Foreign Favorites: El Indigo

When the Spaniards were searching for the Indies they mistakenly called the Malayan they discovered "Indigos" or Indians, a name they used for all non-Spanish citizens of the Philippines. Written and illustrated by the father of Filipino comics, Francisco V. Coching, El Indigo was the first grand epic to grace the pages of a 1953 Pilipino Komiks, running for over thirty thrilling chapters of action and suspense. Our hero, Fernando, was a revolutionary who unknown to him, defied his father's rule, Kapitan Castillo, who towered over the Filipino people with an iron hand. Equally skilled with pistol or sword, Fernando used his shrewed tactics and superior horsemanship to wreak havoc on the domineering Spanish colonists. With a wonderful supporting cast including our star's beautiful girlfriend, Victoria, and his lovely mother Blanquita, who unfortunately was the lover of Castillo, the writing was always witty and engaging. Wonderful scripts coupled with excellent artwork made the feature an instant adventure classic, that could only have been produced by an individual of Coching's skill and mastery of the comic art form.