Comic book fans in the Philippines can’t wait for the debut of Marvel’s first-ever Filipina superhero, Wave.
American director and comic book writer Greg Pak revealed on Saturday via Twitter that Wave will be among the new “Agents of Atlas” which will debut in May this year.
However, did you know that the person behind the visuals of Wave is also a Filipino himself?
Leinil Francis Yu, a Cebuano artist who is now based in Manila, said in an interview with Cebu Daily News Digital that two decades of drawing has led him to do the visuals for Marvel’s first Filipina superhero.
He said that his inspiration behind Wave’s visual is the technology and weaponry he sees from other comic books, movies, and video games.
“She was conceived by Marvel and Greg Pak in the script and I was later brought in for the visuals and design. My peg was a whole body swimsuit and that she is water and tech based, maybe with goggles,” he said.
As seen in the visuals circulating online, Wave would be donning a black with green stripe costume, with what looks like glowing technological wings and ‘kampilan’ on both hands. Kampilan is a type of single-edged longsword wielded by Mactan ruler Datu Lapu-Lapu.
Yu also uploaded additional visuals on his Instagram showing a different version of Wave’s costume.
Talking about his journey to working for Marvel, Yu said, “I was first picked up by Whilce Portacio’s studio. After a year of training in his studio along with my colleagues like Gerry Alanguilan, he (Portacio) sent my stuff over to Marvel Comics and immediately (I) got started on Wolverine (years back).”
For 17 years, Yu has been providing some illustrations for Marvel and some costume changes for some characters.
But what probably is his biggest achievement as an illustrator is Wave. This year, he was picked by Pak to do the visuals for the said superhero.
Even though he is excited for the debut of Wave, Yu still can’t say much about her and people would have to wait until May.
