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Every year in December we ask our Readers’ Bloc to name their ten favorite books of the year. Our Readers’ Bloc is composed of two filmmakers, the frontrunner (technically the kulelat) in the Lifetime Underachievement Awardee rankings, one capitalist, one imperialist running dog, two advertising pros, one art professor, one visual artist/stylist, one rugby player, one graphic novelist, one Overlord of the Universe.

First one out of the gate: Budjette Tan, author of the Trese graphic novels, now freezing body parts off in Manchester where he’s been assigned by his ad agency for a few months.

Budjette’s List:

1. 12 by Manix Abrera

Abrera is more popularly known for his daily comic strip Kikomachine in the Inquirer, which is usually filled with chatty characters; he somehow manages to cram a hundred words in those tiny strips. In 12 he tells twelve wordless stories. These silent tales range from finding and losing love in the MRT, the tragedy of receiving super powers, and the heartache of saying goodbye to your mutant twin brother.

2. SULYAP, published by Komikon, Inc.

If you attend the Komikon, the bi-annual comic book convention in Manila, you might have a hard time picking out which new title to buy and read. The organizers of Komikon have made it easier for you by putting together this anthology, which features eight titles by Pinoy comic book creators.

3. RENAISSANCE : ANG MULING PAGSILANG, edited by Ernest Leo Hernandez

This art book compiles illustrations depicting all sorts of Pinoy heroes (super and otherwise) helping people that got caught in the typhoon and floods of 2009. Filipino artists from around the world contributed to this great collection. It features new Pinoy heroes including Mars Ravelo’s greatest characters Darna and Captain Barbell, drawn by today’s top artists. This was published for the benefit of the flood victims of Ondoy and Pepeng.

4. THE GHOST IN LOVE by Jonathan Carroll.

This is a love story. No, wait…it’s a fantasy love story. It’s actually a fantasy action-adventure thriller love story. (It’s always hard to describe Carroll’s magical stories.) It’s really about a man and a woman, a ghost and a talking dog, and the love that binds them and pushes them apart. If you liked Neil Gaiman’s Sandman: Brief Lives and Audrey Niffenegger’s Time Traveler’s Wife then you might want to give this book a read.

5. NEWS OF THE SHAMAN by Karl L De Mesa.

This collection of horror novellas gives you a glimpse of that other side of Manila where angels and devils roam, where creatures of Philippine folklore and lower-mythology have found new jobs and hobbies, and where people casually practice magic and shamans are treated like rockstars.

6. I AM LEGION by Fabien Bury and John Cassaday.

The Nazis have discovered their ultimate weapon: a little girl who can control anyone or anything that drinks her blood. The spies of the Allied Forces must stop this weapon before it’s too late. The story feels like an episode of X-Files in the 1940s (or 1940s Fringe). Cassaday’s art provides a very cinematic feel to this graphic novel full of intrigue, deception, and blood.

7. AMERICAN VAMPIRE by Scott Snyder, Stephen King, Rafael Albuquerque.

If you’re looking for sparkling, lovelorn vampires, then you should not pick up this graphic novel. As Stephen King says in the introduction, in this book vampires are doing what they were meant to be doing – hunting and killing people (and other vampires). Snyder and King tag-team in telling the story of this new breed of vampires that aren’t afraid of sunlight and use wooden stakes as toothpicks. Albuquerque provides the art and uses two different styles to tell Snyder’s story in the 1920s and King’s story in the 1880s.

8. LOLA: A GHOST STORY by J.Torres, Elbert Or, and Jonas Diego.

Written by Fil-Canadian J.Torres with art by Manila-based artists Or and Diego, LOLA tells the story of Jesse, a balikbayan who returns home to attend his grandmother’s funeral. Jesse soon learns about his lola’s unusual childhood and encounters all sorts of supernatural creatures. (And yes, there’s a ghost in this story.)

9. ELMER by Gerry Alanguilan.

I’ve mentioned this graphic novel before, but I must include it again this year because last November Elmer was made available in the US, UK, and France by its international publishers SLG and Editions çà et là.. Elmer is set in an alternate reality where chickens gain human intelligence and start to take on human jobs, have human problems, and start to dream and succeed like humans. The story focuses on Elmer’s family, his children, their surviving war and discrimination, and their struggle to live a normal, happy life.

10. INSTRUCTIONS by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess.

This storybook is a set of instructions on what to do in case you find yourself lost in a storybook. The instructions all apply to situations when you find yourself lost in your own story. As Gaiman wrote, “Trust ghosts. Trust those that have helped you in their turn. Trust dreams. Trust your heart and trust your story.”