a toast to the new year

Here's to your new year.
May you find the road that will bring you further;
discover the path that will bring you answers;
find the one that will bring you home.

Alexandra vs Ketsana

This is our contribution to the Renaissance project -- the benefit project organized by Whilce Portacio, Philip Tan, and Ernest Hernandez of Hobbylink.

Whilce recently did an interview with USA TODAY about the project / event which will happen on January 9, 2010 at the Megatrade Hall:

Whilce said, "We're working on an event right now called Renaissance. It's a charity auction that's going to be held on Jan. 9 that will provide money to some of these artists who have fallen on tough times. I got the top Filipino artists together to create pieces for this auction. Their mission was to create a Filipino superhero. I told them, 'You're world-class artists, make a character that kids in the Philippines can look up to, can be inspired by.' I want these kids to see artists creating heroes that look like them and that live and interact in local places that they recognize. It's a key part of establishing that sense of history, pride and legacy. If we can do that while providing support for artists in need, then we're accomplishing two worthy goals at the same time."

More details about the event in the coming weeks!

READ THE COMPLETE INTERVIEW AT:
Filipino comic book artists unite for heroic cause
By John Geddes, USA TODAY
http://www.usatoday.com/life/comics/2009-12-14-filipino-artists-unite_N.htm

TRESE in Powerbooks.com.ph

You can now order the complete set of TRESE at
http://powerbooks.com.ph



Just click on the links below:

TRESE: MURDER ON BALETE DRIVE
http://powerbooks.com.ph/webinternal/products.asp?product_id=4204

TRESE: UNREPORTED MURDERS
http://powerbooks.com.ph/webinternal/products.asp?product_id=4770

TRESE: MASS MURDERS
http://powerbooks.com.ph/webinternal/products.asp?product_id=5049

down the other dark corridor: CONSTRUCTING "UNDERPASS"

A pedestrian walkway.
A SIM card.
A beauty clinic.

These and other ordinary things become more than what they seem in “Underpass”, a full-color graphic novel recently launched by Summit Media.

“Underpass” brings together such established names in the local comic book industry like Gerry Alanguilan, David Hontiveros, Oliver Pulumbarit, Ian Sta. Maria, Budjette Tan, and Kajo Baldisimo, who come up with urban legend for a new generation in stories like “The Sim”, “Katumbas”, “Judas Kiss”, and “The Clinic”.

“In a strange and twisted way, I hope it’ll bring back some wonder and sense of the fantastic in their lives,” Tan adds. “Technology has made the stuff of science fiction a reality. It’s not fantastic anymore. It’s just common place. We don’t see haunted-looking houses these days. We are surrounded by condos and high rises. Maybe we can take such things and make them mysterious.”

READ THE COMPLETE INTERVIEW AT:
http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/233564/a-sense-fantastic

Trese 1031

Read the complete TRESE: MASQUERADE at
http://tresekomix.blogspot.com/2011/01/trese-masquerade-complete-story.html

start them young

I got this text : Hey budj!! I'm in Bohol airport,sitting beside a pink-studded tweener. She's reading Trese instead of Twilight.

And that just made my day.

But I do wonder how Trese's younger readers are liking the book. Most of the people who email and blog about it are already in college or are already working.

Last Christmas, my boss bought TRESE for her nephews and nieces. The day after Christmas, she started getting text messages from her sister, saying, "Why did you give my kids this comic book? It's scary and violent!"

Couple of months ago, a similar thing happened. A friend got his kids copies of TRESE and I got a text about how his two boys were now sleeping in the same because they got scared after reading the book. It took that as a compliment.

At the recent comic book conventions, a 12-year old girl approached the table and asked for our autographs. Her mom was standing right behind her. The girl looked nervous. Her mom was smiling. I wasn't sure if I should've warned her about the contents of the book. I thought, "Hey! She bought it with parental consent, so it should be okay!"

So, far I have not received any complaints from parents about their kids running around pretending to be Trese and the Kambal; no complaints of kids trying to poke the eyeballs out of their friends in an attempt to cast a scrying spell.

Anyway, just wanted to remind you that, with Christmas closing in, I'd still highly recommend that you give your inaanak a complete set of TRESE, now available in your local bookstore and comic book shop.