She is brooding, introverted and antisocial. She is undeniably weird and a big know-it-all. But she is also the smartest girl in town and she’s going to help solve the biggest mysteries of the year.

Private Iris is the most anticipated comic book for kids to be launched this year by Blue Cow Co., Inc. It tackles mysteries as well as useful facts and money saving tips.

Blue Cow visualized a comic book that would be informative and enjoyable for the younger generation and at the same time relevant to the needs of the children and their families. Bautista’s ideas for the comic book merged well with the company’s objectives, thus Private Iris was born.

Each issue of the comic book comes with a free code, which parents should use to spark their children’s money management skills. The free gift plus the financial fitness lessons embedded in the stories create a reading experience that is fun, meaningful, and practical for today’s generation.

The comic book is Jamie Bautista’s latest project lined up after a career in teaching comic book classes in various universities and the creation of the long-running comic series Cast. With him is graphic novelist, Arnold Arre, behind the award-winning graphic novels The Mythology Class (1999), Trip to Tagaytay (2000), After Eden (2002), and Ang Mundo ni Andong Agimat (2006). Arre is also busy doing art for Cast.

"Jamie and I forged a friendship when we went to Korea together to attend the Bucheon Comic Festival, about three years ago," Arnold recalled, "We’ve been working together for quite a while already when Blue Cow called on him to do a children’s comic book. Jamie asked me if I was game to work on this project with him and of course I was more than happy to do so."

Arnold’s unique drawing sensibilities brought to life the stories and ideas that Jamie had for Private Iris. "I wanted to make the personality of the detective just as interesting as the mysteries she solves," Jamie said of the comic book.

Jamie’s character-driven and relationship-centered stories combined with Arnold’s Filipino-inspired sensibilities have resulted in a comic book that is reflective of the real world and relevant for its young readers.

"I think the fact that we both have very similar philosophies on writing and comics and liked each other’s works helped," Jamie said. "Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought an artist of Arnold’s caliber would do art for me."

Especially geared for the young generation, Private Iris features stories on friendship and the youth’s struggles to fit in and standout told through compelling mystery cases that can entertain both the young and the old.

"One thing that makes Private Iris different I think is the level of complexity the story has," Jamie said, "I’ve always maintained that this is a comic book for smart kids, as I believe that most kids are smart. Private Iris tries to show kids the magic that is present in science and the real world."

"Private Iris makes science and discovery more fun for kids," Arnold added. "I think it can also make kids more interested in learning about saving for the future. And it being locally made, Filipino kids will be able to relate more to the characters. Kids will definitely be able to relate more to financial issues if a role model they can relate to is the one explaining the idea to them," Arnold said.

The first step in learning is appreciating the medium from which such values emerge. Private Iris is poised to become a treasure chest of both excitement and knowledge that aims to encourage its readers to further read and live-out the lesions they have learned.