For this special online edition of 13 Letters Down, we did a very quick Q&A with Kajo Baldisimo, artist and co-creator of TRESE.
What comic books are you reading now? What was the last comic book /graphic novel you read that you really liked?
I keep re-reading WATCHMEN (ang aking paborito) from time to time and I’m still in love with it. Pero, teka… if that’s not counted , uhm… the latest comicbook I’ve read na nakaka-aliw … Kiko Machine ni Manix.
Who are your favorite artists?
We’ll run out of paper if I put everyone kaya siguro yung top 5 lang: Jim Lee, Nestor Redondo, Fernando Amorsolo, Alex Nino, Mar Santana, Alex Ross… saka Hal Santiago.
Why the change in art style in this issue? What inspired this?
I’ve been experimenting since issue 1, looking for that definitive TRESE look. I want something gritty yet clean (an’labo no?). I think I’ve hit it with issue 7. This is the same style I used dun sa Trese pinup sa Ish 1. I will be re-drawing Trese 1-6 after I’m done with Trese 13.
Who was your basis for Alexandra Trese?
Part girlfriend ko (Hi Divine!). Part Major Kusanagi. Part Maja Salvador. Part KaJO Baldisimo. Hindi ko pa po napapanood ang Underworld nung ginawa ko yung Trese 1 (actually, hanggang ngayon) so hindi po based kay Kate Beckinsale si Alexandra.
Who’s your basis for the Kambal?
The Kambal’s design is loosely inspired by those Matrix mumus. And their maskara is based on a Mananggal mask I made for the story ‘The Last Datu’.
What ever happened to NWA? Will you ever finish that story?
I’m writing Sopas’, Panic’s and Gagam’s stories everyday. But I won’t draw them ‘til TRESE is done, so sorry po sa mga mambabasa ng NWA.
firstly, i'm not kajo, the drawer of trese. i just used his name so he'll end up using jonathan, or jojo or ricky or lenlen, whatever other names...
ReplyDeletesometimes i like his art and sometimes i don't. maybe there is science to that erratic feeling but i don't know.
maybe because, one time, i looked at his art in this trese site just right after my girlfriend of one year broke up with me which made everything i see, quite ugly. even the pictures of misa campo i googled right after, came out very wrong. it must be then that my judgement of the world is no longer accurate and was quite rather tainted.
maybe i like kajo's art after all...
i don't know...
Dear "Mr. I'm Not Kajo The Drawer of Trese",
ReplyDeleteIt's always good to get feedback about TRESE, whether it be about its art or story or both.
Glad that you (kind of) like Kajo's art.
Hope you like it more when you see the new TRESE stories later this year.
--budjette tan
p.s. Kajo has be using that nickname ever since he was grade school. So, I doubt he'll stop using it anytime soon. :)
Nice to know the artist on a personal level through the use of blogging as a medium.
ReplyDeleteIt is nice to see that new 'pinoy comic book writers/artist' uses blogging and are not 'kuripot enough' in sharing their works online.
From a sociological stand point, blogging is a unexplained sociological voyeur phenomenon. I would not be surprised if ever blogging and some pinoy myths do become a part of a story in Trese.
Wished you just can come with a compiled version of all trese comic books in a, say, hard bound format. Keep up the good work, Sirs!
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ReplyDeleteto think about it, alex does have certain features that kusanagi has. and i when i bought the trese comic book yesterday, i literally coudnt keep my head out of it. I loved trese because i've always been entranced by the myths that the philippines contain. like the vampires of europe we have our own resident mumu's. it's nice that we could learn more about our heritage even if it is from a comic book. May you always be blessed with the imagination to keep up the good stuff you did.. XD
ReplyDeleteHi Hannah!
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for the kind words.
Hope you like the new case that will be part of TRESE: BOOK 2 ... coming out soon! :)
--budjette