‘Trese’ amps up the water and danger levels

The official launch of Trese #6, “High Tide at Midnight,” at Comic Odyssey at Fullybooked, Bonifacio High Street, came at the height of the maddening holiday traffic last Saturday, December 13, that was worsened by the torrential downpour. If you believe that art imitates life then you’ll wonder if writer Budjette Tan and artist Kajo Baldisimo are merely telling the stories with a third eye.

“High Tide at Midnight” is easily the thickest book of the lot and approaches graphic novel proportions as it counts 66 pages (hmmm another six hundred of pages of this and I’d say, “Necronomicon”). Tan and Baldisimo up the ante as it isn’t only the floodwater levels that go up but the danger levels as well with the introduction of meaner and viler villains who are out to upset the cosmic balance.

The Taga-Dagat attack Barangay Pacifica in a nefarious scheme to gain more power. The designer drug Shift is introduced and this causes massive problems for everyone, Trese and the Kambal included. For the first time, we see the three seriously bloodied and battered that they have to call in the Marines in the form of supernatural heroes like Seepul, Metalero and Verdugo to name a few (including the return of Maliksi) who band together in a moment that has the feel of the All-New All-Different Uncanny X-Men of Len Wein (and Chris Claremont) and Dave Cockrum. With the stakes higher, there are bound to be casualties.

And like AMC’s hit television series The Walking Dead, you’ll wonder who among the wonderful and interesting cast of supernatural heroes will – pardon the word – shift this mortal coil. And part of the treat is seeing the reunion of the Treses.

Now speaking of Dave Cockrum, who as artist breathed new life into the then re-launched mutant title of Marvel’s, Trese #6 also finds Baldisimo in top form. His art is easily also the best of the series. His art is arrestingly more refined and yet, more detailed. You notice it immediately as you turn the pages.

I remember during the launch of the first Trese Book, Tan, an acquaintance already from the early Pinoy Komiks scene, signed my book, “Don’t be afraid of the dark.” It is something he usually scribbles when signing books. I’d venture to say after reading “High Tide at Midnight,” would you look at floodwaters in a creepy manner as well?

The return of the Madame in a bigger role hints at a drawn out and protracted war. She is too much of a foe to be felled easily. Could the Madame be to Alexandra Trese what the Kingpin is to Daredevil? Will she along with all the new players put on the board be a part of what I have been informed will be Trese’s last issue, which is the 13th (the creators admitted that the last page has already been drawn but getting there from the seventh issue to the last has yet to be mapped out)? A war is brewing and the questions are mounting.

And perhaps the most pressing one is, “So when’s that seventh issue coming out?”