The Philippines is not replete of great writers and artist. When it comes to the field of comic book writing Carlo Caparas, Mars Ravelo does come to mind. But as of late there are only a handful of great writers and artist. I have decided to add Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldisimo's Trese to my own collection of pinoy comic books; which isn't tha tmuch as I only own the following: Arnold Arre's Myth Class, ZsaZsa Zathurna, Love is in the bag.
If I were to classify the comic book trese it would fall along the lines of a horror/noir comic book. We rarely see a comic that tries to stand on its own and making its own universe believable as in Trese. What makes read worth it is the price. At 140pesos, it does not come as expensive as the compiled Myth Class of Arnold Arre; my only gripe to that book is the shoody binding of the book after 5-10 readings the pages come off.
For Trese, the binding is ok. The art is in a class of its own. If you love stories of John Constantine and some shades of Sandman. This book is perfect for you. Don't expect a laugh out loud stories, this is not a funny book nor does it try to be.
Do yourself a favor and support our home grown talents like Tan and Baldisimo. You can buy a copy at National Bookstore, I got mine from the SM Cebu City branch; its a walking distance to my residence around a good 15-20min walk.
You can also visit their blog
Hello Sensei :)
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for the wonderful review and the comment you left in the TRESE blog.
I'm hoping that as soon as that other copy of TRESE is bought that National Bookstore will re-order. Hoping that more people can get to read our stories.
We also hope that we can travel to Cebu and other places outside of Metro Manila, so that we can meet more readers and promote Philippine comic books. No plans yet, but I don't think it's completely impossible that we will do such a tour.
I know there's a handful of comic book creators in Cebu and Iloilo. I once got copies of POPCORN comics from a friend over there.
Would be great if they can organize their own version of the Komikon.
Thanks again for the kind words and the support.
--budjette
Hmm… Interesting review. I’m getting more and more convinced to buy a copy of Trese.
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