thank you

...to everyone who came over to share our happiness at the big launch for Siglo: Freedom. There are so many to be thankful to and I'm certain you know who you are (I won't even embarrass myself by trying to list, and then inevitably forgetting someone's name). But special thanks to the following:

* Jamie Bautista and Choy Cojuanco of Nautilus, our incredible publishing house, who went out all the way to ensure a great launch (and to El for handling the creators' side of things). We were surprised by the beautiful exhibit, the roman banners on the 2nd level, the bookmarks, the great food and the show itself. Props also to Aries, our PR guy, and Marge, our marketing gal, for all their hard work.

* The pressfolk from the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippine Star, Meg, Lifestyle Asia, Mega magazines, Newsbreak and everyone else who asked for interviews (hey there, Ness!)

* Paul Zialcita and his crew for their fantastic performance. Paul, an arnis master, performed music on drums and kahon - simply breathtaking. After his show, he told me that he was so jazzed to be invited to perform because he'd read Siglo earlier and found us all on similar wavelengths.

* Our friends and colleagues in and out of the comics industry; and our families who showed up to share our joy.

* Our readers, who came in force, bought both softcover and hardbacks, asked for us to sign our work, and bid for pages of original art at the auction. A thing written but kept unread is a poor thing.

* The Siglo: Freedom creators - Gerry Alanguilan, Vin Simbulan, Nikki Alfar, Marco Dimaano, Andrew Drilon, Elbert Or, Jason Banico, Carlo Vergara, Lan Medina, Yang Vergara-Simbulan; and to Honoel Ibardolaza and Arnold Arre who were present in spirit (we missed you guys!). Without you guys, there would be no Freedom.

And so it's all over but for the selling (well, not really, there are the still the upcoming coffeehouse, bookstore and campus tours), and we can all focus on working on the next one - Siglo:Passion.

** Pictures to be uploaded soon - when I recover from the shock my expired FTP thingie gave me.


Siglo: Passion

Tonight, we completed the roster of fundamental writers and artists (illustrators, colorists, letterers, and designers) for Passion (while the list of gallery contributors continues to grow with fantastic talents). Take a look at this alphabetical list of primary storytellers:

Tobie Abad (Diliman, Bangungot, Wan)
Cyan Abad-Jugo (multiple Palanca Awardee for fiction and poetry)
Gerry Alanguilan (Superman: Birthright, High Roads and more, upcoming: Lastikman, Komikero, Alamat Anthology)
Nikki Alfar (The Harem of Ali Akmar, upcoming: Mango Jam)
Jeremy Arambulo (Styx Taxi, upcoming: K.I.A.)
Ariel Atienza (West Side)
Jason Banico (upcoming: Tikbalang Nation)
Jaime Bautista (upcoming: Cast)
Joel Chua (upcoming: Blitzwork Anthology)
Jonas Diego (Book of John, Hot Copy, From the Dead)
Marco Dimaano (Angel Ace, upcoming: K.I.A.)
Andrew Drilon (upcoming: Pop Monster, Crossword Girl)
Camille Francisco (talented artist with her first major grafiction work for Siglo)
Vincent Groyon (Palanca Awardee for novel)
Quark Henares (Palanca Awardee for screenplay, upcoming: Hey Comics! Anthology)
Honoel Ibardolaza (multiple Palanca Awardee for fiction, upcoming: too many to list!)
Bok Jamlang (ab ovo)
Luis Katigbak (Palanca Awardee for fiction)
Paolo Manalo (Palanca Awardee for poetry)
Lan Medina (Fables, Silver Surfer)
Elbert Or (upcoming: Two Color Truth Theatre, Cast, Hey Comics! Anthology)
Vin Simbulan (upcoming: Twilight Empires, Forlorn)
Edgar Tadeo (Wolverine, Silver Surfer, High Roads, and more)
Wilson Tortosa (Battle of the Planets, Tomb Raider)
Carlo Vergara (Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah, upcoming: Alamat Anthology)
Zach Yonzon (upcoming: The Twelve, Mumu Hunters)
and me (upcoming: secret)

When you add all the names of the gallery contributors, we've more than tripled the roster of Freedom.

This will one hell of a book. In full color.