Posted October 18, 2015 by Luigi Cabrera in Comics

Aaron Felizmenio Bares his PANGIL

Halloween is just around the corner and so is Komikon. What connects this two awesome events? How about Aaron Felizmenio‘s new horror genre project, PANGIL!

“Pangil is a one-shot horror comic book, which dives into the vast mythology of the “Aswangs” and explores its roots in its scientific aspect.… scientific and historical aspect.,” Felizmenio answers.

He describes, “Here’s the short synopsis! Convinced that her mother was killed by an aswang when she was just a child, Doctor of Archaeology Michelle Walter returns to her homeland of Milaor, Camarines Sur to reopen the case and thoroughly investigate the murder. Along with a team of scientists specializing in various biological fields and a detective, they dive into the rich history of the aswangs, manananggals, sigbin and other creatures, trying to prove if they are real for them to prove that there is danger out there. And there it is.”

With a fresh take on the famous mythological Aswang, we thought about what could spark an idea like this. Felizmenio states, “Hahahaha, to be honest, it started with me thinking about what the best horror movie there is for me, and it was Jurassic Park. And then I decided to do a tribute to it by attempting to do a Dino-Horror comic, which is good, in theory but it would really be hard to pull off. It’ll go to something like Sharknado, in which, is still kinda horrific, but a lot more funnier. The idea spun well, I think, to the point that I ended up with Pangil.”

Aaron chose to work on Pangil alone so that he won’t risk freaking out a collaborator with his ideas. “I’m doing my best to make it really really scary. I don’t know if I can put all the elements of horror in it, but I sure will to try to make the aspects I can insert to be as effective as it can be.”

Growing up here in the Philippines, we are practically familiar with our myths. Since Pangil would be shining a new light on the aswang mythology, Felizmenio came to prepare himself to it’s myth: “I haven’t really read and watched all stories about the aswang, so my knowledge is really limited. But I hope to pull this one off in a different tone, but still in the same genre. Also did a lot of interviews with townspeople of different provinces, especially the old ones who firmly believes in the folklore. They are very disgusted with these creatures. Hahahaha! But I admit that I lack a lot of research regarding the horror genre, mainly because I don’t really like watching them. I’m scared, man. I remember watching The Conjuring in the cinemas and I was hiding most of the time. My friend laughed at me. “

[Check out… COMIC BOOK REVIEW: Gwapoman 2000: Ang Huling Baraha]

We’ve already seen his work for Gwapoman, so it was a given that we asked if Pangil will resemble it or does he have anything new under his sleeves. He answers “Nah, nothing new really. It’s the same old drawing I do with a lot of play of shadows, but I guess this time it’s more of a play of light? Did that make sense? In a way, I guess! Philosophically, it’s still as dark as Gwapoman but the treatment of the art will be darker. I bought a lot of bottles of ink for this one.”

In the end, we gave him the chance to tell why you guys should get Pangil. “AH! Because despite the promise of horror, I’ll still make sure they’ll enjoy the ride. And if you’re really into horror, It will be really really scary.”

PANGIL will be first released at Komikon this November 2015.