Welcome to Melag. Located somewhere between dreamland and the real world of Redila's childhood hometown in the Philippines, this eerily fantastical town is where love, joy, and heartbreak hold hands. Here, a father builds a clunky wooden robot for his daughter to dance with at her wedding; a little boy rubs a mystical lamp and wishes only for a jar of sugar; a little girl finds a magical box and soars over the treetops in her tricycle; a man waits at the bus stop each day for years for his soulmate to arrive. Slices of life at turns tender and tragic that cast a kind eye toward the misunderstood and different among us. Filipino American cartoonist Bong Redila first introduced readers to Melag in 2022, and this new edition expands and deepens his enchanting vision with over 150 pages of new material. Drawn in a spidery, Edward Gorey-esque pen-and-ink style, this charming collection will transport readers of all ages.
