ABLAZE Announces Two Manix Abrera Graphic Novel Releases – 12 & 14

Author: Newsroom

Portland, OR – Publisher ABLAZE announces a pair of bold forthcoming new works from creator  Manuel Luis “Manix” Abrera, with the release on June 28^th of his critically acclaimed work, “12.”  The new release pushes the boundaries of wordless comics with a collection of a dozen short  stories told in illustration-only panels. It will be followed by the release on September 27 of  Abrera’s second wordless comic anthology – the supernaturally inspired, “14,” which earned  him a National Book Award. “12” and “14” are distributed worldwide by Diamond Comic and Diamond Book Distributors  and will be available in-print and digitally. 

“12,” by Manix Abrera • MSRP: $14.99 • 152 pg full-color TP • Release Date: June 28^th

Twelve remarkable stories, weird and surreal, thought-provoking yet funny, sometimes  disturbing, others terrifying, but nonetheless always enchanting. Twelve genuinely touching  stories, all drawn in Manix’s engaging style, devoid of words but communicating loudly. Each story with its own charm, and intriguing twists – a young man spends his entire  life searching for answers, but shock awaits when he finally gets that eureka moment; someone  finds love that unexpectedly finds somebody else; two men argue over who goes first on an  escalator; a mother and daughter fight over a cockroach; a drunk 

man urinates on a tree and gets a big surprise – making you wonder how these mundane plots  can turn out bizarrely, prompting you to reflect and crave for more! What is the meaning of  life? Is finding happiness worth it when you lose what really matters the most? Would you even  know what matters the most? Embrace pain and sorrow. Hope for love and will for hope. 

Manix Abrera’s 12 breaks all language barriers, cutting straight to your soul, touching your  heart in ways you cannot imagine. 

“14,” by Manix Abrera • MSRP: $16.99 • 200-pg full-color TP • Release Date: September 27^th
14 tells the story of a human who mysteriously discovers a 13^th floor on his building and finds  himself in the middle of a storytelling session among different mythological creatures of  Philippine folklore. Together with a partying crowd of supernatural beings, he listens to stories  narrated by creatures such as the Manananggal, Diwata, Tikbalang, Kapre, Tiyanak, and even by  a White Lady and a Doppelganger. With each creature taking the stage, describing wild stories  spurred by their unique, terrifying traits and abilities, 14 is a grand narrative of weird yet  wonderful tales, humorous albeit dark and spooky, surreal but unarguably true to the emotions  of the heart. Stories like finding love then losing it, searching for happiness, getting lost, staying  trapped, wanting to belong, dying to be born again – may all sound too human, but are also  being experienced by these mythological creatures. 

Creator Manix Abrera says, “Growing up, we were always told of weird and scary tales on  manananggals and dwendes. In school there were always lots of ‘true’ stories of encounters  with the supernatural. These always stirred, stretched, even twisted our imaginations as young  children; and in “12” and “14” I tried to capture that feeling of awe and wonder. I am very  happy and excited that ABLAZE will give a chance for these stories to reach a wider audience.  Each wordless story in these books will be different for every reader, may yours be filled with  wonder and hope.” 

“The Philippines has an extremely prolific comics scene with a burgeoning community of  extremely talented creators. I am very happy to help shine more of a light on it and bring these  unique works by Manix to U.S. readers,” says Rich Young, co-founder of ABLAZE. “Funny.  Insightful. Weird. Trippy. Deep. These are all words to describe the thought-provoking stories  in these books. They may be wordless, but they will stay with readers long after they have  finished the books.” 

About Manuel Luis “Manix” Abrera: Manuel Luis “Manix” Abrera (b. 1982) graduated with a degree in Fine Arts from the University  of the Philippines Diliman. He is a freelance cartoonist, and is the creator of Kikomachine  Komix, his long-running daily strip in the Philippine Daily Inquirer. He also contributes a weekly  webcomic, News Hardcore!, for GMA News Online. To date, he has produced 16 volumes of  Kikomachine Komix, and News Hardcore compilation volume 1. He also released two wordless  graphic novels entitled “12” and “14”. He is a three-time National Book Awardee for his works,  “14” (2015), “News Hardcore: Hukbong Sandatahan ng Kahaggardan” (2016) and “Kikomachine  Komix Volume 14: Alaala ng Kinabukasan” (2019).

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/manix_abrera/ 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/manix_abrera 

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