Hal Santiago

Hal Santiago died on February 21, 2021. He was 80 years old.

In 1980, Santiago received the Best Illustrator Award from WIKA, an association of Philippine comics distributors. In 1984, WIKA awarded Santiago the Best Written and Illustrated Novel by an Artist Award for his The Hands.

According to John A. Lent, in his book Pulp demons: international dimensions of the postwar anti-comics campaign, Santiago's novel The Hands is regarded as "one of the most success fantasy stories in Philippine comics". A serial that began in 1980, the plot of The Hands is about 'a pair of super-strong, telekinetic, "chopped-off, one eyed living hands.'" On the other hand, Santiago's The Gorgon – a serial Santiago created together with Jim Fernandez – is about a character with a "snake-infested hairdo".

He then became an “A-class” illustrator for Atlas Publications. Santiago illustrated the characters for Shanghai Joe, a novel authored by Danilo Roman. In the 1970s, Santiago created the Philippine comics novels Pinoy Houdini (Filipino Houdini), Talim (i.e. sharpness [of the edge of a blade, knife, or sword]), and The Hands while working for Graphic Arts Service, Inc. (GASI). Among the other novels Santiago illustrated for GASI were: Sun God, written by Pablo S. Gomez, Saka Natin Itanong sa Diyos (We'll Ask God Later), written by Carlo J. Caparas, Isang Minutong Kasalanan (One-Minute Long Sin), written by Elena M. Patron, and Medusa and Unica (the Spanish word for "unique"), both authored by Jim M. Fernandez.

During the 1970s, Santiago went to the United States to work for Marvel and other American-based comic book companies.

Santiago began his career as an illustrator for the comics industry in the Philippines in 1958. He was a short-story illustrator for Manila Klasiks. He was later commissioned by Gil Evangelista of Screen Komiks to illustrate the novel Puso sa Puso (Heart to Heart) written by Bert Tablan. In the 1960s, he did illustration for PSG Publishing House (also known as PSG Publications), where he drew the artwork for Tatlong Hari (Three Kings), a novel written by Rene Rosales and published in the pages of United Komiks.

Dominador "Hal" Santiago (August 9, 1941 – February 21, 2021) was a Filipino illustrator and writer in the field of Philippine comics (known locally as komiks). He was known in the comic book profession in the Philippines for his “artistic visualizations of various novels”. Santiago was described by Filipino writer Jim M. Fernandez as the “Raphael of [Philippine comic book] Illustrators”. His illustrations for eight comics series made him one of the most prolific Filipino comics illustrators, second only to Mar T. Santana, who has illustrated 17 series.

The young Santiago was influenced by Harold "Hal" Rudolf Foster, a comic book artist from the United States who illustrated the Tarzan (1929) and Prince Valiant characters. Foster was the creator of Prince Valiant. Because he idolized Foster, Santiago exchanged letters with Foster in 1958 to learn the ropes of comic book illustration. Santiago changed his given name and adopted the name "Hal" after the name Foster used in the comic book industry.