OUT OF THE GUTTER (1) KADASIG: Walanghanggan Issue 1

OUT OF THE GUTTER (1)

KADASIG: Walanghanggan Issue 1
David Hontiveros / Romnick Magbanua

For the record:

In the Far, Far Away Time of the Long Ago, when Ian replied to my question of who was the bad guy he wanted Kadasig to face with "the Seven Deadly Sins", I had to give that a bit of a think.

Because I'd already previously done a version of the Sins in AVATAR.

 

During that period of consideration and deep dive research, the idea of leaning into elements like color and animal associations with the Deadly Sins seemed the way to go (since the approach I took in AVATAR was to anthropomorphize them).

In the end, I said "Okay," and The Septet came into being.

 

So while Magalit (Anger) is the Red Bear, Masakim (Greed) is the Yellow Frog.

(The full rundown of the Septet’s animal and color associations--as well as the reason why their names all begin with “Ma”--can be found in one of the in-between-chapters text pieces in the TATSULOK: A Vision of Dust compilation, art by the mighty fine Xerx Javier.)

 

Meanwhile.

 

When the idea of a demonic, sentient horror movie first came into focus, I immediately knew it would be an opportunity to nod towards a few of the subgenres that I feel a deep horrorhead affection for.

Thus, in issue 1, you have spotlights shined on giallo and the slasher films subsequently influenced by giallo, as well as the “disembodied killer hand” subgenre, as typified by Oliver Stone’s The Hand (an adaptation of Marc Brandel’s The Lizard’s Tail), Alfredo Zacarias’ Macabra (AKA Demonoid), Rodman Flender’s Idle Hands, and of course, Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead II.

(And though it’s a short fiction piece, it would be an insulting oversight if I neglected to mention Clive Barker’s “The Body Politic,” from Books of Blood. I haven’t had the chance to watch Mick Garris’ Quicksilver Highway, in which “The Body Politic” is adapted, so I have no idea if it does justice to the short story.)

 

But let’s step back and take a closer look at giallo, shall we?

When they hear the term, horrorheads will immediately think Argento, Bava, Fulci… but the term giallo originated from the world of literature.

And the meaning of the word giallo?

Yellow.

The term was used as a label for these pulpy mysteries and thrillers because the backgrounds of the book covers were uniformly yellow.

 

So, yes, I loved the serendipity of Walanghanggan also being about Greed (as per the long-standing Art Vs Commerce argument that has shadowed cinema since its inception), so that the story arc that featured giallo prominently within its narrative, would also happen to have yellow covers, like an old school giallo paperback…

 

Serendipity.

Mwah!

 

The next OotG post should be about DAKILA: Siyudad issue 2, and will probably go live at some point in the indeterminate future…

For now though, I should take this opportunity to note that one of the characters introduced in Siyudad 2 speaks with a font designed by none other than the mighty fine Edgar Tadeo, who drew the sh!t out of KADILIMAN: In Their Silent Shadow Carnival. (Hey, Ed! Howzit?)

 

Guess that’s all for now.

 

Stay safe.

Stay sane.

 

you can’t drink just six,

 

Dave

 

The new ‘Verse releases KADASIG: Walanghanggan 1 (art by the mighty fine Romnick Magbanua) and DAKILA: Siyudad 2 (art by the mighty fine Pyotr Mutuc), as well as 5 other previously released issues, are all available to order online at the Indies section of the Avenida website.

2018 NOVEMBER KOMIKON ANNOUNCEMENT #3

We're four weeks out from this year's November Komikon (November 17 & 18), and look!
Announcement number three!

DISCOUNTED COMPILATION

TATSULOK: A Vision of Dust Compilation

David Hontiveros / Xerx Javier

In the many rooms of the House that is the World, there are arelim and shedim. Most men know them as angels and demons.

Three individuals, each related to one race or the other, converge on the stage of Holy Week, 2009, for their own collective Passion Play of transformation and acceptance.

Collecting issues 1 to 4, this is a remastered TATSULOK: AVoD.

The page size is bigger than the previously released singles, which means, more art, because:

A)    You’ll get to see the art at a larger size; and

B)    With the captions and word balloons staying the same size, less of the art is now covered by those pesky, pesky words…

And a limited number of copies will be available at NovKon at the discounted price of 200 pesos!

So, yeah!Freebies!
A new release!
And discounts!

There you go.

Set the dates: November 17 & 18, at the Bayanihan Center on Pioneer.
Look for me (and the freebies and the new comic book release and the discounted compilation) at the Visprint booth!

And, while we're all here, I'd also like to announce:
ARTIST ALERT!

If you're an artist (or know one) who's interested in collaborating, then we'd absolutely love to hear from you.
If you're dropping by NovKon, then make sure and bring some samples to the Visprint booth, drop them in front of me, and we'll see what there is to be seen. (This is how at least one of the artists I'm currently collaborating with got on board the 'Verse train.)
Or, you can email us at verse.comics@gmail.com. (Subject Heading: ARTIST ALERT)

Please keep in mind though, this is not a paying/salaried/page-rated job.
As per the long standing Alamat tradition, the only possible financial compensation will come from royalties from sales, once the completed comics are published.
(Which is a whole other can of worms that needs to eventually be opened, but of course, the comics need to be completed first.)
This is primarily about our love of the comic book medium, and contributing to that medium what are, hopefully, stories of substance.
With lots of punching!

So, again, if you're an artist who wants to help keep the 'Verse train on track, then we can't wait to hear from you!

And come on back to the Iguana to check for any new NovKon announcements every now and then.

And please also feel free to spread a link to this post around, so we can get the word out.

#komikonph

Hope to see all you mighty fine folk at NovKon!

you can’t drink just six,

Dave

TATSULOK: A VISION OF DUST TPB ANNOUNCEMENT

I was informed yesterday that a delivery has been made of the Tatsulok: A Vision of Dust TPB to Comic Odyssey. So it should be hitting their shelves soon.

Picking up a copy isn’t just a show of support for my writing and Xerx’s art, it’s also, fundamentally, a show of support for choice. For choosing to support titles that, for one reason or another, can’t find shelf space in the major bookstore chains.

If Comic Odyssey is one of your regular haunts, or if you happen to be in a mall with a Comic Odyssey branch, then we’d like to invite you to check the Tatsulok TPB out.

Honestly, I’m not sure which branches of Comic Odyssey will receive copies, so I guess the best thing to do is just ask after it.

Tatsulok: A Vision of Dust.

Once again, thanx to all you mighty fine folk for the enthusiasm and support.

Please feel free to spread the word and the love…

And remember: choice.

you can't drink just six,

Dave

POST-INDIEKET 2015 'VERSE POST

Firstly, allow me to thank all you mighty fine folk who came out to yesterday’s Indieket.

To everyone who stopped by the table to pick up some comics, shoot the sh!t about your thoughts and reactions to The ‘Verse and Seroks, or to get your hands on the Tatsulok compilation (art by the mighty fine Xerx Javier), your presence and support was awesome and greatly appreciated.

Now, we’re hoping to make an announcement soon regarding availability of the Tatsulok compilation out in the real world, beyond the borders of the comic convention circuit.

In the meantime though, please allow me to share with you these little bits.

For anyone who’s been following any of The ‘Verse titles, you’ll well be aware of the books’ backmatter (the supplementary text pieces in the comics).

Below, you’ll find a couple of bits excerpted from what I like to think of as “The Septet Musings.”

Anyone who followed the Tatsulok singles, or picked up the compilation yesterday at Indieket, will hopefully be familiar with The Septet, and will have at least seen one of them in that book, as well as the “personal assistant” of another. (Who, yes, is the same Alice that makes a brief appearance in Dakila: Lumilim 1, with art by the mighty fine Elmer Cantada, which also debuted yesterday at Indieket.)

Truthfully though, The Septet are an active force in The ‘Verse due principally to Ian Sta. Maria answering my question about the Big Bad he wanted Kadasig to face.

So The Septet have a dominant role throughout the first 4 volumes of Kadasig. (Yes, there are 3 volumes meant to follow The Skeleton at the Feast. Their titles are, for the record: The Unraveling, A Kind of Praise, and His Darling Sin. And yes, all the scripts for all 4 volumes are complete; they were all done before Ian even started drawing the first page of The Skeleton at the Feast.)

So what you see below isn’t just for anyone who might have bought the Tatsulok compilation yesterday, but also to anyone who’s following Kadasig, or any of the other ‘Verse titles, for that matter (because The Septet pop up in some of the other books as well).

To the guy who asked about Kadasig yesterday (and to everyone else out there who’ve been waiting on it), profuse apologies for the delay.

This isn’t a new Kadasig issue, but it’s what I can do for now.

Any good karma you can send our way to help us grease the wheels and get that particular engine moving, will be greatly appreciated.

In the meantime, please accept a sneak peek at these text pieces (which should worm their way into the backmatter of one of the upcoming ‘Verse issues that have something to do with The Septet).

And again, thanx to all you mighty fine folk for the enthusiasm and support.

Please feel free to spread the word and the love…

you can’t drink just six,

Dave

INDIEKET 2015 'VERSE RELEASES

This year’s Indieket will be held on August 15 at the Bayanihan Center on Pioneer.

The ‘Verse will be attending, and, given the marked absence of a Summer Komikon this year, we sure hope to see all you mighty fine folk there…

Debuting at this year’s Indieket:

DAKILA: Lumilim

Issue 1 (of 3)

By David Hontiveros and Elmer Cantada

Your name is Brandon Ramirez and you’ve been a geek your whole life: comics, movies, RPGs, cosplay.

And now you’re officially the world’s first superhero, as evidenced by the cape, the mask, the totally ripped physique, and those crazy-awesome powers.

Higher agencies seem to have conspired to steer you right into that skintight outfit.

We have only one question: How’s that working out for you?

It’s been almost 3 months since 18-year old Brandon Ramirez first became Dakila.

And right now, he just wants to cosplay.

But a day at ManilaCon with his barkada turns super weird (and super dangerous!) when creepy urban legend Mr. Alikabok--actually one of Mangilala’s many guises (dude’s a cosplayer too! Who knew?)--shows up with some, err… “friends,” to spoil everybody’s geekery.

Boo! Hiss!

Dakila. 18 years old. Cosmic champion.

All of a sudden, acne and getting a driver’s license are so not a big deal anymore.

URIEL: Hekhalot

Issue 3A (of 4)

By David Hontiveros and Michael Urbano

Uriel is a mighty arel, held in reverence and awe by his fellow arelim, feared and despised by the shedim hordes.

And right now, his fate and existence lie in the hands of his seven-year-old mortal charge, Maleck de los Santos.

Uriel believes the only way he can vacate Maleck’s body without hurting the boy is by facing Malael head on…

But first, he needs to say “Goodbye” to Maleck, in case his plan doesn’t work out.

Meanwhile, Caim pulls the good Doctor further down into the rabbit hole…

TATSULOK: A Vision of Dust Compilation

By David Hontiveros and Xerx Javier

In the many rooms of the House that is the World, there are arelim and shedim. Most men know them as angels and demons.

Three individuals, each related to one race or the other, converge on the stage of Holy Week, 2009, for their own collective Passion Play of transformation and acceptance.

Collecting issues 1 to 4, self-published by Xerx himself, this is essentially a remastered TATSULOK: AVoD.

The page size is bigger than the previously released singles, which means, more art, because:

A)    You’ll get to see the art at a larger size; and

B)    With the captions and word balloons staying the same size, less of the art is now covered by those pesky, pesky words…

So, yeah! Remastered!

And there you go.

Hopefully, another title may get a new issue in in time for Indieket, in which case, there’ll be another update here soon. (Send some good karma our way to help with that!)

Hope to see all you mighty fine folk at the Indieket!

you can’t drink just six,

Dave

PIMP MY STUFF
NOVEMBER 16 2013 KOMIKON

For all you mighty fine folk who plan to be at the Bayanihan Center this Saturday, November 16, for this year’s NovKon, these are the new ‘Verse titles that are launching:

URIEL: Hekhalot

Issue 2A (of 4)

By David Hontiveros and Michael Urbano

Uriel is a mighty arel, held in reverence and awe by his fellow arelim, feared and despised by the shedim hordes.

And right now, his fate and existence lies in the hands of his seven-year-old mortal charge, Maleck de los Santos.

Uriel has been betrayed by the corrupted (and quite possibly insane) kerub, Malael.

He will eventually find his way to Maleck, in whose body he needs to heal his grievous injuries.

But first, he must escape his demonic captors…

Δ: A Vision of Dust

Issue 3 (of 4)

By David Hontiveros and Xerx Javier

In the many rooms of the House that is the World, there are arelim and shedim. Most men know them as angels and demons.

Unlike the arelim (who cannot breed within their species), the three different classes of shedim have interbred incessantly since their inception, producing all manner of demonic get.

Lora is one such offspring.

She is the third point of our triangle.

The nephil half-brothers Miguel and Lucio have now allied themselves with the runaway succubus, Lora.

But Lucio’s father, the Morningson, has expressed an interest in Lora and the strange condition she finds herself in…

So there we go.

Hope to see all you mighty fine folk at the Bayanihan Center this Saturday.

you can’t drink just six,

Dave

PIMP MY STUFF
SUMMER KOMIKON 2013 TITLES

For all you mighty fine folk who plan to be at the Bayanihan Center this Saturday, April 13, these are the new titles that are launching:

AGYU: Surfacing

Issue 1 (of 3)

By David Hontiveros and Vinnie Pacleb

Elias Sandoval has always felt different.

Being half-enkanto will do that.

But not even the strange difficulties of his childhood could have prepared him for what he is today: a decorated proeliator of good standing in the Royal Enkanto Guard; world-renowned mixed martial arts heavyweight champion; and now, the buwaya’s chosen to bear the mantle of the legendary hero, AGYU.

And that’s only the beginning…

Join Elias months after the events chronicled in Kadasig: The Skeleton at the Feast 1, as he dons the garb of Agyu for the first time, and quickly starts to make some enemies…

Δ: A Vision of Dust

Issue 2 (of 4)

By David Hontiveros and Xerx Javier

In the many rooms of the House that is the World, there are arelim and shedim. Most men know them as angels and demons.

On occasion, both these races have been known to spill their seed onto humankind, producing hybrids forever caught between species, having characteristics of both, but belonging to neither.

Miguel Samson is one such hybrid.

He is the second point of our triangle.

Miguel has caught up with Lora… and Lucio, who just happened to be with Lora at the time. But now that he has, what’s he going to do with them?

And what’s his connection to Lucio?

SEROKS Iteration 1:

Mirror Man

(Available at the Visprint table)

SEROKS FOR SALE!

MANY MODELS, MANY USES!

FOR SECURITY, MANUAL LABOR, OR SEX!

CHOOSE FROM A WIDE VARIETY WHILE STOCKS ARE AVAILABLE.

CALL ARNEL AT 09108-SEROKS.

I first explored this dystopic future world just over ten years ago in the short story, “Kaming Mga Seroks,” which went on to be honored with a Palanca Award.

Now, alongside artist Alan Navarra, I’ve returned to that world in Seroks Iteration 1: Mirror Man, the first in a series of short fiction collections set in a world where everything is a commodity, and everything can be pirated, even people.

A world where the truth is ugly and a fake can be a hero.

The following comic book titles will also be available at the Alamat table:

KADASIG

Volume 1: The Skeleton at the Feast

Issue 1 (of 5)

By David Hontiveros and Ian Sta. Maria

Kadasig has served the Lady Ibu for centuries.

He was human, once. But today, he is a living, breathing kutummu, his skin now merely the scabbard for the seemingly infinite array of weapons he draws from inside himself, weapons he shapes from his own flesh and bone, to best serve the Lady in the only way he truly knows how.

He is the Lady’s kallaapu; her knight, her enforcer.

He is her beet tilli; her arsenal.

He is her kak daami; her bloodstained weapon.

And she is about to use him to finally lay her enemies low…

Picking up where the Underpass story, “Katumbas” left off, “A Life Less Ordinary” is the first of five chapters of The Skeleton at the Feast, chronicling the further adventures of the tsinelas-wearing badass, Kadasig.

This “second printing” is for all those who didn’t get to grab a copy at last year’s October Kon, and contains a number of Kadasig fan art pieces personally selected by Ian to run in the comic’s pages.

And, the non-‘Verse title:

BATHALA: Apokalypsis

Issues 1 to 5A/5B (of 7)

By David Hontiveros and Ace Enriquez

What if there was only one superhuman in the whole world?

What if the world was about to end as predicted in the Book of Revelation?

What can one superman do to hold back the hand of the Almighty?

Plus, if you’ve happened to have joined either of the two Seroks-related contests, you can also submit your entries to me, at the Alamat table.

See all you mighty fine people at the Kon!

you can’t drink just six,

Dave

PIMP MY STUFF
WELCOME TO THE 'VERSE

I love world-building.

I love the feeling that not only are character arcs and subplots and the main narrative progressing as each chapter is told, but that also, brick by brick, the reader is being exposed to the world in which the narrative is unfolding.

I had this discussion with Carl Vergara after this year’s Summer Komikon; that my fascination with world-building is undoubtedly rooted in the decades of role-playing I managed to notch up with my brothers and friends (Carl among them), particularly those campaigns that I ran.

As a player in an RPG campaign, all you have to do is step into a single role, Method act that role to the hilt, and hope that the Polyhedral Dice Gods look down on you favorably.

As a Dungeon Master/Judge/Referee/Storyteller though, not only do you need to keep the campaign’s narrative--present and past--straight in your head, you need to also inhabit several roles (playing all the NPCs--non-player characters--that interact with your players’ characters), creatively deal with whatever curveballs players sometimes have the tendency to lob your way and which will directly impact on the narrative’s future, as well as know, somewhere at the back of your head, what’s taking place in other parts of the setting that the players may be very far away from.

It’s a lot to keep track of, but it all becomes worth it when you’re told by appreciative and grateful players that they had a blast during the campaign.

I told Carl that I had belatedly realized that everything I learned from RPGs, I had somehow managed to apply to my writing, that that RPG ethos stuck, and has subsequently served me well.

Which is where The ‘Verse comes in.

I’ve already talked elsewhere about the 5 comic titles I’m working on--alphabetically, AGYU, DAKILA, KADASIG, TATSULOK (aka Δ), and URIEL--all being set in the same universe, the world I first introduced in my novella, PARMAN.

Upon Budjette’s suggestion, an umbrella imprint was conceptualized, something that could immediately indicate that, Yes, these comics are all set in the same universe. These 5 titles may be telling their own stories, but those stories are all taking place in the same world.

Thus, we give you The ‘Verse, the third name I suggested, and which I came to in a rather casual and accidental manner. But it was a name Ian, Budjette and I liked the sound of, so here we are.

With a great logo by the mighty fine Mr. Sta. Maria.

So.

Welcome to The ‘Verse, a world that will be built across several comic titles, not just by me, but also with the indispensable help of the mighty fine artists I have the privilege of collaborating with.

You’ve seen Ian and Xerx’s stuff; hopefully, you’ll be seeing my other collaborators’ work soon as well.

From all of us, to all of you, we hope you make The ‘Verse a regular reading destination.

you can’t drink just six,

Dave

XS: To all the mighty fine folk who stopped by the Alamat table at the October Kon, and everyone who’s spreading all the love about our work across the wild world of the Internetz, thanx so much for all your enthusiasm and support.