| Rating: | ★★★ |
| Category: | Books |
| Genre: | Comics & Graphic Novels |
| Author: | Budjette Tan and KaJO Baldisimo |
The story is not your cliche mystery whoddunit although some of the stories have that kind of ring to it. The story revolves around Alexandria Trese a vigilante type of heroine whose specialty is supernatural crimes. It sounds funny at first but the moment you opened the book, you'd be amazed at how cool it is. The places are real Manila locations and with almost accurate portrayals (almost because some names had to be changed by the authors). The criminals and the victims come from our very own Filipino supernatural - aswangs, kapres, tikbalangs and the like. What amazes me is how it also has some supernatural creatures that I have heard just now - Santelmo among others. It also adds a touch of creativity with regards to how they portray these creatures as clannish and exists among us - not that I believe it though.
Of the three volumes released, the third book has the highest excitement.The story revolves around Trese and the Kambal's origins. It differs from the other two in style in that the first two were divided into stories that seem to have no or little connection with each other. Whereas the third one is like a great graphic novel with one story.
I surely hope though that the authors would continue writing more. I can't wait for the 4th installment.
I'd have to give 3, because I did not like the first two volumes since the phasing was too fast, and could have been explored more. But the third volume pulled the rating up to 5, because the Kambal simply deserves it. I think it worked for them that they did not give much explanations for most things, since they are able to modify the story halfway through, like with the Kambal, I wouldn't like them as much were they portrayed as halfbreed aswangs, especially with their minimal roles in each story.
ReplyDeleteThe story is like the series Supernatural, except unlike being in a roadtrip and hunting to kill, Trese is more of a guardian of one place, and making sure that people (and not-people) follows the rules. I've always been interested in the supernatural creatures in the Philippines, and the way they portrayed them in this story; the mafia-like families, the gun-trafficking aswangs, and the likes makes us feel like they do live among us, and it adds to the thrill of reading this story.
I guess the phasing with the first two volumes is so because it's somewhat an introductory to the characters and to the type of story they wanted to present. Perhaps the authors weren't so sure if their masterpiece would be accepted by the public. So they wanted the public to be left hanging in the air so you could buy the next volumes. The first two volumes have their own thrill but I don't contest you in giving volume 3 a 5 because it really deserved it.
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