Comics: The Children of Bathala: Volume One of Five

Illustration and Story by: Arnold Arre

Nautilus Comics

(4/5 ★★★★)

"Twenty years after the events of The Mythology Class...

Bidding a pleasant farewell, Mrs. Enkanta left to continue her journey through time. Nicole and her friends' adventures into the realm of myth and magic were seemingly over.

However, things have not been peaceful over the past two decades: Lane has lost her telepathic powers; Kubin is weakening; Rey and Misha have mysteriously gone missing; and doubts about Enkanta's true purpose are growing.

As their friendships, once strong and binding, slowly fall apart, Nicole senses a dark spell affecting them all.

Convinced that those cherished days they shared in the Mythology Class are fading away, Nicole is unaware that a new band of visitors from the magical world of Ibalon have arrived. These beings hold the key to unlocking an ancient mystery; one that may reveal a frightening terror, but also open an enchanting new world for Nicole, her friends, and her daughter Princess Marilag."

The Good:

The story brings us back to the world of Mythology Class years after they fought off the engkantos. The story and illustrations remain superb.

A lot of references to various books, personalities and tales were made. The most thought provoking concept presented was the Bukidnon Skyworld introduced at a Ted talk.

The Bad:

This first volume among five has a slow pace in story telling.

Many conversations were written using either baybayin or another Filipino language. It would have been a great idea to have the translations of these conversations written somewhere at the end of the book for those who don't understand the language.

The Verdict:

Nicole and her other classmates under Datimbang are back years after their initial quest. The curse of the ancient once creeps in as the blood moon starts to settle in. All hopes that the dark anitos won't find them.

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Book News: The Children of Bathala Volume 2 of 5 Launch

Nicole is back to continue the story in this 2nd volume of The Children of Bathala. The sequel series to Arnold Arre's award-winning graphic novel, The Mythology Class, will nearly be in your hands this November 2021.

No further updates regarding when the book will be open once again for orders after the pre-order link closed last November 6, 2021.

(Image from Instagram account of Arnold Arre)

"Idra's plan to hide Nicole and her friends from the Dark Anitos has failed. Now the evil Budniaan has arrived in this world with his army of undead warriors and twisted engkantos to hunt the former Mythology Class down.

With Rey and Misha on the other side of the globe and the group at odds over what course of action to take, they all realize they need to reunite and escape Budniaan's threat. A plan is formed to visit a location of past glories and race against time to uncover the secret of an ancient artifact that may lead them to safety in the spirit realm - the Skyworld.

Will this group of adventurers who are past their prime be able to escape to fight another day before they are found by a sinister enemy more powerful than any they have faced before?"

Movie News: Film Adaptation of Arnold Arre's Mythology Class Is Now In Development

The film adaptation of Arnold Arre's Mythology Class is now in development. This is one among the big announcements made during TBA Studios' Launch Party at EDSA Shangrila Hotel last July 26, 2017.

It was said during the event that the graphic novel would be adopted into a live-action film. The film will be directed and written by Jerrold Tarog and the screenplay will be co-written by Jade Castro. No official release date has been mentioned yet.

As a teaser to this upcoming movie adaptation, Arre has created an animation of the Mythology Class with the song "Milenyo" by Peryodiko playing in the background.

A nice trivia was mentioned wherein it was said that The Mythology Class was the source of inspiration by the band, Peryodiko, in creating the song "Milenyo".

The Mythology Class Official Animated Video / music: "Milenyo" by Peryodiko

Comics: The Mythology Class

2nd Edition

Illustration and Story by: Arnold Arre

Nautilus Comics

(5/5 ★★★★★)

(Cover C "Nicole-Kubin Cover")

"Summoned to a secret gathering one stormy night by the mysterious Mrs. Enkanta, Nicole finds herself face to face with tikbalangs, kapres, and all sorts of engkantos - new found friends, she embarks on a quest into the realm of myth and folklore where she fights alongside heroes of her childhood against an age-old terror. Follow in their footsteps as their adventure takes them through the familiar streets of Metro Manila and into a world more fascinating than they had ever imagined."

The Good:

This comic opens our Philippine pre-hispanic era for discovery.

A cast of college students, old aged teachers and a familiar yet a new and extraordinary view of the local mythology, the story introduces us once again to those familiar tales. A time before the battle of Mactan took place. The era where the gods of nature took reign and the enkantos were still believed to be true by many.

The story has a lot of good points. One of those were certain conversations written using the baybayin alphabet. The use of this alphabet opens our eyes to the rich culture that our ancestors had.

References to Ibalon warriors, Alunsina, Bantugan, and the kris weapon were effectively used here. A new object known as the Narra tablet seems original to the ears. It's like a different version of the Code of Kalantiaw wherein instead of laws, stories about mythological creatures are the ones written on it by Bantugan.

Other references included Francisco Balagtas' Adarna bird, Francisco Coching's Pedro Penduko and a Philippine Legendary book, whom I think was a nod to some of Arre's source material.

The illustrations of this comic book goes hand in hand with the story perfectly. The distinction between reality and dream sequences were beautifully executed.

A couple of splash pages and the two-page spreads intensified a lot of the scenes. The best splash page would be the Aswang Reborn and Tikbalang Drift illustrations. They command a huge scene for the story. However, the most rewarding picture would be the two-page spread of the Monument of Batch 2000. It gives off that feeling of graduation even though the class only took 4 months.

Each design really played homage to our past. The most interesting design that Arre had created for this story would be his take of our local hieroglyphic type of drawings. These design may make you wonder of an early Egyptian type of culture, minus the pyramids and the giant sphinx of course!

The Bad:

The worse thing that occurred in this comic book is that the story has to end.

The Verdict:

The Mythology Class takes us to a ghost busters type of story, wherein capturing a couple of escaped enkantos were needed to be done before the morning class starts.

Mrs. Enkanta, Nicole and the rest of the group will truly be a memorable adventure that Arre has luckily invited us to join.

A story written more than a decade ago, the class always feels new and old. It's an adventure that Bathala calls all of us to accept.

So call on the others, for Mrs. Enkanta, Nicole and the rest of the group are just waiting for the story of our ancestors be told.

"Promise me never to forget those stories. Maybe someday you might find yourself in one of them." - Nicole's Grandfather

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More of The Mythology Class can be seen at:

Penlab: "The Mythology Class"

Movie News: Arnold Arre's Mythology Class Is Set For A Movie Adaptation

The release of Halina Filipina last October Komiket 2015 had sent smiles to fans of Arnold Arre's work, for finally a new material is once again presented to us.

However, the excitement does not stop there. The biggest news came from a transcript published by Radio Republic last September 24, 2015 (days before Komiket was held). It was a transcript of an interview with director Jerrold Tarog, director of Heneral Luna [2015].

"What's next, I dunno yet. We're developing Arnold Arre's Mythology Class. Maybe starting on the Luna sequel, Goyong" he said.

News of Arnold Arre's The Mythology Class being crafted into a movie made a lot of komik lovers, especially fans of Arnold Arre and those that have a deep appreciation of the Philippine Mythology, giggle and rejoice. The best part of the transcript was that the director of Heneral Luna, who clearly got the attention of most Filipinos due to his very provocative movie and his defiance to Filipino cliche movie structures, was the one who mentioned of a movie adaptation of The Mythology Class as a future project of his.

Additional information about the director's vision for this movie can be seen on an ABS-CBN News article that states director Jerrold Tarog had already pitched The Mythology Class to the producers. The producers had liked it and the story is now currently being developed.

Jerrold adds, "It will be done in two parts, with the original group of students divided into two since the whole book is rich enough for two films. We also have a couple of actresses in mind for some of the lead roles, but it's way too early to seriously discuss the casting."

This movie will surely be on the watch list of avid comic movie fans and those who have been captivated into following Jerrold Tarog's works after the success of the Heneral Luna biopic. The countdown into meeting Mrs. Enkanta, Nicole and the rest of the class awaits in the hands of director Jerrold Tarog.

Guess it's time you heard it from me: Zach: What’s next for you?Jerrold: What’s next, I dunno yet. We’re developing...

Posted by Arnold Arre on Friday, September 25, 2015

Synopsis of The Mythology Class by Arnold Arre.

"Summoned to a secret gathering one stormy night by the mysterious Mrs. Enkanta, Nicole finds herself free to face with tikbalangs, kapres, and all sorts of engkantos - mythical creatures she had only heard about from her grandfather's stories. Together with new found friends, she embarks on a quest into the realm of myth and folklore where she fights alongside heroes of her childhood against an age-old terror. Follow in their footsteps as their adventure takes them through the familiar streets of Metro Manila and into a world more fascinating than they had ever imagined."