Kwento Comics’ flagship series, The Mask of Haliya, returns in 2025 after their successful Kickstarter collaboration with Clover Press. The Mask of Haliya Volume 2: Echoes of the Forgotten Past follows 2024’s The Mask of Haliya: Heir to the Warrir Moon, bringing back an all-international, all-Asian, all-female creative team of writer Kaitlyn Fajilan, with art from Susan Bin and Vik Caedo, colors by Liz Buenaventura, lettering by Kiela Sibal, and editing by Arielle Jovellanos.
Enjoy our exclusive interview with Kwento Comics founder and CEO Cecilia Lim.
Please introduce yourself and your journey to comic book publishing.
Hello! I am Cecilia. The first half of the mother-daughter duo. My love for mythology and fantasy started at an early age. Growing up in the MidWest in the 1960’s, my mother and I would take a bus to our public library once a week. On those special trips, I was allowed to buy one comic book at the local newspaper stand by the bus stop. Comic books along with fantasy novels took me out of my everyday surroundings of cornfields and soybeans to places that stirred my imagination. Being an avid reader, I found that stories told in the form of comic books and graphic novels were so engaging as the combination of words and images encouraged a deeper connection to the world I was reading. Waverley and I are thrilled to introduce readers to the fantastical world we are creating at Kwento and in doing so, inspire the next generation to continue to tell stories through comics.
How has your personal identity influenced Kwento Comics’ mission and publishing portfolio?
“Kwento” means “story” in Tagalog and we chose it to signify that our stories are tied to a cultural identity. Our mission at Kwento is to uplift diverse voices and celebrate the richness of Asian heritage and culture. The areas where both my daughter (South Florida) and I (Illinois) grew up did not have a large Asian population much less a Filipino one. We were not surrounded by many people that looked like us or shared our experiences as Filipina-American women. It was not until I was older that I started to look for books on Filipino myths and legends and realized how difficult it was to find. So we ventured out to explore and learn about folklore that had been forgotten. It is these stories, ones that contain long forgotten beliefs that we know will spark the reader’s imagination and encourage exploration of diverse perspectives.
As a mother-daughter team, what inspired you to start working together?
When my daughter and I moved out to Los Angeles in 2017, we did not see much in the way of Asian representation in Hollywood. There were not many films at that time that contained strong female Asian lead characters. We knew that the creation of these characters starts with women who look like us, who can share our stories and shared experiences in an authentic way, and in doing so, highlight the wonderous world of Philippine and other Asian mythology in our graphic novels.
The idea of making The Mask of Haliya stemmed from wanting to create a strong Filipina American heroine that we had never seen before. However, the initial idea of The Mask of Haliya actually came from a family story of ours during the time of my mother-in-law’s passing. When she passed away, my sister-in-law passed around a basket with all her jewelry and asked all the grandkids to pick out any piece of jewelry of hers. My daughter, Waverley, instantly found the one ring that was so special to her because it is the birthstone of both her and her grandmother. Thinking back on that moment, we wondered, what if that ring held powers? So when conceptualizing where our main protagonist’s powers could’ve come from we toyed around with the idea of a ring with powers, until Kaitlyn, our writer, found the mythos of Haliya and her mask, which fit our narrative so beautifully. At that point, it only made sense to change it from a ring to a mask. Kaitlyn did a great job at honoring and embedding that family story into issue #1 of The Mask of Haliya, where all the children gather around during Lola Talia’s wake and pick a piece of jewelry.
Kwento is an all-Asian, all-female comic book company. How do you discover the amazing talents on your team?
It’s been a fun and rewarding process to put together this stellar team of talented creatives. We found our writer, Kaitlyn, in 2018 when she was writing short films in LA. We definitely wanted a writer that had experience writing screenplays which would help give The Mask of Haliya a cinematic feel. Additionally, in order to visually capture the unique world we wanted to create, we sought a particular art style which was both vibrant and realistic. This search organically led us to a team of talented female Asian artists, whose perspectives and skills aligned with our vision. When we first started, we used social media to look for artists. Nowadays, we still find cover artists by searching Instagram but many of our current team have been recommended to us from other artists that have been on the team.
Comic books are a labor of love for a team of writers, artists, and publishers. How does a comic book like Mask of Haliya come to fruition, from ideation to publication?
Once we had the initial seed of the idea to create our first series, we first had to find the writer and editor, while doing extensive research on Filipino folklore. After working with the writer on developing the story the first couple of years, the script was written, while we searched for the right art team (storyboard, pencils, inks, flatting and color artists). Being new to the business, we had to create a repository for all the artwork and establish an efficient process where the editor and artists could communicate. Simultaneously, the business aspects were addressed: logistics of printing and shipping, creating a website and online store, attending comic conventions, and approaching local comic book stores for distribution. Issue #1 launched in March 2022. After eight issues, the company switched to graphic novels. Volume 1, “Heir to the Warrior Moon,” contains issues 1-5, and Volume 2, “Echoes of the Forgotten Past,” includes issues 6-8 and never before released chapters 9-10. Initially, we self published our first 5 issues, and in the summer of 2023 we were picked up by our current publisher Clover Press.
How do you balance cultural authenticity with creating stories that resonate with broader audiences?
There is definitely a balance that has to be struck when introducing a culture or mythos that is unfamiliar to the general public. Because authenticity in our stories and the preservation of culture and folklore is so important, we took the time to find credible sources where the authors had taken the time to go in depth on the subject from the legendary creatures to belief systems and practices in the Philippines. Additionally, we also sought out subject matter experts, hired a research assistant and our writer, Kaitlyn Fajilan, went on a research trip out to the Philippines.
While developing the story, we also wanted to highlight some of the experiences that many immigrants have when they grow up in the United States. In The Mask of Haliya, a young Filipina-American, goes back to the Philippines for the funeral of her great-grand Lola (grandmother). In Tagalog, the term “balikbayan” means those who return home after spending time abroad. Having to navigate the duality of feeling both rooted and adrift, is a tension that is familiar to those of us whose families have come from other countries and as a result, we hope will resonate with broader audiences.
You’re being interviewed by a librarian, for an audience of progressive Asian Pacific Islander Desi American librarians. What are your thoughts on libraries, and their place in building diverse communities?
So, I grew up with a deep love and reverence for books. My grandfather was the director of the Philippine National Library after WWII. I can’t imagine how difficult a task it was for him to restore hundreds of thousands of books and manuscripts that were either burned or looted during the battle of Manila. I mention this only because I truly believe that libraries are more than just repositories of general knowledge but they hold the spirit and heart of cultures around the world. I love to see local libraries hosting cultural events in the communities providing a safe space for everyone to share and experience other cultures. Not only does this strengthen and encourage diverse communities but it also sparks interest in people of all cultures to go on their own journey and understand their own heritage and stories of their ancestors. It is so important that immigrants who have been here in the US for several generations discover their own history and reclaim traditions that may have been lost.
What advice would you give young professionals, especially those from diverse backgrounds, who are interested in a career in writing and publishing?
Everyone has a story to tell. If you are interested in writing, continue to write. I wanted to be a journalist when I was younger and was not allowed to since my parents did not see journalism as an accepted career. I stopped writing and I have regretted that decision since it has taken me a long time to decide to pick up the pen again. Carry a notepad or keep a journal by your bedside table. You never know when you will come across a seed of an idea for your next great story. As far as publishing your stories, the publishing business will continue to evolve. Luckily, because of technology, authors can easily self publish in print or digital. It is not always necessary when you are a young author to land a publishing deal. Depending on your genre, attending book fairs, creating a good website, growing your social media and talking to bookstore owners can go a long way to distribute your book.
We will definitely be keeping up with Mask of Haliya. What can we expect from the future of Kwento Comics?
Our hope in the next few years is to continue producing new and original IP that touches on other mythological stories as well as entering new mediums to showcase our stories whether that is in film, television or the newly launched Halo Halo App which is a digital scroll comics e-reader platform for Filipino and Asian stories. I’ve also had an idea for a while now for a children’s book introducing Asian folklore and mythological creatures to younger readers since these tales are so hard to find in general book stores.
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This interview was conducted by Emily Espanol and edited by Danilo Serranilla.
Book reviews and author interviews featured on APALAweb.org are reflective of the reviewer and interviewer only and are conducted separately from and independently of APALA and the APALA Literature Awards Committee and juries.