'Panday' creator, director Carlo J. Caparas dies

MANILA, Philippines — Comic strip writer and director Carlo J. Caparas has passed away. He was 80. 

His daughter Peach Caparas confirmed her father's demise and wrote an ode to the director on Facebook. The director's cause of death was not revealed. 

Titled "Sa Bawat Tipa ng Makinilya", Caparas' daughter looked back on her father's achievements as a writer who had created some of the most memorable characters on comic strips and films. 

"Sa kanyang taglay na brilyo mga obra maestrang nobela kanyang nabuo. 'Panday', 'Pieta', 'Elias Paniki', 'Bakekang', 'Totoy Bato' ang ilan lamang sa mga ito," the younger Caparas wrote. 

"'Pack up na Direk.' Oras na ng uwian. Hayaang kasaysayan ang humusga sa iyong mga obra. Salamat Direk Carlo J. sa mga dibuho at istorya. Mga istoryang nabuo sa bawat tipa ng iyong makinilya…" ended her ode. 

She added a note for her late father: "Dad, you will forever be loved, cherished, and honored…by all of us." 

In the comments section of her Facebook post, Peach said that her father's wake will start on Monday, May 27, from 12 p.m. to 12 midnight at the Golden Haven Memorial Chapels and Crematorium in Las Piñas City.

As mentioned by his daughter, Caparas created some of the enduring popular fictional characters, including Panday (with artist Steve Gan), Bakekang, Joaquin Bordado and Totoy Bato. Many of his characters were made into TV shows and films. 

"I patterned Panday after FPJ (the late actor Fernando Poe Jr.," Caparas told the late entertainment editor and columnist Ricky Lo.

"Writers (like me) of high-adventure stories had no other actor in mind than FPJ as bida when they drew their (komiks) novels. Panday was made-to-order for FPJ. I asked Steve Gan (the artist) to copy FPJ’s facial features to the smallest detail when Panday was serialized in Pilipino Komiks. Pero siyempre, hindi naman nakopya eksakto ni Steve although hawig na hawig."

Poe eventually starred, produced and directed the 1980 film "Ang Panday," based on Caparas and Gan's komiks character. 

RELATED: How Carlo J. created Panday