Babbling Point

It was December, when four friends went on a road trip in search of the best tasting dishes in the province. Unfortunately, in their quest for the most delicious meal, they may have driven into a town where someone eagerly awaits to have them for dinner. THE FEAST Story by Budjette Tan Script by Budjette Tan and Alex Arellano Art by Kajo Baldisimo Exclusively available in the December issue of UNO magazine . (Look for the one with the delectable Iza Calzado on the cover)

Trese (and Komiks) After the Award: Budjette and Kajo Interview by Paolo Chikiamco For fans of komiks, Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldisimo need no introduction, and neither does Trese, their komiks collaboration, now published by Visprint, which is one of the most popular and most successful komik series’ in recent memory. While komiks still remains, at this point, a niche market, Trese continues to make inroads into mainstream consciousness, its most recent success being recognition in the National Book Awards in the category of Graphic Literature. In what I think is their first post-award interview, Kajo and Budjette talk about the success of Trese, the importance of their fans, transmedia storytelling, and the future of Philippine komiks: READ THE COMPLETE INTERVIEW AT: http://www.rocketkapre.com/2010/trese-and-komiks-after-the-award-budjette-and-kajo-interview/

When TRESE: UNREPORTED MURDERS was nominated in the 2008 National Book Awards, I wrote this speech, thinking we had a good chance of winning since we were the only finalist. As most if you already know, we didn't win last year . When were told that TRESE: MASS MURDERS was a finalist for the 2009 National Book Awards, I felt happy and excited, but tried not to get my hopes up. And yet, I couldn't help up but dig up that speech I wrote, thinking that maybe November 13 (the day of the awards) would be our lucky day. Since I knew I'd still be in the UK during the night of the awards, I emailed my speech to Nida Ramirez, our publisher and asked her to read it in case we won. As it turned out, November 13 was our lucky day as TRESE: MASS MURDERS got awarded the National Book Award for Best Graphic Literature of 2009 . Here's the speech I would've wanted to read on the night of the awards: To the National Book Development Board and the Manila Critics Circle, than...

This is Talis and he's got a plan to save the world. I’ve been itching to do a Pinoy super hero story for the longest time. So, early this year, when I was supposed to be working on the Trese Book 4, I ended up scribbling this story and pitched it to Kajo. We had a grand plan to juggle working on Talis on one month and working on Trese on the other month. Well, our dayjobs and other projects got into the way, so we ended up getting delayed with both books. So far, this is the only finished TALIS story and we’ve decided to focus on the very delayed Trese Book 4, so it might be sometime before we can get back to revealing the other people who’ve crossed paths with Talis. We hope to release Trese Book 4 early next year and if we’re lucky, we’ll get the chance to do another Talis book soon after that. That’s the end of my intro and this link http://tresekomix.blogspot.com/2010/11/talis.html leads you the first issue of TALIS. Please do give it a read and tell us what you th...

Come knocking at the door of The Diabolical and get the chance to win a treat from Trese. What’s the treat? This limited-edition Trese poster by Kajo Baldisimo. To win, draw any character from the Trese graphic novels and show them trick-or-treating. Drawings can be in black-and-white or full-color. 13 winners will be chosen by me and Kajo. To submit: 1. post your drawing in your blog, DeviantArt, Twitpic, Flickr, Tumblr, or wherever it is you post your artwork. 2. Label it as TRESE: TRICK OR TREAT 3. Post a link of your artwork in the comments page and include the following: YOUR FULL NAME YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS LINK TO YOUR ARTWORK Ready! Get set! Scare us! BOOO! Deadline is on October 31, 2010

Come to the Visprint booth at the Metro Comic Con (Aug 21 & 22, MegaTradeHall) and get these preview books: TRESE: CADENA DE AMOR Story by Budjette Tan Art by Kajo Baldisimo 22-pages, P50 SONGS OF THE LEWENRI Story by Budjette Tan Art by Mark Torres 8-page, P20 BATHALA APOKALYPSIS #1 Story by David Hontiveros Art by Ace Enriquez 32-pages, P50 FREEBIE PROMO! Buy all three TRESE books and get Trese:Cadena de Amor & Songs of the Lewenri for free. Buy all three of David Hontiveros' Penumbra books and get Bathala Apokalypsis for free.

What if there were only one superhuman in the whole world? What if the world was about to end as predicted in the Book of Revelations? What can one superman do to hold back the hand of the Almighty? read the first chapter at http://www.davidhontiveros.com/bathala_pages/coverplus_bat.html Story by David Hontiveros Art by Ace Enriquez Based on an idea by Gerry Alanguilan Costume designed by Kajo Baldisimo & Ace Enriquez

The secret origin of my dynamic team-up with talented Mr. Baldisimo aka KA-JO. I first met Kajo when he was part of Virtual Media Studios -- which was the unofficial tambayan of Alamat Comics way back when. During those years we'd drop by and hang out, I got to see Kajo and guys work on the pages of A.R.C.H.O.N. Kajo actually finished three fantastic issues of that comic book. All the art was colored and letter and then... their PC crashed and they lost all the artwork. So, we may never know whatever happened to that band of law-enforcers in outer space. Here's one of Kajo's pin-ups from A.R.C.H.O.N., showing Troy, the team leader. My first collaboration with Kajo was a comic book that only got distributed in Malate. We were hired by an NGO to make a comic book about AIDS and HIV. So, I wrote a story about a guy who sleeps around and ends up getting AIDS and gives it to his wife as well. The issue ends with some literature about the benefits of regularly going to...

This is our contribution to the Renaissance project -- the benefit project organized by Whilce Portacio, Philip Tan, and Ernest Hernandez of Hobbylink. Whilce recently did an interview with USA TODAY about the project / event which will happen on January 9, 2010 at the Megatrade Hall: Whilce said, "We're working on an event right now called Renaissance. It's a charity auction that's going to be held on Jan. 9 that will provide money to some of these artists who have fallen on tough times. I got the top Filipino artists together to create pieces for this auction. Their mission was to create a Filipino superhero. I told them, 'You're world-class artists, make a character that kids in the Philippines can look up to, can be inspired by.' I want these kids to see artists creating heroes that look like them and that live and interact in local places that they recognize. It's a key part of establishing that sense of history, pride and legacy. If we can do that...

Welcome to Volume 1 of KOMIX 7107! This online comic book anthology features... The complete first issue of SKYWORLD. http://komix7107.blogspot.com/2009/11/skyworld-apocrypha.html Preview pages of THE FILIPINO HEROES LEAGUE. http://komix7107.blogspot.com/2009/11/filipino-heroes-league-preview-pages.html The complete story of THE LAST DATU, a project that me and Kajo worked on before Trese http://komix7107.blogspot.com/2009/11/last-datu-lawanas-story.html We have a lot of stories to tell. Give them a read. Tell us what you think. Come back for more! KOMIX 7107 is a launch pad We hope that the stories we tell in this site will take flight; that the creators of these stories be inspired to keep writing and drawing and that their works find new readers out there. We hope to tell, not just 1,001 stories, but to tell 7,107 tales. And just in case we do reach that seemingly impossible number, we’d like to tell 7,107 more. KOMIX 7107 is a laboratory This is also the placed where we’ll also try...

As of this writing TRESE: MASS MURDERS is now available in Comic Odyssey. It will be available in bookstores and other comic book shops by next week and will be available nationwide by the end of November. While you wait for it to arrive in a store near you, here's a preview of the first chapter of the book. Enjoy! TRESE: MASS MURDERS 15-page preview More diabolical treats for you! TRESE: The Devil's Playground http://tresekomix.blogspot.com/2009/10/trese-devils-playground.html TRESE: Masquerade (preview pages) http://tresekomix.blogspot.com/2009/10/trese-gone-rogue.html More TRESE art from Kajo: http://exhibit13.blogspot.com/search/label/Kajo

It's going to be a bloody Sunday at the Komikon! Join us for the launch of TRESE: MASS MURDERS at the Komikon 2009, Oct 18, Sunday, Megatrade Hall . 12 midnight at Metro Manila. Try to remain calm if you suddenly spot a tikbalang speeding down EDSA or a manananggal swooping across the Makati skyline. While partying at the Fort, never ever let the enkanto at the bar buy you a drink. Yet, there are deadlier things than walk the streets of this city. One of them now demands blood and sacrifice. When crime takes a turn for a weird, the police call Trese. TRESE: MASS MURDERS contains the following: Case 9: A Private Retaliation Case 10: Patient 414 in Mandaluyong Case 11: The Fort Bonifacio Massacre Case 12: The Baptism of Alexandra Trese Case 13: An Act of War This book has an introduction by Mark Gatela, who was my co-writer in that horror radio show "The World of the Unknown". Mark was the one who thought of the name Anton Trese, so I thought it was only appropriate for Mar...

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...

Hey kids! Kajo’s first art gig for Dark Horse ( THE DEFUSER ) comes out this week and this Saturday (April4) he’ll be at Comic Odyssey, Robinsons Galleria for an autograph signing session (1pm to 3pm). See you there! “My comic will be hitting stores April 1st. I had a hand in the story and have seen all the art for the book. Very great style. I love the artist; Kajo Baldisimo.” – The Defuser Yup, that quote came from the The Defuser himself, which he posted at http://forums.scifi.com/index.php?showuser=2953422 The full-color preview pages of THE DEFUSER comic book came from http://www.comixology.com/previews/FEB090051/ Art from : http://kajobaldisimo.blogspot.com/ More artwork can be viewed at: http://www.glasshousegraphics.com/creators/pencilers/kajobaldisimo/index.htm