Babbling Point

TRESE in Manila Bulletin In the world of Alexandra Trese, heroine of the comic book series "Trese," there are many things that go bump in the streets of Manila whenever darkness falls, and the city’s enthusiastic club-goers only make up a small portion of it. Manananggals, tiyanaks, tikbalangs, and duwendes make their presence felt when the lights go out, and it is Alexandra Trese’s job to keep them in line. Read the complete interview at: http://www.mb.com.ph/issues/2008/11/01/YTCP20081101139546.html TRESE in the Philippine Star The spell both Budjette and his partner Kajo cast comes not from their influences mentioned in past interviews like the comic book “Planetary” or “Twilight Zone” but rather from Neil Gaiman’s “Sandman.” The heroine Trese calmly interrogates a rich dragon man who is heir to a Chinese mall empire and in another panel seeks help from a Quiapo merchant who can talk to cats. The world of “Trese” is a place where you must suspend your disbelief and accep...

Imagine, if you were an aspiring comic book writer or artist, and you were living in 1980, what opportunities would be available to you? Around this time, the local komiks industry was still doing well and if you worked hard enough, knocked on the right doors, you could get yourself published. If you wanted to work for Marvel and DC Comics, then it would be best that you already know certain people working for those companies. You could try and send a cold submission via air mail (or if you could afford it, via FedEx). What if you wanted to create your own comic book character and publish it yourself? Well, that was almost unheard of back then. Jump-cut to 14 years later. Imagine, if you were an aspiring comic book writer or artist, and you were living in 1994, what opportunities would be available to you? Around this time, desktop publishing software was becoming more affordable. Photocopier machines now produced better copies. Colored Xerox machines also started to arrive in the co...