ABLAZE Publishing will publish the YA graphic novel Alandal, a swashbuckling speculative historical tale by filmmaker J. Philip Ignacio and artist Alex Niño.  The story is set in 1774 and follows a young woman who is abducted by pirates, learns she is the daughter of a sultan, and joins forces with a mysterious swordsman.  Originally published in the Philippines, Alandal was featured at the Philippines International Comics Festival and won the 2022 National Children's Book Award and the 2023 National Book Award for Best Graphic Novel in English.  The black-and-white comic is rated for ages 13+, and ABLAZE will publish its edition as a 200-page hardcover in April 2025 with an MSRP of $29.99.

Niño was born in Luzon, Philippines in 1940 and was one of a cohort of Filipino artists recruited by DC in the early 1970s, and for years he was an artist for their supernatural titles, including House of Mystery, The Witching Hour, and Weird War Tales.  He also did some work for Marvel Comics, then in the late 1970s/early 1980s he changed his focus, drawing stories and covers for Warren Publishing’s black-and-white magazines (Creepy, Eerie, Vampirella) as well as for Heavy Metal.  He returned to DC Comics in 1984 as the artist for Thriller and continued to work there and for other publishers; his later works includes a Conan the Barbarian story written by Roy Thomas, the graphic novel God the Dyslexic Dog, and the Image Comics miniseries Dead Ahead (see “Alex Nino Returns to Comics”).  He was inducted into the Eisner Awards Hall of Fame in 2022 (see “Eisner Hall of Fame Inductees”).