Mike Ampao | Author and Creator of Conqueror

Mike Ampao | Author and Creator of Conqueror

As I make my coffee, kase naulan, nag PM na si Mike. Yey. Kaso... sakto namang may kausap akong future prospect client asking how much it would cost to build a funnels system for his online courses. Kala ko kase di na mag-rereply si Mike sa scheduled interview. Well, he did reply after 21 mins. Good. We did manage to finish the interview later on despite the heavy rains and intermittent internet connection.

It had been a very busy Sunday for me and work was overwhelming, sort of. Had to start Sunday in a gloomy mood after attending a company meeting. I have multiple open group chats for clients, for work, for WebKom admins and for other stuff, like greeting a friend's happy birthday on her birthday (lol). I am even discussing how to embed comments section on the website posts page (had to look for FB embed scripts on the site for posts). Luckily it was fixed by our master admin without my prior mingling.

So without further ado, we started the interview with DatuMike or Michael Ampao a.k.a Ampao Mike, creator of conqueror series.

Hello, How are you? Lakas ulan dito.

"Ma-araw po! okay ang panahon dito", Mike casually replied.

Can you tell us more about yourself?

My name is Michael Ampao, a self-taught comic artist and currently living in San Jose road, Zamboanga City. Unemployed and currently making my name through comics. Since I was a young boy, I didn't know what I'm going to do in the future until i took Tesda for 2D animation when I was 19 and that's how i found my dream. I felt regret for myself that I never realized my love all this time and thus I continued to draw for the next 10 years. I went to Manila for 2 years and worked in a printing shop for 4 months then I bought my laptop there. I went back to Zamboanga because I failed to pass interview jobs many times and then I continued to draw comics until now. Currently I had published 54 pages one-shot manga on a contest but failed then i published many times comics from Tapas and it didn't work out. Finally i decided to keep drawing the "Conqueror" because it had small success on Webtoons and Webkom so far and i will keep improving better so the readers will not be disappointed.

It took time before Mike answered so I started chatting with other members of WebKom. I asked if they would like to join the interview with Mike, but they were busy. The site admin is holding a baby while the other WebKom admin said, "May schedule ung gaming ko. Competitive eh, nakikipaglaban sa rank 5. Wahahahahaha".

I waited for Mike to answer the previous question. (haba siguro sagot or mabagal na naman net ko? Lakas kase ulan now samin.)

What series or work inspired you to make Conqueror?

Inspired ito sa Japanese Novel na Overlord na tungkol sa isang player na transfer siya sa ibang mundo at nandun siya na magsimula ang kanyang mag-sakop sa mundo iyun.  Mahilig ako sa World building series like One piece at Overlord.

Mike's answer triggered my Otaku spirit. We talked about Overlord, One Piece and other anime stuff. He seldomly takes time off watching new series or start an old series since he was pretty much preoccupied with his comics. Thinking back, I too, had little time watching anime and reading manga because of responsibilities (work and games). Wish I could just watch anime and read manga all day long. The pain and sacrifice. Arrggg.

For how long do you plan to continue?

Siguro tadhana ‘to nung dahil sa experience ko sa printing shop. Nakakatulong ko din na magawa ko ang comic na ‘to. Hindi pa rin ako magsasawa gumawa na maraming istorya at gusto ko din na parang ito ay Cinematic Universe. Sa next 2 chapters ko ay marami itong cameos at siguradong tatawa ka haha!

Expecting it!

Any message you want to give out to artists like yourself? Any message for your readers?

To all readers ay pasensya na po sa mabagal na publish sa comic ko dahil lagi nag-brownout sa lugar ko at na-sisiguro ko na maraming bagong excitement na aabangan niyo sa comic ko na hindi niyo pa nakikita. 

Thank you po sa pagbabasa at na-appreciate ko.

May gusto pa po ba kayo idagdag na mensahe?

Gusto sana ang Webkom ay mag-success tulad ng Webtoons at sana din bibili ang mga Japanese animators na maging Anime tulad ng Tower of God at God of High school. Dream ko na ang Conqueror webcomic ko na maging Anime.

As I bid farewell and close the interview, I wondered about the future of the comic industry as a whole. 

Published works do not sell well locally since we at the Philippines are very prone to piracy. We even have our own Recto (a famous local place for counterfeits in the Philippines). Not only because of issues of piracy, we also have tough competitions in the entertainment industries. There are famous streamers, bloggers, social media influencers, television shows, Netflix series, online games, mobile apps, anime, manga, and many other sources of entertainment online. In spite of this, the industry transitioned from traditional printed works to digital arts publication in order to compete with the mainstream.

Comics are meant to be a source of entertainment, values, and insights. They are created to represent a narrative form of ideas. Mike was inspired to build a world and made it possible for readers to experience it, through his series. 

Everyone dream of a world beyond our own reality at some point in our life. Just like many artists wanting to share their art works, it would only be realized when others have known it. The industry of comics is still alive and well. We just need to build its culture and give more support for the pinoy komiks industry. Share their contents.

Sometimes, just knowing they exist, would mean a lot for anyone.

You can check out Mike's work by following the links below.

https://webkomph.com/series/conqueror/

https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/conqueror/list?title_no=245453

https://tapas.io/series/Conqueror/

Follow Mike on his social media accounts by visiting his profile page here at WebKom Pinoy Komiks.