual arts, whose stories and illustrations helped shape Philippine komiks and the country’s popular imagination, and celebrates his being Pasigueño.

PUBLICATIONS featuring Coching and reprinted komiks.Born in the barangay of Buting on 29 January 1919, Coching followed his father Gregorio, a noted Tagalog novelist who also hailed from Buting, into storytelling. Through his vivid illustrations, he brought Filipino characters and imagined worlds to life, becoming one of the most influential figures in Philippine komiks. Widely recognized as the “Dean of Filipino Illustrators,” Coching worked as a komiks writer and illustrator for about four decades. His enduring creations include Hagibis, Pedro Penduko, El Indio and Lapu-Lapu, several of which were adapted into films. Rooted in Filipino culture and identity, his narratives reached audiences beyond the printed page and inspired generations of illustrators. He died on 1 September 1998 at the age of 79 and was posthumously proclaimed a National Artist in 2014.

The exhibition offers visitors a glimpse of that creative world through reproductions of selected works, publications featuring Coching, and excerpts from films based on his stories. Standees of his characters and streamers bearing his illustrations accent the gallery space.

Conceived for Coching’s birth centenary in 2019, King of Komiks has traveled around Luzon, introducing his work to a new generation of readers. The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and the Coching estate launched the exhibition at SM Aura Premier in Taguig City, where it ran from 18 to 24 February 2019.

An expanded version was mounted at SM City East Ortigas in Pasig City from 9 to 31 June 2023 under the banner “Anak ng Pasig.” Part of the city’s 450th founding anniversary celebration, it highlighted the artist’s ties to his birthplace.

In 2024, the exhibition traveled north, appearing at the SM Sunset Terraces of SM City Baguio from 15 to 24 March, introducing characters such as Pedro Penduko and Hagibis to audiences in the Cordillera. It then moved to SM Center Dagupan from 23 May to 9 June, reaching young audiences in Pangasinan.

Its current presentation at Pasig City Museum marks another homecoming, this time within a museum devoted to the city’s history and heritage. At the opening ceremony, Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto emphasized Coching’s Pasigueño roots and his place in the community’s cultural history. City government officials and members of the Coching family also attended.

A talk by comic book artist, writer and illustrator Randy Valiente offered further insight into Coching’s contributions to the development of comics in the Philippines, deepening visitors’ understanding and appreciation of his work.

By bringing King of Komiks home, the exhibition invites Pasigueños to rediscover an artist whose influence extends well beyond his birthplace. For younger visitors, it offers an encounter with the characters, storytelling, and draftsmanship that helped define an era of Philippine komiks — and an opportunity to recognize them as part of their own cultural inheritance.