Book: Trese, Midnight Tribunal

The past couple of months have been hard on my online life as I’ve only logged on for matters of utmost importance. Meaning, I check my e-mail once in a while, but when there’s no work coming in, I log back out and do work offline. This helps with focusing and not procrastinating, yes. But it also, quite successfully, took me out of the online loop.

So yesterday, when I went to Komikon 2012 at the Bayanihan Center in Pasig, it was a complete surprise to discover that the fifth volume of Trese is out!

“In a city where the aswang control everything that is illegal and where ancient gods seek to control everything else, enforcing the law can be a very difficult task.

When crime takes a turn for the weird, the police normally call Alexandra Trese. Lately, it seems like others have been taking that call.

A mysterious racer has been breaking the speed limit, running after and capturing criminals.
A masked giant has been demolishing drug dens and breaking up gangs.

Trese must confront these supernatural crime-fighters and bring order back to the city, before the underworld attempts to seek balance in its own way.“

This volume of Trese differs a lot from the previous four books in that it isn’t an anthology of the titular character’s cases. Sure, it’s still cut into chapters–but the whole book is one narrative that slowly unravels the bigger picture.

I must say, I really like this change.

While I completely love the previous volumes of Trese, there are times when I wish the stories were longer, that we get to spend more time with Trese in any which time so we could get to know her better in that point of time. The short stories are so stand-alone that it’s hard to pinpoint exactly where in Trese’s timeline they happen. And so one of the biggest draws of a continuing title doesn’t work for Trese. We love the main character, we buy the books–but we are not emotionally attached to Alexandra Trese. Not in the way we are with, say, Ada and his superhero counterpart, Zsazsa Zaturnnah. Because in Ada’s case, we get it all: the highs, the lows, and the parts where nothing much is happening.

In Midnight Tribunal, we finally spend a good amount of time with Trese–and she’s as stoic as ever. Nothing still chinks her armor. But, on the plus side, we get more characterization for the Kambal, the twin Aswangs who are Trese’s right- and left-hand men. And even Maliksi, the Tikbalang bachelor we’ve met in one of the previous issues. He makes a return, and from what I can take off from the end panel, will be playing an even larger role in the coming stories.

The one thing I liked most about Midnight Tribunal though is that writer Budjette Tan was able to play with twists and red herrings. Because he’s not ending a story as soon as it starts, we get that Trese is not infallible, that not every case ends with her whipping out her kris and demanding katotohanan (truth) from whatever witness or piece of evidence is left behind. We see her do some actual grueling detective work.

Last Seen After Midnight, the fourth volume of the Trese series, was able to satiate the reader in me. Midnight Tribunal takes it a step further. Putting the book down, I already want to know what’s going to happen next. Especially with the introduction of new characters, ones that look like they’re staying for a good long while too.

According to the Trese blog, Midnight Tribunal should be out in local bookstores by mid-November.

Book: Trese, Last Seen After Midnight

“Foul play. Magic spells. Supernatural criminals. When crime takes a turn for the weird, the police call Alexdra Trese.“

Trese: Last Seen After Midnight is one of my most anticipated books of 2011. And I’m very happy to say that it delivered in all my expectations. If there was anything I would complain about, it’s only the fact that I was done reading it before the book launch even started.

The fourth Trese book follows the format of the first three: four short stories that happen independently off each other. What separates the fourth volume from the first three though is the magnitude of the stories. Creators Budjette Tan and KaJO Baldisimo doesn’t shy away from reality in this volume, marrying our reality with their created world. In Cadena de Amor, the first story they previewed online last year, Trese comes across a police case that is very reminiscient of the Ruby Rose Barrameda news item that shocked many people back in 2009. And, of course, we have The Fight of the Year which has a hero you can mistake for a certain world-renowned boxer.

I have to say, I do feel a little disappointed that we don’t find out more about Alexandra Trese the character. This isn’t a complaint so much as it is an observation. I understand that the creators wanted sulf-sustained stories. But the fanboy in me was looking forward to delving into Trese’s life after the awesome Mass Murders. The closest we get to peeking into Trese’s past is a throwaway line in Wanted Bedspacer.

With these said though, Trese: Last Seen After Midnight is a must-buy for any Filipino Horror enthusiast. Or anyone who loves horror, actually. And since it’s in English, it’s international reader-friendly too.

You can catch Budjette Tan and KaJO Baldisimo on the upcoming Komikon this coming November 18, at the Bayanihan Center.

And if you’re not happy with how I wrote my reaction to the fourth Trese book, check out the Geek Out! review of the volume.

 

Event: Trese 4 Book Launch

October 8, 2011–who knew it would be that big? Well, we had an inkling. And I’m sure creators Budjette Tan and KaJO Baldisimo knew that it was going to be swamped. But for people like me, who have been to launches that were either populated by family and friends, or attended launches that had crickets in the audience, we had no idea it could be that big.

I’ve been exposed to Trese since college years since my days as a writer/producer for an entertainment website (why pretend I’m younger than I am? Haha,) but it took last year’s Filipino Horror challenge in this blog to actually turn me into a fan. After reading the first three volumes (especially the third one), I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the next book. And then Cadena de Amor came out online. Then, earlier this year, I got a copy of The Fight of the Year–with a note saying that Trese 4 was coming out very soon. And after a few more months of waiting, a friend tweeted about the a date that writer/creator Budjette Tan was teasing Trese fans with. Sure enough, it was the date of the fourth volume’s launch.

Of course I made sure I’d be there.

As usual, I went to the event venue early. I do this to case the joint, and then grab a bite to eat before settling down for a long wait. But when I got to the venue an hour before the event was supposed to start, people were already occupying seats. Mr. Budjette Tan and Mr. KaJO Baldisimo themselves were already mingling with the early attendees. Or their friends. Who are also fans of their work, and not just there because they’re friends. Obviously, I didn’t bother with my launch-ritual of going somewhere else to eat first. I grabbed the nearest seat to the makeshift stage and I waited.

I didn’t have to wait long. After the lengthy interview by TV5, the program proper started. Host Jiggy Cruz made small talk, revealed the Trese-fied iPad that National Bookstore is raffling off to the luckiest Trese fan, before getting on with the grilling of the creators. A short question-and-answer with the fans followed, some of which gets touched upon in the embedded video below.

An apology to the quality of the video coverage. This is only the second time I’ve done this, and since you haven’t seen the first one–it was obviously a failure. The background music’s a bit louder than intended, and some of the anecdotes/answers were cut out to keep the video short. But hey, it’s something new! Going back to the event…

The place was packed. Packed! But it wasn’t until the autograph-signing session that I actually saw how many people came out to support the launch of Trese 4. There were two lines of people snaking throughout the loft of Bestsellers’, with the people in each line hoping they were the ones in the right line. Both were, actually. The Bestsellers’ people thought to let the lines stay, with the lines merging somewhere in the middle–prior to reaching the creators’ table.

Do I even need to say that the event was very successful?

book: trese, mass murders

on to the last (as of now) volume of TRESE: MASS MURDERS. my fourth book off the filipino horror pile.

in my previous post, i said that “the second volume of TRESE is, in my opinion, leagues better than the first volume.” and i stand by that. but the third volume? is in a league of its own.

i’ve raised my questions about the series in my post about the first volume. those aren’t all of my questions, but those were the ones i thought were important as a backgrounder. MASS MURDERS manages to answer most of the questions in a mind-blowing way.

a bit of an aside; i’m a fan of continuity and reusing secondary characters, so i really liked MASS MURDERS and how it incorporated previously known information and previously met characters into a wonderfully (and tightly) woven story.

all five issues included in the third volume was a rise to action, moving towards the epic climax in the final issue, AN ACT OF WAR.

i also loved how alexandra trese’s strongest allies, the kambal (the twins), were very much integral to the final arc’s plot. and how they were taken out in the alexandra’s last case to give a sense of foreboding, of whether alexandra will survive or not.

my only nitpick in this volume is the huge gap of time between alexandra’s quest and her return in case #12. right before alexandra heads to her quest, we are introduced to a whole new bunch of characters who, i thought, would make the world of TRESE more colorful. but a page later, most of these characters were explained away. well and good, as that would explain why they were never mentioned in the first two volumes. but by the volume’s end, i kind of wished that at least they’d merit another mention.

going back to filipino horror though, TRESE: MASS MURDERS is definitely not a candidate. the whole arc is teeming with characters from filipino folklore, but it is more fantasy/action than horror. and the departure from horror made me a bit sad, since that was one of the things i liked most about the previous volume.

but i am looking forward to the fourth volume. hopefully, we’ll get more light into alexandra’s life there.

and moving on to a different topic; blogger will has a competition up and running over at his blog. a competition to win a novel written by chuck palahniuk. go and check it out!