Enter the exciting supernatural world of Filipino folklore comics with Trese

As an Englishman, who has lived most of my life in Asia, please allow me to share with you the riches of Filipino comics. And please take note, because numerous Filipino creators have made names for themselves in the international comic book scene. In fact, a comic by two of them Budjette Tan author and Kajo Baldisimo artist, will soon debut on Netflix.

Credit: Budjette Tan from Rick Olivares Introduction to Journalism course.

When we talk about comic books, we normally think of the American, DC or Marvel universes, or the darker European works by Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman etc. even the Japanese anime scene. However, the comic universe gains from every worldview it engulfs, so get ready; the Filipinos have arrived.

The comic TRESE Vol. 1: Murder on Balete Drive, delves into local Filipino folklore. Growing up with English folklore hearing of the ‘troll’ under the bridge, the ‘will-o'-the-wisp in the marshes’ etc. these visions were exciting and real. Arriving in the Philippines my imagination was sparked anew by the Cebuano, ‘dwende’ and the ‘nuno sa punso.’ This was a whole new world to explore, stories to devour and often elderly Filipinos would enchant me with these tales. 

Credit: Ablaze Publishing, Kajo Baldisimo and Budjette Tan

The original Filipino readers of Trese would know, if you walked over the roots of a Balete tree, you had better ask permission and show respect to the tree and spirits that dwelt within, or else. Indeed, the Balete is a type of strangler fig, and Balete Drive is infamous as a haunted avenue in Manila, that seems to stretch on supernaturally. The initial readers would not even need to see, or open the comic to start the adventure, it would be understood from ‘Balete Drive’ that a legendary white lady would be there, waiting for them, on the first page. Just like an English child knew of the troll waiting for him under the bridge.

Interviewing the author of Trese, Budjette Tan, you sense that telling stories is his passion, not his job. In fact, his day job is working for Lego, where he is their senior brand creative, taking the lead on all new advertising projects.

Lego is all about imagination and he impressed Lego enough to lure him away from his native land. When he moved to Denmark he says, “I had to spend time figuring out the culture of the country and the company. One of the things I had to let go of was I thought I was a veteran creative, but when you move to a new country you are a novice, you have to begin again.” This beginning again as a novice, serves him well as he expands Trese into new markets and media forms.

TRESE Vol. 1: Murder on Balete Drive is finally being released for an international readership this September. United States-based publisher Ablaze, are set to release the cult comic internationally and orders can already be placed on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Trese-Vol-Murder-Balete-Drive/dp/1950912191

Credit: Budjette Tan

Trese is no ancient story, but is set-in modern-day Manila, and the legendary Filipino ghouls and spirits are depicted in politics, corporate greed, black market managers, sporting fixers and others in human guises. This brings a whole new dimension to the battle of good and evil, but the roots of the tales are deep in the Filipino supernatural; stories that you would regularly hear in the Philippines. He explains, “What I have done is to use Trese as my vehicle, as a detective, to investigate all those stories I grew up with and never had closure on.”

Regarding the transition to animation, Budjette says, “When we initially wrote Trese, we didn’t have an international audience in mind, but we started to get emails from foreign readers, and they didn’t have a problem understanding the folklore, it actually added to the intrigue. I also suspect, because it is so easy to Google, ‘kapre’, ‘manananggal’ or ‘engkantos,’ readers from other countries can easily look them up. The basis of our folklore, still has that vampire like creature, or werewolf like creature – except it looks like a horse (in Philippine lore) – so that it still has the basis of our magical creatures. So, they can start with a good understanding of what this creature does, and what is so magical about this creature, but later they can dive deeper.”.

The daunting task of pitching a Filipino comic to an international market fell to BASE Entertainments, Tanya Yuson and Shanty Harmayn and it has not been without its setbacks. Hollywood moguls eyed it, and one even dared to suggest adding a ‘love interest’, for our heroine mystical detective Alexandra Trese. Budjette laughs at that now but rejecting the change and maintaining artistic integrity cannot have been an easy choice, yet he says with each setback Kajo reminded him, “Tuloy naman sa komiks” (Let us continue with the comics). When finally, Netflix signed the deal, the creators only allowed themselves a small, “yeah”, but us fans celebrated on their behalf, knowing this deserves an international audience.

Do you need to understand the whole pantheon of Greek mythology to enjoy The Iliad? No! You learn as you read and Trese opens the door to a whole new mystical world:

"When the sun sets in the city of Manila, don’t you dare make a wrong turn and end up in that dimly-lit side of the metro, where aswang run the most-wanted kidnapping rings, where kapre are the kingpins of crime, and engkantos slip through the cracks and steal your most precious possessions. When crime takes a turn for the weird, the police call Alexandra Trese."

There are a lot of positives the world can learn from Filipino culture, which stresses social harmony, and this ethos is often reinforced by Filipino supernatural stories; i.e. Tell a child that if they go out at night, an ‘aswang’ may eat them, and you can be sure they will not stray. In England it was the bogyman. These stories teach that actions have consequences, and has that not been what stories have been doing for millennia? Filipinos know that refusing to show respect to nature, your elders, family, or the unknown, can result in misfortune and this has helped shape the unique Filipino worldview. The western world can also learn from their interdependence which is vastly different from western independence, or the non-confrontational culture of Filipino respect. Indeed, all Filipino languages have words used to respect elders. One thing that the Philippines can impart to the world is that glorifying youth at the expense of respect for our elders, often comes with the consequence of a western nuclear family with little support from, or for, those who brought us into the world. A glaring problem exposed during the pandemic with the deaths of elderly in care homes, often dying unvisited by family due to lockdown.

While much of the western world may condescendingly dismiss the unexplainable, it lacks a sense of awe for the unknown. Filipinos make sense of the unknown through respecting it and hopefully the adaptation of Trese can open the door to even more Filipino creatives who can teach the world, not just about the fascinating intricacies of Philippine folklore, but about a respectful culture that sees Filipino workers in demand worldwide; because Filipinos care deeply about how we are all interconnected.  

Now, hopefully, with Trese going global, more Filipino writers and creators, many world class, will get the international audience they deserve. It is no accident that global advertising agencies have been headed up by Filipinos, Lego being just one example. Filipinos know how to tell a good story and it is time the world was enchanted by them.

Credit: Ablaze Publishing, Kajo Baldisimo and Budjette Tan

Trese, coming soon to Netflix. Executive Director, Filipino-American Jay Oliva, (Directorial experience includes: Justice League Dark, Batman: Bad Blood, Batman vs. Robin, Batman: Assault on Arkham, Justice League: War, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and more)

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