Five-Legged Iguana

PIMP MY UNDERPASS (1)

I and some friends and stalwarts who frequently haunt the gutters of the four-colour page have been busy of late with publishing powerhouse Summit, on a little something called Underpass.
It’s a horror anthology in comic book form with four tales, two of which I’ve had my grubby hand in.

Before getting into the nitty gritty though, in the grand tradition of AICN’s Herc…
Look! Press release!!

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.

Sim by Gerry Alanguilan
Judas Kiss by David Hontiveros, Budjette Tan and Oliver Pulumbarit
Katumbas by David Hontiveros and Ian Sta. Maria
The Clinic by Budjette Tan and Ka-jo Baldisimo.

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.


Now, to wit, and in alphabetical order, there’s “Judas Kiss,” which is based on a short story of mine, and signals my third collaboration with Oliver Pulumbarit, he of Lexy, Nance & Argus fame, and whom I first worked with on our National Book Award-nominated Dhampyr.
As you can see, Trese’s Budjette Tan also had his own grubby hand in this one, breaking up the original prose into manageable, panel-sized gobbets, before I swooped in for the final finessing.
“Judas Kiss” is a tale of sex, horror, and spectral revenge, not necessarily in that order.


And then there’s “Katumbas,” a story I wrote for the kick-a$ Ian Sta. Maria, who’s responsible for the design of Habagat, who can be found righting wrongs in embarrassingly skin-tight spandex in my online novel, Pelicula (sequestered at http://www.davidhontiveros.com/).
“Katumbas” places Ian’s Kadasig (a shirtless, tattooed mofo who deals with all manner of demonic and spectral mischief) front and centre, and in it, we’ve begun to lay the cosmological foundations for the world Kadasig operates in.

The other stories are “The Clinic” (by Trese duo Budjette Tan and Ka-jo Baldisimo) and “Sim” (by Gerry Alanguilan, of Wasted fame).
I imagine they’ll be pimping Underpass in their own corners of cyberspace as well, so you could check those out for more details.
For my part, I shall feature widdle previews of “Judas Kiss” and “Katumbas” in subsequent posts.

Once more, Underpass will be unleashed at the 5th Annual Komikon, on October 18, 2009, Sunday, at the SM Megamall Megatrade Hall 1.
If basking in the warm, irradiated glow of comics and cosplay is your thing, please drop by. There’ll be appearances and autograph signings, for starters.

Well, I imagine what’s quite enough pimping for one post.
Hope to see you at the Komikon, where I yearn to witness the poltergeist-like effect of seeing Underpass flying off the shelves…

(Underpass cover by Carl Vergara; “Judas Kiss” and “Katumbas” title pages from Underpass.)