Alfredo Alcala

On April 4, 2000, Alcala died from cancer in Southern California. He is survived by his wife Lita and two sons, Christian Voltar and Alfred Jr.

With the failure of DC's and Warren's horror titles in the 1980s, many of the Filipino contributors turned to the field of animation in California, and in the 1990s Alcala followed suit. He also illustrated the novel Daddy Cool written by Donald Goines. His last work in comics was for Paradox Press' The Big Book of Thugs in 1996.

Alcala received an Inkpot Award in 1977. In 2021, he was awarded the Inkwell Awards Stacey Aragon Special Recognition Award (SASRA) (2021).

Fellow cartoonist Tony DeZuniga was the first Filipino artist to relocate to the United States to work for DC Comics in 1970, followed by Nestor Redondo and Gerry Talaoc. In 1971 Alcala began a decade of work for both DC and Marvel Comics on horror and fantasy titles, eventually moving to New York City in 1976. He was one of the artists on the licensed movie tie-in series Planet of the Apes and also helped recruit up-and-coming Filipino artists such as Alex Niño to U.S. publishers. In 1975, Alcala and writer Jack Oleck created Kong the Untamed for DC Comics. Later that year, Alcala drew Marvel Treasury of Oz, a comics adaptation of The Marvelous Land of Oz. Alcala joined Warren Publishing in 1977 and drew 39 stories for that publisher from 1977–1981. His series Voltar was reprinted in issues #2–9 of The Rook. Alcala executed 12 five panel comic strips for the men's magazine Adam. The strip, Terra O'Hara, was written by Donald (Don) F. Glut and it appeared in 12 successive issues of Adam from December 1979, through November 1980. In the early 1980s he penciled the Star Wars newspaper strip. In 1983 he teamed with the penciller Jack Kirby on Destroyer Duck from Eclipse Comics. and around that same time he also inked comic books such as Conan the Barbarian over John Buscema's pencils and inked Don Newton's pencil artwork in Batman.

He eventually became a star of the Filipino comics scene, so famed that a periodical bore his name, the Alcala Komiks Magasin. In 1963 he created the comic book Voltar whose titular character predated Frazetta's interpretation of Conan the Barbarian which bore a more than passing resemblance. Voltar became an award-winning success at home and abroad. Alcala's mature artistic style reflected his interest in the woodcuts and etchings of Renaissance master Albrecht Dürer and the drawings of Australian illustrator Walter Jardine and U.S. illustrator Franklin Booth which bore the look of engravings. He has also cited the work of British artist Frank Brangwyn as a major influence.

Inspired by the work of Lou Fine and other cartoonists, Alcala commenced his comic book career in October 1948, beginning with an illustration in Bituin Komiks (Star Comics). By the end of the year he was drawing for Ace Publications, the Philippines' largest publishing company. Ace was the publisher of four titles (Filipino Komiks, Tagalog Klassiks, Espesial Komiks, and Hiwaga Komiks), each featuring his work. Ukala (1950) was one of his first major comics.

Alfredo P. Alcala (August 23, 1925 – April 4, 2000) was a Filipino comics artist, born in Talisay, Negros Occidental in the Philippines. Alcala was an established illustrator whose works appeared in the Alcala Komix Magazine. His 1963 creation Voltar introduced him to an international audience, particularly in the United States. Alcala garnered awards in science fiction during the early part of the 1970s.