Antonio Santos Velasquez (Tony Velasquez) was born in Paco, Manila on October 29, 1910. He is known as the "Father of Tagalog Komiks." In -1926, while a boy of 16 in high school, he worked as a photo-engraver at the Banaag Press in Santa Cruz, Manila, which was later bought by Ramon Roces of Liwayway. Velasquez took courses in Cartooning and Advertising at the Federal School of Arts of America. In 1935, he was promoted to chief artist for the six sister magazines: Liwayway, Graphic,Bannawag, Bisaya, Hiligaynon, and Bikolnon.

Lapu-lapu, by Francisco V. Coching. Coching was born on January 29, 1919. He left school at an early age to work for the magazine Liwayway, where his father was a novelist. He apprenticed with Tony Velasquez. In 1934, he created Bing Bigotilyo, and the year after, Marabini. After the war, he created Bulalakaw. However, it was Hagibis, his next work, that won him fame. Hagibis, which was inspired by Kulafu of Francisco Reyes and Tarzan of Edgar Rice Burroughs, ran for 15 years in Liwayway and was followed by sequels: Anak ni Hagibis and Si Gat Sibasib. Coching's creations were sought out by producers who made movies out of them. All but three of his dozens of komiks novels were made into movies. Coching both wrote and illustrated his stories. His works had strong narrative flow, brimming with drama, and punctuated by actions and surprise. His illustrative style belonged to the romantic tradition of komiks illustration, which he dominated from 1934 until 1973, the year he retired.