THIS is his headquarters, hidden in the 17th floor of a building deep in the bustling city. Leinil Francis Yu sits at a console bristling with monitors, a flat-screen TV and, standing in stark contrast to the tech around it, a wide drafting table laden with pencils and lit by lamps. He swivels his chair and the light from expansive windows shocks the eyes. There’s a telescope, an appropriate old world touch because from this spot, Leinil continues his quest to conquer the world.

To accomplish this, Leinil merely brought to life men and women of immense power cloaked in bright colors and capes, as well as mutants and masterminds, and determined the fate of societies – on the comic book page, that is. Along the way, he showed Superman where he came from and demonstrated just how fierce Wolverine can get in a real brawl.

Despite his unassuming demeanor, Leinil is one of the comic book industry’s superstar artists. Industry publication Wizard: The Comics Magazine named him 2008’s Best Artist. Aside from applying his visual talents to the most iconic characters, he provided the art for last year’s most successful event, the eight-issue Marvel series “Secret Invasion.”

“It was an unbelievable experience,” Leinil gushes. “I didn’t seriously expect to co-headline Marvel’s special event for 2008. I’m very proud of ’Secret Invasion’ and hopefully, it is enough to carve my name in comics history.”

The even more amazing thing is that 31-year-old Leinil is here in Metro Manila, among us mortals.

The success of “Secret Invasion” brought Leinil’s distinctive art style to an expansive new audience. Gerry Alanguilan, who has often served as Leinil’s inker and comrade-in-arts, describes Leinil’s art as “Meticulous and kick ass. While it’s a combination of a lot of artists he admires, among them Travis Charest and Adam Hughes, Leinil is a talented enough artist to create something different and unique. Today, he’s been influencing other artists himself.” Alanguilan notes that in addition to his artwork’s appeal to many readers, Leinil meets his deadlines and gets along well with his colleagues, qualities that make him a successful artist.

Sandy Sansolis, proprietor of the Comic Odyssey chain of stores, says Leinil “is definitely the most famous Filipino comic book artist ever to hit the international market.”

His origins remain inspiring despite countless retelling. The youngest in a brood of five born to Leonilio and Leilani Yu, Leinil began drawing comic book characters at an early age. He left the University of the Philippines, where he was taking visual communications, to begin drawing professionally for US comic book companies in 1996.

Popular Filipino-American artist Whilce Portacio had brought samples of Leinil’s work to Marvel, and soon – through the power of FedEx – Leinil had infiltrated the US market, providing pencils for “Wolverine” and “X-Men.” He then decamped to the DC imprint Cliffhanger where he illustrated underrated adventure tales like “High Roads” and “Silent Dragon.”

It was then that Leinil bagged one of the industry’s most sought-after assignments: he was the artist for Mark Waid’s “Superman: Birthright” series. Yes, that Superman.

Then Marvel brought him back into the fold by signing him onto an exclusive contract and naming him one of their Young Guns. He was soon assigned to tackle the art chores for “New Avengers,” one of Marvel’s premiere titles, written by their current writing hotshot, Brian Michael Bendis.

Then came “Secret Invasion.” Also written by Bendis, “Secret Invasion” revealed that the Skrulls, a shape-shifting alien race, had infiltrated Earth and replaced many of the planet’s heroes. Now was the time to strike. And Leinil’s job was to draw all of that –alternating from claustrophobic paranoia to widescreen mayhem.

Diamond Comics Distributors declared “Secret Invasion” # 1 the single best-selling issue in 2008, with over a quarter million copies sold, and with the remaining seven issues all in the year’s top ten for sales, making it the top selling title of the year. Leinil considers it his career highlight – though it came with a bizarre diversion.

In “Secret Invasion” # 5, Leinil had a splash page showing celebrities and world leaders – Skrulls in disguise – announcing the invasion. One of the leaders he included, complete with a presidential seal in the background, was President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. “Oh, it was ridiculous,” Leinil recalls.

“It was probably propagated by people who hadn’t been reading or following the comics itself, since they got it all wrong. To clear it up one last time: those people weren’t necessarily Skrulls but just the likeness of world leaders or celebrities used by Skrulls to transmit their message.

The people in there were people I admired, disliked and ones I thought would simply make for a funny gag. What was frustrating was the news coverage that sensationalized it despite my efforts to correct the wrong notion. It’s funny. World leaders from the US, China, North Korea, Russia and other countries were there, too, and only Filipinos arrived at the conclusion that their President was a Skrull. The last thing I want is to be roughed up by our local secret service.”

Plus, Leinil’s art absolutely took no prisoners. “The art on ‘Secret Invasion’ was truly insane,” Alanguilan says. “It’s the work of a complete and utter madman. And that’s Leinil. It’s a remarkable artistic achievement. And to pull it off without being late, that’s just incredible.”

All this attention has not dimmed Leinil’s cosmic energy for his work. He certainly makes more now than when he first started, and has just renewed his exclusive contract with Marvel. “I’m excited to be doing more Marvel work,” he says. “It’s a great company run by awesome people, I love working for them. Exclusives are nothing special; it just keeps you from working for a competitor in return for some perks.”

His life has changed in other ways. In 2003, Leinil married Anna Katrina Maniquis. “I believe that comic artists, in general, live solitary lives, and loneliness can be a problem,” he says. “Settling down and being married to a beautiful and wonderful person solves both problems. I can now afford to stay in my house for weeks at a time without feeling ‘left out’ or feeling like I’m missing out on life. I have all I need and want with me in my home.”

His work is now done in an almost impossibly sleek redesigned studio. “I love it,” Leinil says. “It’s just a nook in my old condo, which my wife redesigned from scratch, all by herself. I’m very proud of her for accomplishing such a task, and being very good at it despite it being her first try at interior design.” The tech that is ever-present is indicative of the evolution of his job. Instead of FedEx, the quicksilver quality of the Internet enables artists like Leinil to work from their home countries instead of having to move abroad.

But it all boils down to what he can do with an old-fashioned pencil. “I think I’ve changed a lot since my early years and, I’d like to think, for the better. Mostly, I think I’ve gotten better at anatomy and faces, the two most important art skills that sell the comic art. I’ve also gotten faster – a lot faster.” He can even achieve amazing speeds. “During crunch time, I wake at 12 noon, work till 6 a.m., then sleep.”

He does try to cram as much other stuff as he can into those days as well: watching movies, playing an entire armada of videogames, reading science fiction and surfing the web. He even manages to find time to sing as frontman for his band, Marty McFly. “We’re still together after 10 years, and although we only have about 30 fans, we’re still at it and play whenever we feel like it. We just do it for fun and not make careers of it.”

His comic book career, however, is doing just fine. He’s joined forces with master writers like Waid, Bendis and Warren Ellis, among others. One imagines he has probably drawn almost every character he wants to. “I think I’ve drawn them all,” he says with a laugh, though he admits there are still projects he longs for. “I want to get a shot at the X-books in the future and a couple of creator-owned properties with my favorite writers. Maybe a Batman book in the distant future.”

Sansolis thinks Leinil is just warming up. “Leinil has such a bright future ahead of him. I see only better things and bigger projects for him,” Sansolis says. “As long as he keeps up his work, he will continue to be in high demand for many years to come.”

Comic book fans everywhere will soon see Leinil working with another top-tier talent when he collaborates with “Wanted” and “Civil War” writer Mark Millar on the upcoming “Ultimate Avengers.” He also has a Punisher one-shot in the works.

Leinil himself remains very much aware of the forces that have shaped him. “I think exposure to American comics, cartoons and culture bred artists like myself to produce artworks that are appealing to American taste. There are many awesome artists in Japan but their style doesn’t fit American comics. We are the only Americanized country in Asia, like it or not. I think Brazilians are also making waves in American comics, though they may have been shaped by a different circumstance."

He hopes more Filipinos can break into comics. "I, along with my batch mates, owe my career to Whilce Portacio.” It is Portacio, he adds, who is the best-selling and most influential Filipino comic book artist, not him.

Leinil’s high-profile assignments have made him the face of the Filipino invasion currently ongoing in comics, and certainly an inspiration to aspiring Filipino artists. Alanguilan notes that there have always been a lot of Filipino artists in US comics. “It’s only much more obvious now because the artists today are penetrating properties that were rarely touched by Filipino artists who came before us,” Alanguilan clarifies. Adds Sansolis: “To have so many artists working in comics today just proves just how much Filipino talent there is.”

Leinil is all the more glad for that. “That would mean I really am making a difference,” he says. “I’m happy to have inspired some artists, enough to see my influences in their style. I couldn’t be happier. What I do regret is not being of any help to their breaking in. I wish I could be of more help.”

Alanguilan says Leinil’s example goes further because of the kind of inspiration he provides. “Too many aspiring artists come into this wanting to be as famous and as successful as Leinil,” he says. “They don’t realize how hard it is, and how much work he had to put into his work to be where he is.”

Being who he is, Leinil continues to sharpen his skills in his studio, his personal Danger Room. “I’d want to be able to incorporate more real life references for poses and faces as I tend to draw generic faces and stiff poses,” he says.

While his most attention-grabbing project featured an alien race known for changing shape, Leinil happily says the fantastic last few years have not changed him. “I certainly have more toys to play with today,” he says. “But that’s all. As a person, I think I’m still the same although I think my wife has taught me how to dress better.” He says he wouldn’t change a thing. “OK, maybe I’d want a six pack for my abs.”

He looks out the windows of his studio thoughtfully. He’s been to Krypton and the Savage Land, exercised the X-Men and assembled the Avengers. Yep, Leinil Francis Yu is exactly where he wants to be.