Hal Santiago

Dominador "Hal" Santiago is an award-winning Filipino illustrator and writer in the field of Philippine comics (known locally as komiks). He is the Philippines' Greatest Comic Illustrator and recognized 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 (Raffaello Sanzio, the Italian painter) of [Philippine comic book] Illustrators”. His illustrations for eight comics series makes him one of the most prolific Filipino comics illustrators, second only to Mar T. Santana, who has illustrated 17 series.

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 illustrated 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.

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 (Spanish word for "unique"), both authored by Jim M. Fernandez.

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