Pugad Baboy Moves Into a New "Pugad"

Photo from Rappler

Pugad Baboy will be moving to a new nest, and this time, it will be back in the broadsheet print.



February 2018 ended with a surprise when news website Rappler posted a strip named "Lipat Bahay" for their regular Pugad Baboy post in the website and in their Facebook page.. It features the Pugad Baboy protagonist, Polgas, being thrown into a portal, with the logo of Rappler visible in the background.

"Lipat Bahay", published on Feb 28, 2018. Photo from Rappler

The following day, the website published a strip entitled "Final Strip".

"Final Strip", published on March 1, 2018. Photo from Rappler.

In this final strip, Polgas goes through the portal and finds himself in a different location, only to realize that he arrived at the office of The Philippine Star.

This was not the first time that the comic strip has moved to a new nest, or was published in the broadsheet. Pugad Baboy was first published at the broadsheet Philippine Daily Inquirer in 1988. It appeared for 25 years until the news company decided to discontinue publishing the strip in 2013 after a series of comic strips sparked controversy. Pugad Baboy creator, Pol Medina Jr., officially resigned a few days later.

What seemed to be the end of Pugad Baboy only opened new doors for opportunity. Fans were once again greeted with good news when the comic strip reappeared a few days later, not in print, but in the internet. On June 17, 2013, Rappler published its first Pugad Baboy strip. As if to follow the new media that it was published, the comic strip also featured a new format, giving readers 3 separate endings for each strip to choose from. Pol also released several story arcs in Rappler including "Ang Punyal ni Devlino" and "The Girl from Persia". 

While the move surprised many of Pol Medina's fans, a lot of them, including fellow comics creator Lyndon Gregorio of Beerkada, expressed delight that the pugad is moving back to broadsheet print.

Screenshot from Lyndon Gregorio's facebook post

Despite the changes, Pugad Baboy will still be available in print format. Books containing the collection of the comic strips that were printed in the last 30 years are available in major bookstores and comic shops nationwide. It is also sometimes available during major komiks events like Komikon and Komiket (Please see their list of participating artists).