| Sonny Trinidad | |
|---|---|
| Born | Celso L. Trinidad July 28, 1934 Santa Rosa, Laguna, Philippines |
| Died | (2009-11-23)November 23, 2009 Santa Rosa, Laguna, Philippines |
| Area | Penciller,Inker |
| Awards | "Best Serial Illustrator", "Best Novel Illustration Fantasy"KOMOPEB Parangal sa Komiks (1984) |
Celso L. "Sonny"Trinidad (died November 23, 2009)[1] was aFilipinocomics artist who worked in theFilipino andAmerican comic book industries. In the U.S., he is mostly known for his work forMarvel Comics in the mid–1970s.
Trinidad began his professional career as an assistant for the "Dean ofPhilippine comics,"Francisco Coching, and Trinidad's style bore a similarity to Choching's.[2] Trinidad's first professional credits included illustrating novelist Marcial Buanno’sGuido Mortal andArkong Bato in the late 1960s.[3]
Trinidad co-created the Filipino superheroes El Gato (with writerMike Tan)[4] and Inday sa Balitaw (with writerPablo S. Gomez).
Along with a number of other Filipino comics creators in the 1970s, Trinidad found work in the American comics industry, initially forDC Comics on such titles asThe Witching Hour,House of Mystery,The Unexpected, andWeird Western Tales.[5]
It was in the U.S. that he began using thepen name"Sonny" Trinidad. When he moved to Marvel Comics in 1974, he was given the moniker "Slammin' Sonny Trinidad" in the "Bullpen Bulletins".[6] Trinidad supplied full art or inks over other artists (frequentlyJohn Romita Sr. andJohn Buscema) on horror titles such asVampire Tales (Morbius the Living Vampire stories written byDoug Moench),Dracula Lives!,Marvel Chillers, andThe Son of Satan, as well as fantasy and adventure titles likeSkull the Slayer,The Savage Sword of Conan, andDeadly Hands of Kung Fu. Other highlights of Trinidad's tenure at Marvel included "Hellfire Helix Hex!," written byJohn Warner, forMarvel Presents #2 (Dec. 1975); in addition, Trinidad inked the feature story (written byBill Mantlo and penciled byTom Sutton) inMan From Atlantis #1 (Feb. 1978).[7]
Trinidad was often hired to do adaptations. One of his biggest commissions was theblack-and-white magazine one-shotMarvel Movie Premiere, which featured his and writerMarv Wolfman's adaptation of the 1975 movieThe Land That Time Forgot.[8] With writerRoy Thomas and pencilerJohn Buscema, Trinidad adaptedRobert E. Howard's "The Pool of the Black One" inSavage Sword of Conan #22–23 (Sept.–Oct. 1977). Trinidad and writerDoug Moench adaptedH. G. Wells'The Food of the Gods and How It Came to Earth forMarvel Classics Comics #22 (1977).[7]
By around 1990, Trinidad had returned to the world of Filipino komiks, with contributions to the horror comic bookHoliday (a.k.a.Zuriga). In 1995, Trinidad supplied painted covers for the short-lived seriesLastikman Komiks.
Trinidad was diagnosed with cancer in December 2008 and died about a year later. He was survived by his wife, Natalia; daughters, Nacel and Cherry; and son, Norman.
Sonny Trinidad was honored as "Best Serial Illustrator" and "Best Novel Illustration Fantasy" forKOMOPEB Parangal sa Komiks (1984)[2]
Hal Santiago reports that Filipino Komiks Illustrator Sonny Trinidad has passed away yesterday, November 23, 2009.
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