Good news for Barnes & Noble Nook readers–”Alternative Alamat” is not only available on the Nook, it’s also been discounted there to US$3.99 (B&N’s decision, not ours) so now would be a great time to check it out, or spread the word to a Nook loving friend.

I’d like to point to three recent reviews of “Alternaitve Alamat”. The first is by Filipina writer Kristine Ong Muslim, and is on the Amazon page of “Alternative Alamat”, Kristine calls it “fine volume which showcases the contemporary retelling of Philippine myths” and gives it 4 out of 5 stars. Thanks Kristine!

The second review comes from GMA News Online (courtesy of Melay Guanzon Lapeña), and it’s a very positive review, and she calls the book “an impressive collection of stories”.  Of Rochita Loenen Ruiz’s “Harinuo’s Love Song”, Melay says it is “[b]eautifully told, the words swirl as the story unfolds” and she also says that “[f]ans of Budjette Tan’s hit graphic novel “Trese” are in for a treat” with the Trese prose story, “Last Full Show”. Melay takes the time to say a little something about each story, even if it’s just a brief description, and that’s greatly appreciated. Thanks Melay!

The third review comes from book blogger (and fellow lawyer!) Monique, who gives the book a perfect 5 out of 5 rating, and calls it “[d]ifferent, but clever. Brilliant.” Thanks Monique!

Don’t forget, you can find Alternative Alamat at these fine establishments:

• Amazon.com
• Flipreads.com
• iTunes
• Barnes & Noble Nook

The day has come!

“Alternative Alamat“, our digital anthology of stories inspired by Philippine mythology, is now available for US$4.99 at the following fine establishments:

• Amazon.com – US$4.99 (note there’s an extra US$2.00 charge for certain non-US territories/accounts, including, unfortunately, the Philippines)
• Flipreads.com (epub file) – PHP235.00
• [iTunes and Barnes & Noble/Nook editions to follow]

I hope that by now you’re all excited to get your hands on the book (or, rather, the hardware holding the file), and if so, thank you and what are you waiting for? If you’re still on the fence even after the preview of our contributor and story introductions, and our author interviews (Raissa, Mo, Eliza), then read on (or download the press release here)!

As a celebration of today’s launch, I’d like to give you a glimpse of some of the non-fiction segments of the book, as well as the wonderful artwork of Mervin Malonzo, creator of “Tabi Po“. You’ve already seen the beautiful cover Mervin made for us, but you may not have realized he’s also doing internal artwork as well. Each book is graced with eleven original illustrations by Mervin, where he gives his spin on eleven of the most interesting gods and goddesses of Philippine mythology. I don’t want to give too much away, so here’s a montage-teaser using elements from all eleven pieces:

After the cut: one full sample of Mervin’s interior artwork, the full text of the book’s introduction, and excerpts from my interviews with Professor Herminia Meñez Coben and Fernando N. Zialcita.

This is Mervin’s rendition of Balitok. Balitok comes from Ifugao mythology, and he is the son of Bugan of the Skyworld and Kinggauan, a mortal man. Due to the separation of his parents, he was eventually split in half: the upper half became a celestial being, and the lower half was converted into the animals that populate the Earth.

Introduction

“For the educated [Filipino] minority, Greek and Roman mythology is more familiar than their own. They can summon Apollo and Aphrodite or mentally wander around Olympus; but they are puzzled by Bugan and the seven levels of the Bukidnon sky-world. A vast area of our collective self, a self that is the product of generations of reflection upon life’s meaning, is thus submerged in darkness. In fact the ridges and valleys of this unexplored self continue to underlie our own view of the world, ‘modern’ though we are. A rediscovery of our myths unlocks this hidden continent.”

- “The Soul Book” by Francisco Demetrio, Gilda Cordero – Fernando, and Fernando Zialcita

In one sense, to speak of Philippine mythology is to use a term of convenience. We are a nation of many indigenous cultures–numbering anywhere from sixty to over a hundred, depending on who you ask–with distinct oral traditions.  This makes learning about our mythology somewhat more difficult than would be the case for other nations, but it also gives us a cumulative heritage that is rich and diverse.

There is a dual beauty to Philippine mythology: the stories that we know, and the stories that we don’t. From the former we gain gods of calamity and baldness, of cosmic time and lost things; we gain the bloodthirsty Banna, the lustful Labaw Donggon, the immortal Mungan; we gain the many-layered Skyworld, and weapons that fight their own battles; we gain a ship that is pulled to paradise by a chain, and a giant crab that controls the tides. These are ideas and images which inspire.

And yet, the stories we don’t know are just as fascinating. Philippine mythology is rife with those unfilled spaces that kindle the imagination, “those marginal regions named and labeled”, as Michael Chabon once put it. In some cases, all we have are fragments of a longer tale (as in the case of the Ibalon). In others, all that remains are the names of the gods and their divine functions, beautiful names and evocative duties, leaving us to wonder about the tales they once populated.

But here’s the thing: when writers are inspired, when writers wonder, they write.  This anthology is a product of that wonder and inspiration.

Within these pages, you won’t find straight retellings of old tales–”alamat” is the Filipino word for “legend”, and I’ve deliberately asked for stories that provide for “alternative” takes. Some stories build on what we know, or reexamine underlying assumptions. Others use names as catalysts, or play within the spaces where the myths are silent. What you will find in all these eleven stories, however, is a love for the myths, epics, and legends that reflect us, contain us, call to us.

In case the stories in this anthology whet your appetite for information about Philippine mythology, I’ve also included supplementary material in the form of interviews with experts in folklore and anthropology, as well as a rundown of notable Philippine gods and goddesses not featured in the anthology (interpreted visually by Mervin Malonzo in between the stories). This barely scratches the surface, of course, so you’ll also find a brief survey of other resources at the end of the book.

“The gods,” says Roberto Calasso in Literature and the Gods, “are fugitive guests of literature. They cross it with the trail of their names and are soon gone. Every time the writer sets down a word, he must fight to win them back.” I hope that the stories in this volume will help to make them more frequent visitors.

Excerpt from my interview with Professor Herminia Meñez Coben

Professor Herminia Meñez Coben has a Ph.D. in Folklore and Folklife from the University of Pennsylvania, was Professor of American Multicultural Studies at California State University, Sonoma, and taught “Philippine Folklore and Society” at the University of California, Los Angeles. She is the author of “Folklore Communication Among Filipinos in California” (1980), “Explorations in Philippine Folklore” (1996) and “Verbal Arts in Philippine Indigenous Communities: Poetics, Society, and History” (2009).

Do you have any favorites from the stories you’ve encountered in your studies of the various indigenous oral traditions?

My favorite stories and characters come from the epics. [The epics featured] women warriors, certainly, but also characters such as Mungan, the shaman from the Bukidnon and Ilianen Manobo. Leper and healer both, she gives her people the betelnut of immortality, which enables them to ascend to the Skyworld, while she remains on earth forever to guide future inhabitants on the path toward a life without death. I think that one of the short stories I’ll write will be about her.

Excerpt from my interview with Professor Fernando N. Zialcita

Fernando N. Zialcita is a Professor at the Department of Sociology and Anthropology of the Ateneo de Manila University, and is the head of its Cultural Heritage Studies Program. He is active in the battle to preserve our cultural identity, particularly our intangible heritage. He is also one of the co-authors of the “Soul Book”, one of the few attempts made in recent history at a popular introduction to Philippine mythology. He helped organize the Ateneo’s “Songs of Memory: International Conference on Epics and Ballads”, and he graciously allowed me to interview him after the events of the conference.

In one of your other books, “Authentic but Not Exotic”, you wrote about certain misconceptions Filipinos and non-Filipinos alike have about Filipino culture. What are some of those misconceptions about Philippine mythology and pre-history?

There’s a tendency to project monotheism into the past. I doubt many of our ancestors were monotheistic. Let me go back again to the material base of culture. You would expect monotheism to appear in a place where there is centralized authority, since religion is often related to social and political structures. But the pre-Hispanic was very decentralized, many different polities and many different leaders. So monotheism of the Judaic kind would be doubtful, although it is to be expected that some gods would be considered more powerful than others.

But that wouldn’t mean that this god could somehow give orders to the other gods.

Right. Of course, there was monotheism with those communities that adhered to Islam, but Islam was only in the Philippines around a century or so earlier than Catholicism, so it’s still a “new” religion.

——–

If I’ve piqued your interest with any of these content previews, I assure you that you won’t regret buying a copy of Alternative Alamat. I don’t think that it’s an exaggeration for me to say that this book is one of a kind (at the moment)–that’s one of the reasons I put it together. If you have any interest in Philippine mythology (or in mythology in general), in Philippine speculative fiction (or just in good stories), I think we’ve managed to put together a book well worth your time and money.

EDIT: Alternative Alamat is out now on Amazon and Flipreads!

On December 14, 2011, “Alternative Alamat“–our anthology of stories inspired by Philippine mythology–will be released on Amazon.com, Flipreads.com, and the iTunes store. This anthology has been more than a year in the making, and it is near and dear to my heart, so any help spreading the word would be greatly appreciated. I’m excited, not the least of which because of the excellent cover art provided by Mervin Malonzo (creator of “Tabi Po“, who also provides the interior illustrations), and because I believe we’re attempting something that hasn’t been done before, in the context of Philippine mythology.

Philippine mythology is full of images that ignite the imagination: gods of calamity and baldness, of cosmic time and lost things; the many-layered Skyworld, and weapons that fight their own battles; a ship that is pulled to paradise by a chain, and a giant crab that controls the tides… yet too few of these tales are known and read today. “Alternative Alamat” gathers stories, by contemporary authors of Philippine fantasy, which make innovative use of elements of Philippine mythology. None of these stories are straight re-tellings of the old tales: they build on those stories, or question underlying assumptions; use ancient names as catalysts, or play within the spaces where the myths are silent. What you will find in common in these eleven stories is a love for the myths, epics, and legends which reflect us, contain us, call to us–and it is our hope that, in reading our stories, you may catch a glimpse, and develop a hunger, for those venerable tales.

“Alternative Alamat” also features a cover and interior illustrations by Mervin Malonzo, a short list of notable Philippine deities, and in-depth interviews with Professors Herminia Meñez Coben and Fernando N. Zialcita.

If you are a book blogger or book reviewer and would like to review/feature Alternative Alamat, please do contact me at rocketkapre[at]g mail. To give you a sneak peek of what to expect from the anthology, after the cut I’ve included the introductions for each of the eleven stories, which also serve as the bios for each of the contributors.

Ana’s Little Pawnshop on Makiling St.

Eliza Victoria

Eliza Victoria was born in 1986. Her fiction and poetry have received prizes in the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature and the Philippines Free Press Literary Awards. For additional information, visit her at http://sungazer.wordpress.com.

Maria Makiling is one of the most popular figures in Philippine mythology, and she’ll make more than one appearance in this anthology. However, in this story, she takes a back seat to one of the most obscure of our goddesses, who also happens to have one of the most intriguing dominions.

Harinuo’s Love Song

Rochita Loenen-Ruiz

Rochita  Loenen-Ruiz attended the Clarion West Writer’s Workshop in 2009 as the Octavia Butler Scholar. Her work has been published in print and online both abroad as well  as  in  The  Philippines.  Some  of  the  publications  she  has  appeared  in  are:  Weird Tales  Magazine,  Fantasy  Magazine,  Apex  Magazine,  and  Philippine  Speculative  Fiction Anthology (second and fourth volumes). She has stories coming out in the Second Apex Book of World SF and Realms of Fantasy.  She is currently working on a tribal sf novel.

The myth of the Sky Maiden appears, in one form or another, in many cultures around the world. However, like many myths, when one peels back the surface of the story, strips it of the distancing devices of archetype and tradition, there are horrors to be found within. This story explores that horror, while mixing Mangyan poetry with Ifugao culture.

The Last Full Show

Budjette Tan

Budjette Tan is the writer and co-creator of the graphic novel “Trese”. By day, he writes advertising copy for McCann Worldgroup. By night (or when his boss isn’t looking), he writes comic book stories.  He is one of the founding members of Alamat Comics.

Initially an independently published series of photocopied comics, the Trese series has gone on to win the Philippines’ National Book Award. Its heroine, Alexandra Trese,  has become one of the most popular Philippine comic book characters in recent memory, a no-nonsense heroine who stands apart from many of her peers in the urban fantasy genre. This story is a rare glimpse at the softer side of Trese.

The Alipin’s Tale

Raymond G. Falgui

Raymond G. Falgui teaches at the University of the Philippines. His short stories have appeared in the Philippines Free Press, Philippines Graphic, and Playboy Philippines magazines, as well as the  Likhaan,  Philippine  Speculative  Fiction,  and  Digest  of  Philippine  Genre  Stories  anthologies. His articles on gaming have appeared in Azagar’s Book of Rituals and The Kobold Quarterly. He is also a self-proclaimed Luddite who last owned a cell phone some time in 2004.

Lapu-Lapu is the first “historical” Philippine hero, a chieftain who rejected and repelled a European force led by Ferdinand Magellan. While textual accounts of the “Battle of Mactan” survive, many of the details–including Lapu-Lapu’s actual participation in the battle–have been lost to history, and the battle itself has been elevated to the level of myth. What would happen if we took things one step further?

Keeper of My Sky

Timothy James Dimacali

Timothy James M. Dimacali has always been fascinated by the intersection of science and mythology. He is currently the Technology Editor of GMA News Online, but loves to play his violin every now and then. He has been a fellow for fiction at the annual Iligan National Writers Workshop and graduated with a degree in Creative Writing from the University of the Philippines.

The people of Panay tell the story of the god Tungkung Langit’s eternal search for his wife, the goddess Alunsina. They speak of how Tungkung Langit scattered Alunsina’s jewels in the sky in an effort to call her back to him; how her necklace became the stars; her comb, the moon; her crown, the sun. According to the old story, she never returned. Perhaps she had a good reason.

Conquering Makiling

Mo Francisco

Mo Francisco climbs and writes as much as she can. Her stories have come out in the Philippines Free Press, Philippines Graphic, Speculative Fiction IV and other publications. Her story “Jimmie” won 2nd place in the Philippines Free Press Literary Awards in 2009. She has climbed with both the Loyola and the UP Mountaineers.   They have taught her that going days without a shower, sleeping on rocks and suffering limatik bites are worth the trouble when you stand on top of the world with a blanket of clouds below you, music blasting from an iPod and good friends beside you, their glasses raised. She has yet to encounter Maria on her climbs.

In myths, Maria Makiling is almost the prototypical nature goddess: caring, benevolent, always generous to men of humble origins. That generosity of spirit at times becomes an offering of her own heart, as Maria is often portrayed as taking human lovers. Yet perhaps in constructing such a romantic image of the goddess, we’ve left something out. This story uses a modern context to explore a more primal aspect of our most popular diwata.

The Sorceress Queen

Raissa Rivera Falgui

Raissa Rivera Falgui is a writer of fiction for both children and adults. She has won several awards, including first place for Futuristic Fiction in the 2002 Palanca Awards and second place for short story for children in the 2002 and 2006 Palancas. A member of Kuwentista ng Mga Tsikiting (Kuting), her most recent published stories are for young people, in Tahanan Books’ The Night Monkeys and UP Press’s Bagets Anthology. She graduated from UP with a degree in Art Studies and is currently working towards an MA in Creative Writing. Over the years, she has worked in various institutions, as English teacher, writer, or editor. Among the most recent jobs she has had was one that required her to write about places she has never visited, including Mt. Malindig in Marinduque. Currently her main job, which she does not plan to give up, is looking after her daughter. She is married to an Ateneo English teacher, Joel Falgui.

The Marinduque myth of Maria Malindig is the type of story which leaves us with more questions than answers. In part, that’s because of the almost casual mention of the great “Empire of Mu”, a name which calls to mind James Churchward’s lost continent in the Pacific. Yet primarily, it’s because of the somewhat inconsistent characterization of Maria Malindig herself. How might a powerful queen truly react when confronted with an encroaching patriarchy? Let’s find out.

Beneath The Acacia

Celestine Trinidad

Celestine  Trinidad  is  a  newly  licensed  physician  who  still  tries  to  read  and  write  as  much  as she  can  in  her  (now  unfortunately  very  little)  free  time.  Her  stories  have  appeared  in  other publications such as Philippine Genre Stories, Philippine Speculative Fiction IV,  Philippines Free Press,  and  Usok.  Much  to  her  own  surprise,  she  won  the  Don  Carlos  Palanca  Memorial  Award for Literature in2008 for her short story for children “The Storyteller and the Giant”.

Maria Sinukuan, guardian of Arayat, is one of the mountain goddesses, like the more famous Maria Makiling. Unlike her counterpart from Makiling, however, Maria Sinukuan is much less generous with her affections–”Sinukuan” means “Unconquerable”, and she frequently uses her wits to extricate herself from unwanted suitors. In this young adult tale, Maria–along with a particularly persistent suitor–gets to apply her wit in another way, in order to solve a mystery.

Offerings to Aman Sinaya

Andrei Tupaz

Andrei Tupaz is working on two other short stories based on Philippine myths.  He believes he’ll finish both before the end of 2011 as long as, fingers crossed, he doesn’t fall into a  perpetual redraft hole, or allow himself to be consumed by his interests: cooking, programming, and the Internet. He and his wife are based in New Zealand.

Since the Philippines is an archipelago, it’s easy to understand why the deities of the sea would be so important. Aman Sinaya was the Tagalog goddess of the sea, and protector of fishermen… protector, that is, if the fishermen would make an offering to her of their first catch. But as times change, so too does the nature of what is offered…

Balat, Buwan, Ngalan

(A Myth for the 21^st Century)

David Hontiveros

David Hontiveros was a National Book Award Finalist for Best Comic Book in 1997 for Dhampyr (drawn by Oliver Pulumbarit), and a 2002 Palanca Award Winner (2nd Place in Future Fiction- English Category) for his short story, “Kaming Mga Seroks.” He has three horror/dark fantasy novellas out under the Penumbra imprint, published by Visprint, as well as a digital novel, Pelicula, from Bronze Age Media. His on-going comic book series, Bathala: Apokalypsis, is also available digitally from Flipside. He has had his short fiction, film reviews, articles, and comics appear in several Philippine publications.  He has recently adapted Bret Harte (no, not the wrestler) and Edgar Allan Poe (twice!) into comic book form for Graphic Classics. He may be observed online at fiveleggediguana.blogspot.com (where he blathers on about film) and davidhontiveros.com (where assorted bits of his work are housed). He would like to humbly dedicate the story to his four current grandspawn, in chronological order: Gray, Mischa, Chloe, and Sophia, who will keep the flames of his family history burning on, down through the years.

While the Philippines is home to distinct cultural groups, a certain amount of cultural cross-pollination did take place. The results are myths which are variations of the same themes, and characters which appear in more than one culture, or who bear the same name but with an altered form. But, as David says of this story, there is power in words and there is truth in myth. If these characters did exist… which version would be true? Would it matter?

“A Door Opens:  The Beginning of the Fall of the Ispancialo-in-Hinirang (Emprensa Press: 2007)”

Dean Francis Alfar

Dean Francis Alfar is a leading advocate of speculative fiction in the Philippines, and the publisher of the annual “Philippine Speculative Fiction” anthology. His novel “Salamanca” won both the Book Development Association of the Philippines’ Gintong Aklat award, as well as the Grand Prize in the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature. He has nine more Palancas to his name, two Manila Critics’ Circle National Book Awards, the Philippine Free Press Literary Award, and the Philippine Graphic/Fiction Award. His short fiction has been collected in “The Kite of the Stars and Other Stories”, and been published in venues both national and international, including “The Year’s Best Fantasy & Horror”, “Rabid Transit: Menagerie”, “Latitude”, and “The Apex Book of World SF”.

It seemed fitting to end the anthology with this story. Sometimes, I feel like there’s a tendency–even amongst Filipinos–to view the Philippines as a footnote on the world stage. Yet there’s so much that is unique and beautiful in Philippine culture, if only we would take the time to learn it. Philippine mythology has much to offer the world. This anthology, we hope, has opened a doorway. We invite you to step through it.

“Alternative Alamat” also features a cover and interior illustrations by Mervin Malonzo, a short list of notable Philippine deities, and in-depth interviews with Professors Herminia Meñez Coben and Fernando N. Zialcita.

[Page still under construction - some details/links to be added later.]

“Ana’s Little Pawnshop on Makiling St.” by Eliza Victoria

“Harinuo’s Love Song” by Rochita Loenen-Ruiz

“The Last Full Show” by Budjette Tan

“The Alipin’s Tale” by Raymond G. Falgui

“Keeper of My Sky” by Timothy James Dimacali

“Conquering Makiling” by Mo Francisco

“The Sorceress Queen” by Raissa Rivera Falgui

“Beneath The Acacia” by Celestine Trinidad

“Offerings to Aman Sinaya” by Andrei Tupaz

“Balat, Buwan, Ngalan” by David Hontiveros

“A Door Opens:  The Beginning of the Fall of the Ispancialo-in-Hinirang” by Dean Alfar

Appendix A: A Few Notable Philippine Deities

Appendix B: Interview with Professor Herminia Meñez Coben

Appendix C: Interview with Professor Fernando N. Zialcita

Appendix D: On Researching Philippine Mythology

Cover and interior artwork by Mervin Malonzo

So last Saturday’s book launch of Trese volume 4, “Last Seen After Midnight” was a smashing success. Not every Trese fan could be there of course, which is why I’m uploading the question and answer portion of the event. After all, how else is the world going to know the rift running through the middle of Trese fandom: should Alexandra ever get a romantic interest? Budjette and Kajo also address fan influence on the storylines, a Zsazsa Zaturnnah crossover (make it happen!) and when book 5 will be coming out.

Do you view volume 4, “Last Seen After Midnight” as the start of a new tone for the series?

Parang yes.

The first trilogy tells the story of a hero who is still quite reluctant to accept that role. The next few volumes will show what happens when she starts facing that destiny head on.

Or not.

How different was it working on this volume, as opposed to the previous ones? Was it easier or harder to complete? I can imagine that as the anticipation increases for each new installment, the pressure on you two must also be growing…

Budj was done with the scripts years ago. As for me, I had a harder time completing this book because my focus constantly zigzaged from ‘just having fun’ to ‘living up to expectations’. The book got finished when I flushed ‘expectations’ down the toilet.

For new readers who haven’t read the previous Trese graphic novels, would this be a good place to start?

The beauty of Budj’s way of writing these volumes is that you can start anywhere. (But start with volume 1, para mas masaya.)

Aside from Alexandra, the Kambal, and the regular supporting cast, are we going to see any other familiar faces?

Yes. The supporting cast are there but we are also featuring a lot of newbies.

How has your approach to the characters changed throughout the years? Do you find yourselves drawing/writing them differently, because of the stories you’ve already told or other factors?

The characters are evolving, and changes are very subtle but they’re there, in terms of both characterization and rendering. Visually, I try my best to make them as consistent as I can. I don’t always succeed, but vahtevah.

And while Budj has already answered this… that’s really a shark on the cover?

Yep. The dust jacket was Budj’s idea. I tried my best to execute the idea, make it worthwhile for some readers who are excited for the book. As for the shark, I had to remove the shades and the surfboard from initial concepts to differentiate from another body-building, shorts-wearing, mean-looking, chick-catching, clothes-peddling predator (wink).

Heh. I see what you did there. What can fans expect from Trese 4?

Same old fun, spooky, eerie, weird, fun, short, fun stories that will be worth your 30 minutes and your Starbucks money.

What can fans expect from the book launch on the 8th?

They can expect to get a nice, mint copy of Trese volume 4 for only P175, and if they will allow us, a personal ‘thank you, thank you very much’ in the form of signature from Budj and I.

In many ways, Trese: Mass Murders (the previous volume) felt like an ending to a chapter of Alexandra’s life. Do you view volume 4 as something of a fresh start?

At one time, there was actually a possibility that the stories in Book 4 might have been part of Book 3 to begin with.

I never really envisioned Book 3 to be such a sprawling story arc. I really tried to tell the story of the Great Balete Tree in 20 –pages and was trying to tell the “secret origin” of the Kambal in the usual 20-pages as well. But as I kept writing that story, it just didn’t allow itself to be contained in 20-pages. So, it ended up becoming 113 pages long!

Book 4 is once again a collection of stand-alone stories. I like doing these types of stories. They feel more like a short jog, as compared on the long marathon that was Book 3.

We’ve actually started on Book 5. Looking at where that is planned to go, I think Book 5 will come closer to a “fresh start” for Trese. Or maybe it’ll take her down new path,s is more like it. We hope to finish Book 5 before the Summer Komikon of 2012.

So we’re seeing a return to the episodic cases then. How many pages will this volume be?

This volume will have four new cases. Each case is a stand-alone story. The stories range from 20 to 22 pages. We’ve actually released three of these cases in the past Komikons because we wanted to always have something new for the readers, just to show them that we are working on the new book. It also pressured us to finish each case for whatever was the upcoming Komikon of the quarter.

How different was it working on this volume, as opposed to the previous ones? Was it easier or harder to complete? I can imagine that as the anticipation increases for each new installment, the pressure on you two must also be growing…

I think Kajo felt more pressure with this book. As you can see, his artwork has improved tremendously. He even insisted on rendering some stories with greytones / greyshades. He really pushes himself to make each book better than the last one. He makes me look good! Hahaha!

As far as these stories are concerned, they were “accidentally” written for different reasons. One story was supposed to be part of a free comic book that was going to be given away in the LRT, which is why I set the story near an LRT station. The other story was adapted from the short film script of what was supposed to be a 10-minute TRESE film, which didn’t push through, so we just converted it into a comic book story. The third one started out as a story from The Diabolical blog, but I felt that I wanted to delve into that story more, so I went back to it. And the last story came about because of Manny Pacquiao’s many wins; which made me ask, why does he always win? Why does the crime rate go down every time he has a fight? Maybe there’s a not-so-obvious reason for all these things happening.

For new readers who haven’t read the previous Trese graphic novels, would this be a good place to start?

Yes. I always make it a point to make each Trese story, each Trese book, a good “jumping on point” for new readers. I think it was Stan Lee (or was it Chris Claremont) who said that every comic book is someone’s first comic book (which might be the reason why Claremont had so much exposition in every issue).

I’m also a big believer in Warren Ellis’ Pop Culture Grenade or Pop Comics Principle. He said, the problem with comics today is that you need to know their 50 year back story in order to understand them. He said (back in 1999), there was a great need to have more Pop Comics, comics that you can pick up for the first time, read it, and enjoy it without having to Google the character’s history. He said, such comic books were like “grenades” one-shot / single-explosion stories that readers can easily get into.

Aside from Alexandra, the Kambal, and the regular supporting cast, are we going to see any other familiar faces?

Of course, Capt. Guerrero will be calling in Trese for a couple of the cases. Hank makes an appearance in the newly built Diabolical. And Trese once again goes to the corner of Balete Drive and 13th Street to consult with the Nuno in the Manhole.

How has your approach to the characters changed throughout the years? Do you find yourselves drawing/writing them differently, because of the stories you’ve already told or other factors?

I’m not sure. It still feels the same for me. If there’s anything that I’m guilty of, it’s that I use these characters as vehicles to explore the mysteries about Manila that I want solved.

Well, for the first time, we do venture outside of Metro Manila and end up in General Santos City. Maybe we’ll see more trips outside of Manila in the future.

You’re going to be selling (through National Book Store and associated outlets) a limited edition of Trese 4 with a dust jacket (and some stellar art). How’d you guys arrive at this decision?

In the past two years, National Bookstore has been making the effort to get more people to give comic books a second look. They’ve expanded their graphic novel section and established Comic Zones in their big stores. They’ve also sponsored comic book events and just this year, they sponsored David Lloyd’s tour and brought him to Manila and Cebu.

So, this time they approached me and asked when we were going to release the next Trese book. National Bookstore then offered to promote it in all their stores and do a book launch.

This is all part of their effort to make Filipino comic books more mainstream, to make more readers realize that we’ve got a pretty good selection of local graphic novels which they should try out.

We also wanted to do something special with this tie-up, which is why we thought of doing the “Trese variant cover”, which is actually a dust jacket.

To help promote the fact that Trese is available in National Bookstore, we are also raffling off an original piece of artwork by Kajo.

You can get raffle tickets when you buy a copy of Trese from National Bookstore, Powerbooks, or Bestsellers from October 8 to October 31. It’s going to be a very special Halloween treat for whoever is going to win this very special artwork!

Sounds awesome. While on the subject of the jacket… Is that a shark?

Yup! That is definitely a shark.

Can’t wait to see how that fits in. So, aside from sharks, what can fans expect from Trese 4?

They will see more Trese in action, more of the Kambal shooting down enkanto and aswang. They’ll also get to read what the Trese short film would’ve been like. And they’ll also get to meet another “protector of the city” and it’s someone very, very familiar.

What else can fans expect from the book launch on the 8th?

Of course, me and Kajo will be there for a book signing. We are going to have a short Q&A at the start of the program. We will have some Trese artwork on display, as well as the new art piece that will be raffled off.

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We’d like to thank Budjette for his time–as well as for the exclusive pages from the Wanted: Bedspacer case, which we’ll throw up on site on Thursday.

The indefatigable Charles Tan has uploaded audio recordings from the recently concluded 1st Annual Visprint Readers’ Day event entitled “WIT” or “Writers in Talks”, including presentations by speculative fiction writers such as Budjette Tan, Karl de Mesa, Paolo Fabregas, Karen Francisco and Carlo Vergara. There’s a lot of material here aimed at creating your own works of fiction/komiks, so aspiring writers and creators, take note.

Visprint–publishers of such Philippine speculative fiction titles as Trese, the Filipino Heroes League, News Of The Shaman, and Naermyth, as well as fan favorites such as Kikomachine Komix and the books of Bob Ong–will be having its first annual “Reader’s Day” on September 10, this coming Saturday, at the SMX Convention Center, Meeting Rooms 7, 8 & 9.  Entitled “WIT”, the event promises to feature an exhibit of never-before-seen artworks by Visprint artists; behind-the-scene revelations by the book creators; talks on creativity; and a sneak peek of upcoming Visprint titles.

Now, this is the first of what will be an annual event, but if you’d like to get a taste of what WIT might be like, you can check out my videos from “Literature From Shakespeare to Bob Ong: Bridging the Divide Between the Popular And the Canonical”

EDIT: Here’s the updated poster: