She's Back

Trese: Unreported Murders
Budjette Tan and KaJo Baldisimo

Fate and family put me in charge of this city. I will run it my way.

This is the second dead tree compilation of Trese's mostly after-midnight romps solving crime perpetrated by the otherworldly beings from a treasure trove of creatures populating Philippine mythology.

Alexandra Trese, to the uninitiated, take the cudgels of hmmm, what exactly? She's a protector of the city from fantastical beings out to harm humans. She keeps the balance and somehow ensures that both human and non-human creatures co-exist in the metro. Something to that effect. It is never clear why she is saddled with this responsibility except that it is probably hereditary as previous cases mentioned her father or grandfather if I remember the first collection correctly. And she has these two bodyguards called The Kambal (vernacular for twins) who are powerful as well, but comically enough uses guns and wore masks most of the times.

Readers would probably lump her in the urban fantasy/horror category. It's also a graphic novel. Irrespective of categories, Trese is a fun, tension-filled ride through the streets of Metro Manila and its mostly unseen demonic and/or angelic inhabitants.

This time around Trese is called upon for four new cases:

A Little Known Murder in Studio 4 deals with the violent murder of an up-and-coming young actress supposedly by a well-known cinema legend on the set of the latter's autobiographical film. But evidence in the crime scene suggests the hand of a duwende in the mix.

The Outpost on Kalayaan Street is a story of justice. And zombies. Lots and lots of zombies. Ayayay!!!

Embrace of the Unwanted tells the tale of the tiyanaks haunting the parking lot of a mall in Ortigas Center.

The Association Dues of Livewell Village feels like an episode straight from Twilight Zone. But you have to get the compilation to read it all.

Then again, most if not all the cases Trese takes in are like that in one form or another. That or The X-Files standalone episodes.

As usual, Baldisimo's art brings to life Tan's masterful storytelling. The few pages allotted for each story is complete as it is, brimming with life or horror depending on the situation at hand. But in the end it's the stories that count. And the stories are worthy indeed of praise. Episodic yes but while elements of familiar Philippine mythology are used, Tan never forgets that he's writing crime tales with real-life people as victims. And he has the pulse of the Pinoy everyman/woman as well.

Of course for us born and bred in this country, every story reminds us that we live in a place with a tradition of storytelling filled with magical, fantastical creatures of old; beings that brought about a lot of pamahiin (superstitions). Not only that, Tan seamlessly incorporates them in the now. He also injects in a few local urban legends along the way I can't help but laugh in spite of the seriousness of the crime involved.

Another great compilation in the series. Now Tan has given me another reason to be wary of the streets of Manila.

If you're not from the Philippines you can read the series online. Click on the four titles above for them. Or click here and visit Alexandra Trese's world.

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This is part of my Readers Imbibing Peril III reading pool.