A Diabolical VDay

As a VDay treat, here are some romantic scenes (as romantic as we can get in the world of Trese) from Heubert Michael Khan and from Kajo.

Art by Heubert Michael Khan

Art by Kajo

And here are some old stories from the Diabolical about love, lost, and magic.

I CARRY YOUR HEART
http://diabolical13.blogspot.com/2010_02_13_archive.html


COFFEE BLACK
http://diabolical13.blogspot.com/2009_04_13_archive.html

THE USUAL SPOT
http://diabolical13.blogspot.com/2009_02_13_archive.html

Enjoy!

THE FEAST (complete story)

click pages to see larger version, please

THE FEAST 

Story by Budjette Tan

Script by Alex Arellano and Budjette Tan

Art by Kajo Baldisimo

First appeared in UNO Magazine

This story was inspired by Neil Gaiman's Epicurian Club from the "Sunbird" story, by Luis Katigbak's review of the restaurant called Kagat, and by the many meals I've shared with Alex, Maricel, and Dino (Harrison's Top Foodies).

I actually asked Alex to help me out with the recipes and with the dialogue.

So, in case you do find some fresh manananggal in the market, here's how you can cook it...

Recipe for sisig na mananggal

Prepared by Alex Arellano

Step 1 – boiling
Ingredients
• 1 head ng manananggal.
• 1 kilo - liver of manananggal.
• 250 ml pineapple juice
• 3-4 cups water, should be enough to cover the pork pieces
• 1 tbsp salt
• pepper

Step 2 – grill and mince and mix
Ingredients
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp lemon or kalamansi juice
• ¼ cup vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tbsp knorr seasoning
• optional sili – depends on how hot you like it

equipment needed:
pot
griller, uling
sizzling plate or kawali /wok/pan

Step 1
• remove skull of manananggal, shave off hair.
• To remove remaining facial hair, eyebrows etc, pass a blow torch over the meat.
• Cut meat from head into smaller pieces.
• Put pork, liver, pineapple juice, water, 1 tbsp salt and pepper in pot. Bring to a boil. Let simmer for 1 to 1.5 hours.

Step 2
• Remove liver and meat and drain. discard the stock in the pot.
• Set aside liver.
• Grill meat pieces until skin becomes crispy.
• On a chopping board, using cleavers, mince pork and liver.
• Add onions, vinegar, lemon or kalamansi juice, knorr seasoning, salt and pepper to taste. Mix ingredients well.

Step 3
Get a hot plate and put over stove until plate is sizzling hot.
Add sisig, do not stir or mix. Allow a crispy crust to form. Serve.
(maybe the chef can just roast them while they’re in the skull and then take them out of the skull and serve them on the side with the sisig)

Songs of the Lewenri (complete story)

They were named lewenri by the people of Romblon. 

For those who have claimed to have met or seen a lewenri, they were described as tall, handsome men with fair skin. These creatures make frightful, shrill-like sounds, but also play sad or joyful music. They’ve also been known to help the humble and punish the proud. This was the description given by Maximo D. Ramos in his book “The Creatures of Midnight”.

In 2008, Mark Torres invited me to collaborate with him on a comic book anthology based on Ramos’ book. Editor Miggy Escano asked the contributors to pick one of the creatures from the book and speculate where would these characters be now found in modern society; where can we find them in this busy, bustling city.

At first, I was at a lost on what to do with the lewenri. I just kept re-reading its description: tall, handsome, fair skinned, and can sing. And it just suddenly occurred to me that if one had all these qualities, then the next best thing to do would be to form a rock band and enter Philippine showbiz. (Well, that’s what I’d do!)

And so, next time you tune into one of the music channels on TV, be careful who you send your request to. They might just come true.

SONGS OF THE LEWENRI

Story by Budjette Tan

Art by Mark Torres

http://mytymark.deviantart.com/

Dan Matutina's Illustrated Guide to the Underworld

MANANANGGAL. Literally means “one that removes”. This creature is usually an attractive woman by day. At night, especially when there is a full moon, her upper body detaches from her lower body; it utters a special demonic prayer and applies some kind of oil on all of its body parts before the ‘detachment’. Bat-like wings sprout out from its back, and it uses its long tongue to feed on human blood and flesh (usually that of unborn babies). Before the sun rises, it goes back to where it left its lower body and attaches itself again, ready to blend in with the human crowd for another day.

KAPRE. This mythical creature is often considered as a tree demon with human-like characteristics. Often described as giant-like and hairy, wearing loincloths (or bahag) and smoking tobaccos, Kapres are not particularly evil. They just love playing pranks on people, and would sometimes look for friendship with mortals.

TIKBALANG. Usually depicted as a very tall creature with a head of a horse, tikbalangs are famous for leading travelers astray by scaring them. They play tricks on humans, making them return to the place where they are trying to get away from. There are some superstitions stating that tikbalangs are guardians of the forests.

TIYANAK. Tianaks are evil creatures taking the form of babies in order to lure unwary travelers to their trap. They frequent forests and woods, and they imitate the cry of an infant to catch the attention of passersby. When picked up, the tianak would revert to its true form and attack the victim. They also play pranks on people. Some sources say that tiyanaks are the souls of unborn children who were killed in an abortion, or of those who died with their mothers during childbirth.

DUWENDE. They are goblins or dwarfs who can either provide good fortune or bad fate to humans. They are often thought as mischievous little beings who love to play tricks on humans. Usually, people mutter “tabi-tabi po” to excuse themselves whenever passing by supposed homes of duwendes (usually small mounds of earth or trees) so as not to disturb them.

SIRENA. Philippine version of mermaids. They love hypnotizing people, usually fishermen, by their sheer beauty and  enchanting singing voices. Some say that they pull humans to the water and offer them to ocean deities; some accounts said they just love to distract humans while working (though sometimes it still lead to death, i.e. shipwrecks)

These illustrations and descriptions originally appeared in ROGUE magazine, October 2008.
Images taken from : http://twistedfork.tumblr.com/post/3031150507/philippine-folklore-creatures

"I submitted [this] for the We Are Not Aimless Exhibit. I made fake posters for my fake movies. Hence the series: Movies in My Head. LEAP is about the journey of 5 engkantos to the moon in search of a less chaotic life. I made a 3d model of this for the exhibit as well, a fake toy line for a fake movie. I also made a fake OBB of LEAP that’s coming out soon."-- Dan Matutina

http://twistedfork.tumblr.com/post/2883334386/movies-in-my-head

And this is Dan's Trese art which was included in Book 3. Thanks Dan!

Studio 4 is now a crime scene

a dead body is found

a spell is cast

a kambal comes out to play

TRESE: Masquerade (complete story)

TRESE: MASQUERADE
Story by Budjette Tan
Art & Letters by Mark Torres

Forbidden Planet reviews TRESE

Trese – dark mysteries on the streets of Manilla
a review by Richard Bruton

Trese is a supernatural series starring a female investigator who steps in to protect the streets of Manilla when the police can’t deal with the supernatural weirdness that appears. Produced by Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldisimo, this Filipino book does so much right it’s practically scandalous we haven’t heard more about it here in the UK.

...Trese is definitely from the same mold as Hellblazer, just as it’s writer Budjette Tan is channelling equal parts Jamie Delano and Warren Ellis and artist Kajo Baldisimo does some impressive black and white work somewhere on a scale of Frank Miller and Eduardo Risso. But there’s a lot of other influences in there as well – is it just my prejudices or can I see Alan Davis as well?

But the most important thing is that it’s a very impressive take on the whole mysterious magical investigator. Its’ a very original take on an old genre idea. A hugely entertaining series of 13 stories across the 3 volumes.

READ THE COMPLETE REVIEW AT:
http://forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog/2011/trese-dark-mysteries-on-the-streets-of-manilla/

Grand Plans and Sidetrips

We had a grand plan for 2010. We planned to release Trese Book 4 and 5. Along the way, we distracted ourselves with other things and thought we were supermen and could juggle all these worlds simultaneously and still deliver the books on time. We were not as super as we thought.

So, while working on Book 4, we also tried to start TALIS, a new Pinoy superhero title and got to finish one issue.

Then I wrote that Trese Valentine’s Day story “I Carry Your Heart” where we revealed the secret of the bangungot.


We also worked on the script and storyboard for a Trese short film (which is now officially on hold and not so sure how soon this will get the green light again).

And then I collaborated with Brandie for his RE:VISION exhibit piece,which was a six-panel Trese story that you switch around and revise and it will still tell you a story.


Towards the end of the year, Erwin Romulo and the crazy crew of UNO lured us into, what he promised to be, “a whole lot of fun”. Well, he did deliver on the “fun” part and we cooked up THE FEAST (It's an 8-page, full color, all original story from me, Kajo, and Alex Arellano.) Read it in the least issue of UNO. You can't miss it. It's the one with Iza Calzado on the cover.

So, we didn’t exactly slack off and that’s why we missed our deadlines. We just kept ourselves busy. Too busy.

During the Metro Comic Con, we released TRESE: Cadena de Amor.

During the Komikon, Kajo released the first pin-up for the Trese: Night Gallery. Expect more of these pin-ups this year.

Oh, and TRESE: MASS MURDERS won Best Graphic Literature of the Year in the National Book Awards. Thank you very much!

So, what’s the grand plan this year?

To finish Book 4 (and maybe Book 5)!!!

As of this writing, Kajo is finishing the pages of case#2. If all goes well, then Book 4 should be ready by the Summer Komikon and Metro Comic Con.

New Year's Resolution: DO NOT PISS OFF TRESE!

Well try to avoid getting distracted and finished what we promised we’d finish.

And maybe we’ll get more TALIS done, with a little help from our friends.

Talking about our friends, here’s sneak preview of what you’ll see in the third and last issue of SKYWORLD by Mevin Ignacio and Ian Sta Maria

Also coming out this year is Paolo Fabregas’ FILIPINO HEROES LEAGUE

And then there’s the third issue of BATHALA: APOKALYPSIS by David Hontiveros and Ace Enriquez

As you can see, it’s going to be a great new year filled with great new stories! Thank you for sticking around and liking the stories we tell!