Trese (Graphic Novel) Review

Trese is a graphic novel about a young woman who hunts monsters from Philippine folklore in Metro Manila. The story was written by Budjette Tan and the art was done by Kajo Baldisimo. The collector's edition I have, Book of Murders, compiles the first thirteen episodes of the award-winning franchise.

To be accurate, Trese, the titular character, does not actually "hunt" monsters for its own sake. She's more of a detective  who solves murders that involve supernatural elements that the regular police cannot handle. The comic reads more like a police/detective story with each episode being a separate case for Trese to solve. All episodes involve some kind of creature from Philippine myth.

Minor spoilers ahead!

The Trap of Philippine Folklore

If I may go a bit off tangent here; I'd like to talk about Philippine folklore and the problem of its overuse in Philippine stories and graphic novels. Now, I'm not bashing Trese just yet and this is only my opinion but if the reader will indulge me, I believe getting this out in the open will help get my point across better regarding how I feel about this book.

The point I'm trying to make is that Trese, as a concept, is not unique. I've read and observed many local works of the same nature and have concluded that most of them suffer from the overuse of the  usual mythical monsters like Aswang, Tikbalangs, Manananggals, Duwendes, Kapres and the like. Look, I get it. We're Filipinos and this is "our thing". Am I supposed to be tickled by the appearance of these creatures as some kind of cultural in-joke? Well, maybe the first time. But now that they're so common and dare I say, "commercialized", it's a little too easy and almost lazy to just jam them in there for the cool factor. It must be taken a step further. See, it's not the appearance of these monsters that's impressive but what you do with them and this is a point to Trese's favor.

What I liked about Trese the most was how it set out to "modernize" the old concept of the Philippine monsters. Let me cite an example: In the second story, "Rules of the Race" Trese has to catch this anonymous illegal street car racer whose racing people to their deaths. She challenges the mystery racer and with the aid of wind spirits, she beats him. He gets angry and reveals his true nature. Long story short, the racer was a Tikbalang who, being a young colt, was a speed demon who enjoyed running faster than even the fastest cars in the illegal circuit.

Oh, yeah!

This I like. It's a Tikbalang but one as I've never seen before. It's a Tikbalang who tried to sate his restless primal urges by becoming a fucking street car and racing people who also have a similar need for speed. It's clever, creative and modern. It's the spin the story puts that make it more interesting than showing a more traditional interpretation of a Tikbalang or worse, a Tikbalang contributing nothing at all to the story. This is one of the things I like about Trese. It has it's own take on the myths and doesn't make excuses. It turns into a car. Deal with it.

The Story

I've already given a bit of spoiler with the Tikbalang story and I don't want to reveal too much anymore. All I can say is that the stories on each episode add their own twists to the other common creatures of Philippine folklore. The stories themselves are well written. It helps that the setting is in the Metro Manila, the farthest you can get from the forest and mountain wilderness these creatures normally inhabit. It's amusing to see how the creatures adapt to the world of man. There's an opportunity for a bit of social commentary too which was played around with. There's a story about gated communities and abortion but it doesn't get too deep into it. I wish it did but it's probably for the best it didn't. It's more about Trese and the monsters and not politics.

Trese also isn't afraid to pull from the pool of the more modern myths so it expands on Philippine mythology in it's own way. There's  an episode inspired by Darna, the Philippine super-heroine, who was created in 1947. It's nice that it moves forward. It fits it's overall feel of modernity.

One thing I don't like about the story though, is how it sometimes seems a little too convenient for Trese. The nice thing about making up your own "new" world is that you can rewrite the rules. It's easy to make the mistake of just pulling a solution to a problem out of thin air. It seems, at times, that all Trese needs to do to solve a problem is to ask a favor from some entity. Now, I don't know if that's an intentional commentary on the Philippine's style of patronage politics (scratch my back, I yours) or what, but it just gives the impression that the solution comes from out of nowhere. She also uses methods that I'm not familiar with but have to accept anyway. If that's the case, then people who aren't very familiar with the folklore will have to blindly accept, which isn't necessarily a bad thing by the way. I doubt someone like an American will get this book but that doesn't necessarily mean he can't enjoy it. Frankly, I like it more when Trese uses more of her own wits to solve her problems or relies instead on the physicality of her two mysterious guardians.

It's a very minor gripe and only involves a few of the stories. But then again, if it is to insist on it's own interpretation of things then so be it.

The Art

Well, what can I say? I'm not an artist so most of this is just how I see it. The art serves its purpose in telling the story. I never paid much attention to it so I wonder if what I'm about to say is necessarily bad or good.

I'm not really a big fan of this kind of "style" of drawing. For lack of better words, it looks "smudgy" to me. The whites, grays and blacks look bland at times. If there's on really negative thing I can say about it is that some parts of the book lack detail and I don't know if I should blame the artist or the lack of colors. Take this page for example:

It looks bland to me. It get's the job done but it isn't particularly pretty to look at. The bookcase just disappears into nothing and they hug in nowhere. Again, I'm no expert and I'm willing to blame this more on tight schedules or the lack of color preventing details from being put in. What I'm trying to say is that a lot more could have been done to make it eye-catching.

Shades of Grey

Obviously, you can't say this for every page. Some pages are better than others. It is what it is. It's not distracting at least and I understand going full color may have been cost-prohibitive or something. "It get's the job done." That's all.

Conclusion

Trese is a good read and I found it pretty entertaining. It's clever though sometimes a bit too clever for it's own good. The twists in the stories are well done though any disagreements with the folklore and fantastical elements will just have to be accepted. The additional notes in the collector's edition, Book of Murders, fills some of the gaps readers may not be familiar with.

The art swings between bland and good. It's OK but sadly, that's about it.

Overall, I recommend this book to any interested reader, Filipino or otherwise. The modern twists, better written stories and risk-taking makes this work a cut above the rest of its competition.