A review by wenzy
Meläg: Town of Fables by Bong Redila

5.0

This had a very strange effect on me because once I finished it I was on the verge of tears. I don’t know why but it struck a chord with me that I didn’t expect. Meläg is a collection of short black and white comics that say very little. There’s barely any dialogue but for me it didn’t matter because what wasn’t said my mind was able to pick up without me even realizing. It relies a lot on brief visual storytelling and cues by small details either within the background or by the characters. It’s so minute but haunting. It was nice to have Redila’s own words at the end of each comic and to help give background since again there’s very little dialogue and understandably people might not pick up or even like this style. But I loved it. A visually striking collection that says very little because it doesn’t have to say much at all. Maybe I just have a soft spot for my fellow Filipinos but this is a beautiful piece of Philippine literature.