Nocturnal Whispers: Phantasmagoric Fables from Meläg [PRE-ORDER 11/17]

NOT YET AVAILABLE. Pre-order now. This title is scheduled to arrive November 17, 2026.

Note: release dates and prices are tentative and subject to change at the publisher's whim.

When pre-ordering with multiple items, remember your order will not ship until the last pre-ordered item is in stock. If you want items to ship separately, place separate orders.

This haunting, nostalgic collection of short comics by Filipino American illustrator and author Bong Redila is at once an homage to childhood and a simple wish that tomorrow everything will be fine.

Welcome to Meläg. 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 Meläg 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.

"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

"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 (Bitch Planet, Captain Marvel, Aquaman)

Author/Artist: Bong Redila
Publisher: Fantagraphics
Page Count: 286pp
Size: 6.5 x 9
Notes: hardcover, b/w
Date of Publication: November 17, 2026
ISBN: 979-8875002571