Celeb Watch
Details
At the recent Manila International Book Fair 2026, actor, singer, and author Wilbert Ross formally introduced his latest creation.
Entitled Adlikhain Hero Verse, it is a new comic book series led by three different superheroes. It also comes after Larong Pinoy, which he launched in 2025.
In his sit-down chat before formally introducing the central characters of the series, the star of the upcoming Philippine adaptation of the Thai blockbuster movie Pee Mak shared how he went from being an actor-singer to publishing his comic books.
“As a creative person, hindi mo mako-control ang mga creative things na ibibigay sa iyo ng Panginoon (and) it’s just suddenly pumapasok sa utak kasi malikot talaga utak ko, e,” he shared.
Wilbert also told an anecdote that sparked the first idea for him. “Nagsimula ako noong nasa ABS(-CBN) pa ako at kumakain ako sa pantry namin. Narinig ko ‘yung kumakain sa kabila namin at sabi n’ya, ‘naglaro kami ng paintero, sobrang brutal!’”
At that very moment, ideas came flowing to his mind around the possibility of having a “bloody” street game.
Initially, he sought help from a scriptwriter, but no one believed in his concept at first. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, with the lockdown giving him the chance to manually do the story and develop it further.
As regards to Adlikhain Hero Verse, which started with Atleta, he revealed: “Nagsimula ‘tong (libro) noong may superhero role ako dapat, medyo sikat, na na-consider ako para sa adaptation. But suddenly, hindi na siya natuloy. Out of frustration, gumawa ako ng sarili ko.”
He also said that he believes that whatever happened to him were not rejections, but were instead redirections. “It gave me (a) reason pa to discover myself,” Wilbert furthered.
On having a writer’s block, he shared his technique to prevent having one and shared that he chooses to take a break and only returns to doing it once he is ready to write something again.
Wilbert also said that fans and supporters inspired him to do comics, as they believed in what he has to offer.
“S’yempre, the fact na nandito sila (pointing to fans in the crowd), nand’un ‘yung drive na gumawa pa nang gumawa kaya di lang nag-stay na isang superhero (lang).”
