Sunday Inquirer reviews UNDERPASS

“Underpass” by various creators (Summit Media)
A CHILLING journey to the dark, hidden places we fear, “Underpass” is a comic book anthology featuring four well-crafted horror stories.


In “SIM,” Gerry Alanguilan shows just how much can go wrong when one picks up a discarded SIM card in a jeepney. Betrayal comes in many colors in “Judas Kiss,” a tale from David Hontiveros, Budjette Tan and Oliver Pulumbarit. There is a magnetic quality to the violence found in Hontiveros’ and Ian Sta. Maria’s “Katumbas.” Vanity and fame come at a pretty price in “The Clinic,” from Tan and Kajo Baldisimo. “Underpass” is a sidetrip worth your attention as it is both disturbing and amazing. 

Read the other titles recommended by the Sunday Inquirer at:
http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/sim/sim/view/20100424-266190/Booking_Passage 

You can also read the complete story of THE CLINIC at:
http://tresekomix.blogspot.com/2010/01/down-other-dark-corridor-clinic.html

For more preview UNDERPASS pages, click the link below
http://www.summitgraphicnovels.com.ph/

Reviews about THE CLINIC

"To me, [THE CLINIC] is the most fully-executed story of the four, just because it seamlessly marries the dreamlike quality of Baldisimo’s light, airbrushed images to the irrevocably showbiz backdrop of Lyn’s encounter with the supernatural. The story offers an unforeseen turn-around--just when you thought the worst thing Lyn would have to face was a tiyanak, you are greeted with a pleasant surprise: that there are more frightening things than unborn babies. The incidents that occur while Lyn is unconscious at the titular Clinic evoke a variety of reactions, among them the morbid wonder and mild disgust of good horror. The idea it leaves with the reader is the sort that persists long after you’ve put the book down, and this is a phenomena which, depending on how you look at it, is the worst or best thing that a horror story can do."
Deficient in Darkness: A review of Underpass by Fidelis Tan
http://www.thepoc.net/metakritiko/metakritiko-opinions/3962-deficient-in-darkness-a-review-of-underpass.html


"I have never accepted, at least on my literature’s style of writing, the use of flowers to symbolize a woman’s sexual organ. And with this credence, I never incorporated flowers and butterflies on my works to denote womanhood in terms of sex and rock and roll. A vagina is a vagina. No less, no more. But when I read the Underpass, a graphic anthology comprising of four different stories of Summit Media, I changed my mind. The Clinic by Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldisimo is a one good comic story."
http://axrealm.com/2010/02/the-clinic-where-abortions-are-done-in-a-different-manner/

"Face your worst fear as they say. Summit Media comes up with this Graphic Anthology called Underpass and collects 4 original stories from today's great minds like Gerry Alanguilan and Budjette Tan. (It's Summit's take on putting komiks mainstream) For some strange reason, we like being scared. We Filipinos have this thing for the mythological/paranormal creatures and these 4 short stories will give you that. I think that Budjette Tan is probably the best person to talk to when discussing Aswang, Duwendes, Kapres, Tiyanaks and Manananggal. The writer's brilliant when it comes to these creatures."
http://jiggycruz.blogspot.com/2010/02/underpass.html

Read the complete episode of THE CLINIC at
http://tresekomix.blogspot.com/2010/01/down-other-dark-corridor-clinic.html

THE CLINIC is part of the horror anthology UNDERPASS (now available in bookstores and magazine shops nationwide)

For more preview pages of UNDERPASS, click the link below
http://www.summitgraphicnovels.com.ph/

down the other dark corridor: THE CLINIC

THE CLINIC
Story by Budjette Tan
Art by Kajo Baldisimo

THE CLINIC is part of the horror anthology UNDERPASS (now available in bookstores and magazine shops nationwide)

For more preview pages, click the link below
http://www.summitgraphicnovels.com.ph/

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

down the other dark corridor: SKYWORLD Book2

The Universe was created in seven days.

It took Ian and Mervin two years to finish this corner of Skyworld. Let us all pray to Bathala that it doesn’t take them another two years to finish the third and last book of this epic tale.

I must emphasize that the creation of this tome required the summoning of god-like powers; wherein time was carved out of their impossibly busy workdays. Like heroes on some noble quest, there were days (and nights) when they had to forego sleep just to reach their destination.

And I must say, the two years was worth the wait. And let us all pray to Bathala that … oh wait, I already said that.

Of course, this issue holds a special place in my heart since this is the first time Trese and the Kambal crossed-over to another graphic novel.



As kids, we’d have a geekgasm whenever superheroes from different teams would team-up. And our heads would just explode when Marvel and DC finally started doing company-wide-cross-overs.

So, it was during one of those drunken moments when me, Ian, and Merv said, “Hey! Wouldn’t it be cool if Trese and the Kambal had a stand-off with Makabo and Kayo?! Hell, yeah!!!” (Yes, we are such geeks.)

Makes me wonder if this is how Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko felt when they made Spider-Man guest star in the Fantastic Four title.

We are ever-so-slowly creating a new universe. Forgive us if it takes us more than the usual seven days to get it all done.

We are still accidentally discovering those roads that intertwine; that down the street from the Diabolical is the upward path that leads to Skyworld.

UPDATE : SKYWORLD: APOCRYPHA and SKYWORLD: TESTAMENT is now available at Comic Odyssey, Robinsons Galleria.

See more SKYWORLD art at:
http://iantoy.deviantart.com/
and at:
http://skyworldcomics.multiply.com/

down the other dark corridor: UNDERPASS

You are invited to take a trip to the other side and come face to face with your most horrible nightmares, your deepest secrets, your greatest fears.

Follow the path down to the Underpass.

THE SIM
by Gerry Alanguilan
What do you do when you find a cellphone SIM card? Do you try to find out who used to own and try to return it? Do you keep it and use it for your own? What do you do when you start receiving mysterious messages from the previous owner?


KATUMBAS
by David Hontiveros and Ian Sta. Maria
When lost souls and wayward demons wreak havoc in our world, the Goddess of Death send her immortal warrior to set things right. His name is Kadasig.


JUDAS KISS
by David Hontiveros, Budjette Tan, and Oliver Pulumbarit
In a secluded house in the hills of Antipolo, Peter hides a secret. He has murdered his wife and brother and buried them in the garden. Peter is about to discover that the phantoms of his past hold an even more terrible secret.


THE CLINIC
by Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldisimo
Up-and-coming actress Lyn Reyes just found out she’s pregnant. This unplanned development will ruin her career, or so says her manager. So, she agrees to have a very discreet operation at The Venus Clinic, where she discovers the darker side of showbiz.




Set to launch this coming KOMIKON 2009 (October 18, Megatrade Hall 1, SM Megamall), "Underpass" is a graphic anthology featuring dark fantasy stories from some of today's greatest Pinoy comics creators.

The full-color anthology, which is Summit Media's first foray into Philippine-produced comics, will retail for P250.

After the Komikon, Underpass will be available in major magazine shops.

down the other dark corridor: WAKING THE DEAD

I’ve been looking forward to this horror anthology from Yvette Tan.

I first read her works in the pages of Rogue magazine. As I read her stories, I’d muttered “Hey! That’s my idea! Bad trip! She beat me to this plot!” Moments later, I’d burst out and say, “Bad trip! She did it better! Damn! That was great!” (Those two stories, “Boss, Ex” and “Seek Ye Whore” are included in the book.)

Ruel de Vera recently reviewed the book:

EYES wide with wonder and flushed with fear, the individuals at the dark heart of Yvette Tan’s stories are unsuspecting people suddenly touched by an inexplicable yet irresistible phenomenon – just like the readers who gingerly approach Tan’s first collection, “Waking the Dead and Other Horror Stories” (Anvil Publishing, Inc., Pasig City, 2009).

That is because Tan has laced her 10 precision-machined stories with elements of horror which are neither contrived nor telegraphed. She takes the mundane and turns it into something menacing.

The first story, “The Child Abandoned,” exemplifies Tan’s approach. Set in Quiapo, the tale centers on the unusual child Teresa, who seems to have an eerie connection with the despoiled Pasig River and the profound change the Pasig undergoes. While it was not obvious at first, the events in this story are the lynchpin of the collection, essentially making the others possible.

“The Bridge” takes that conceit even further, taking a political figure called Madame and the bridge she built at San Juanico into decidedly darker territory: “The presence rode the air, slithered past me, whispered in my ear. It was all I could do, not to bat it away, to run screaming from the room. I could feel my heart beating fast in my chest. I have always been comfortable with my abilities, never been afraid of the beings I could see and hear and feel, until now. I knew what an enkantada was, and a duwende and a kapre. I did not know what was in the room with me.”

Tan’s narrators and protagonists are mostly young yet transcendent, and perhaps the most fascinating thing about “Waking” is how all of Tan’s stories seem to occur in the same parallel Philippines: “Making one’s way through a Quiapo crowd is never easy, especially today. At one point, I found myself in the arms of a tikbalang. Legend has it that before the saint gave life back to the river, the city belonged only to humans. Sta. Teresa’s miracle had opened the doors for the folk of the Other Country… until Quiapo became a melting pot for different species.”

Tan’s stories rise like the enchanted river to meet their readers, the words like brackish water suddenly turning clear. Something is awakened in this book, an irresistible trap of terror and talent from Yvette Tan, whose seductively scary stories will make readers glad they acquiesced when offered this fateful bargain: “Drink, and your eyes will be opened.”

Anvil Publishing will launch “Waking the Dead and Other Stories” by Yvette Tan at 4 p.m. on Aug. 15, 2009, at PowerBooks, SM Megamall.

READ THE COMPLETE REVIEW AT:
http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/lifestyle/lifestyle/view/20090810-219533/Dead-and-loving-it

down the other dark corridor

While you all patiently wait for the third TRESE book, might I interest you with another dark delicacy?

In case you didn’t know, there’s another occult investigator stalking the streets of Manila. His name is Mike Lasombra and you’ll meet him in the pages of David Hontiveros’ TAKOD.

Ruel de Vera gives us a quick overview of the book: Something’s rotten in what was once the little settlement of Mapayapa. And now, years later, Mike Lasombra returns to this place from his past with a curious pendant around his neck. After encountering a wizened old woman who knows more than she’s letting on, Mike will discover the throbbing dark secret of Mapayapa. The bloody, frightening shadow behind Mapayapa will require more of Mike than he ever imagined. All this, in straightforward horror and in allegorical manner, is stuffed into Hontiveros’s compact and creepy novella.

Wawi Navaroza, who designed the cover the book, has this to say about her TAKOD experience: Curious title, I thought. It's in VISAYAN dialect. (The Visayas, as we all know, is replete with its wealth of folklore and islands famed for sorcery). From my Cebuano vocabulary, the word "takod" translated in Tagalog is "hawa"... contagious, contagion, to be contaminated. As in virus, disease, or like Vampires and the Dark Gift.

But Takod isn't about vampires. The characters in the story are a mix of both traditional (filipino folklore hotshots) and original (even more grotesque creatures shaped by Dave's fantasmagoric imagination). His protagonist is a brooding attractive man who has an arsenal of physical and psychic skills.

And Karen Kunawicz provides some safety precautions : After reading (TAKOD), you may want to pack an extra flashlight, holy water, crosses, garlic, amulets, oracions, power objects and tools of protection spells on your next road trip. Oh, and you’ll want to make sure there is nothing wrong with the ignition on your car.

Read the first chapter of the book at:
http://davidhontiveros.com/author.html

You can most probably find a copy of TAKOD at all major bookstores.