Trese in FREE PRESS

Where Adam David writes about his Best Books of 2009 for the Philippine Free Press (January 10, 2009)



TRESE By Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldisimo (Visprint)
A series of slick done-in-one stories, exactly like CSI, only it’s steeped in traditional Pinoy monsters and mythologies and the main protagonist is a goth chick with guns and emo hair. It’s a working off of the more common vein of action horror comic books and once you really read into it there is certainly a formula to the construction of the stories themselves. But Trese manages to rise above it all above it all by simply resorting to the most obvious thing: it spins us a good yarn page in page out. Tan and Baldisimo show us what can be done with formula, why formula work, how formula can work for you, all the while not making it seem like formula. Komikero all over should not only read this for the words and art but also study it for its craft as there is certainly craft at work here. There are currently two books out, both utterly smooth, available absolutely everywhere (with good reason).

a postcard from the dream king

Last Monday, got to work and saw this on my desk. It took me awhile to realize who sent it and when I did, my jaw dropped; which was the the reaction of the other people who saw the card. (They'd squint, try to read the signature, ask who sent it, flip the card, see the sender's name and their jaw would drop right beside my jaw)



Thanks so much for the nice copies
of Trese -- I can't wait!
They look amazing! --Neil Gaiman


And I had this silly smile on my face for the rest of the day.

TRESE: One Last Drink at the Diabolical

...Alexandra saw a new group stumble into the club. They were lead by a man who smiled at every girl that looked his way. His red jacket seemed to blaze in the crimson lights of the club.

He looked around and smiled even more. He liked what he saw.

He popped a cigarette in his mouth, placed his finger on the tip of the cigarette and a bright blue flame shot out to ignite his Malboro.

“Brim Yap Tan,” Trese cursed under her breath.

Read the complete story at:
http://diabolical13.blogspot.com/

Tracking down TRESE

TRESE is now available in the following stores:

Best Sellers
Druid's Keep Comic Odyssey
Comic Quest
Fully Booked
Pandayan Bookstore
Sputnik

Powerbooks
http://tresekomix.blogspot.com/2009/12/trese-in-powerbookscomph.html

National Bookstore (available nationwide)
http://tresekomix.blogspot.com/2010/05/order-trese-at-national-bookstore.html

These stores have already ordered TRESE and all their branches should them in stock. In the bookstores, they're usually found in the Philippine Fiction section. In the comic book stores, they're usually found with all the locally-made comic books. If your local branch or favorite bookstore/comic book shop doesn't have copies, just go to their customer service counter and give them the following information:

1
TRESE: MURDER ON BALETE DRIVE
Published by Visprint
Authors: Budjette Tan & KaJo Baldisimo
ISBN: 971-92574-7-4

2
TRESE: UNREPORTED MURDERS
Published by Visprint
Authors: Budjette Tan & KaJo Baldisimo
ISBN: 971-92574-9-0

3
TRESE: MASS MURDERS
Published by Visprint
Authors: Budjette Tan & KaJo Baldisimo
ISBN: 971-94569-0-6

Tell the bookstore that they can reach Visprint via:
http://visprintpub.blogspot.com/
book_inquiry (@) visprint.net

Hope this makes it easier for you to find copies of TRESE.

Many thanks for all the support!

p.s. in case you do find copies of TRESE available at your local store, please post it here so that other readers will know the specific branches where it can be bought :-)

Trese 2009