Bong Redila
Bong Redila is a Filipino American illustrator and author based in Miami, Florida.
A self-taught artist, Redila started his illustration career in the early 90’s in Guam, USA as a graphic artist and editorial cartoonist for a local newspaper.
In the early 2000’s, he started writing and illustrating short stories called Meläg, the name of a fictional little town where phantasmagoric and peculiar events perpetually take place. It was then collected and published in the Philippines by Anino Comics / Adarna House and won numerous awards including the Philippine National Book Awards, Best Graphic Literature; National Children's Book Awards, Best Reads for Kids; Komikon’s Best Graphic Novel, and was nominated for the Madrigal-Gonzalez First Book Award.
He then created an online series called Borderline. A single-panel comics Meläg spin off, Borderline is a collection of surreal and whimsical images accompanied by a short line of caption or text. The aim of this project is to draw the reader into the fictional town and push and encourage them to expand their imagination and complete their own story on each page.
He has also illustrated numerous children's books for other authors.
Meläg published for the first time in English from Fantagraphics Underground in 2022.
Praise for Meläg:
"Redila's wistful vignettes, rendered in the author's intricate and imaginative pen-and-ink drawings, span the multiple realities of a Filipino dreamscape where flying trains carry amorphous creatures, children encounter bottled genies in landfills and homes float among the clouds." — The New York Times
"Wonderfully creative, visually inventive. As a fellow creator and artist, I'm deeply, deeply inspired."
― Gerry Alanguilan (Wasted, Elmer)
"It's a beautifully illustrated journey into worlds where anything could happen; it fills you with wonder, and it hurts to leave."
― Rob Cham (Light, Lost)
"As a storyteller, Bong Redila can be profound, whimsical, hilarious, heartbreaking, and nostalgic all at the same time."
― Mark Rosario (Sikami Editor)
"I’ve been accused of writing comics. Nothing I’ve written comes close to this. Meläg is visual poetry: it’s art; it’s heartbreakingly beautiful; it’s a dream you can hold in your hands. It is what you need, right now."
― Chelsea Cain (NYT bestselling author and Eisner nominated comic book creator)
"Bong Redila’s Meläg exists on a map of the fantastic in that space where our world and our dreams meet. It’s a short train trip from Edward Gorey’s house, only a ferry from Where the Wild Things Are. Like me, you will want to visit often."
― Kelly Sue DeConnick (TV writer and writer of comics books, including Bitch Planet, Captain Marvel, Aquaman)
"Bong Redila highlights the universal human aspects of his fantasy world in Mëlag."
― The Popverse
"An enchanting collection of shorts from Bong Redila that uses the fantastical to feature our own humanity."
― AIPT Comics