UNDERPASS

UNDERPASS appears to be the initial offering of Summit Media Graphic Novels and similar to other Philippine comic book endeavors, this anthology of four horror / suspense comics gets an A+ for presentation and effort. UNDERPASS is composed of "Sim" by Gerry Alanguilan, "Judas Kiss" by David Hontiveros and Budjette Tan with art from Oliver Pulumbarit, "Katumbas" by David Hontiveros and art by Ian Sta. Maria and finally, "The Clinic" by Budjette Tan with art by Kajo Baldisimo.

At the get go, the graphic anthology is gritty, with a cover that sets the mood for the four stories contained within. All the comics are in color and printed on high quality glossy pages. It is remarkable in that it comes close to the look and feel of imported comic books particularly American comics. Unfortunately, the high production values comes at a price and when this graphic anthology first came out, it was priced at PhP 250.00. For a 52-page comic book, the price is comparable to American comics with the same number of pages. But comparing the price to what's available at the magazine stands here in the Philippines this is definitely too steep to attract new or casual readers and may even hinder the genuine comic book fan from grabbing it immediately. Recently this graphic anthology was marked down and now carried a price tag of PhP 175.00. It's still a little bit too steep compared to other magazines which range from PhP 125.00 to PhP 150.00 but definitely an improvement from the initial cover price and the appeal of comic books makes it good enough for purchase.

I'll be reviewing each story for the next few days starting with Gerry Alanguilan's "SIM".