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COMIC BOOK REVIEW: ‘Trese 6: Hightide at Midnight’ – A Supernatural Storm

 
trese 6
trese 6
trese 6

 
Overview
 

Story by: Budjette Tan
 
Art by: Kajo Baldisimo
 
Publisher:
 
FG RATING
 
 
 
 
 
4.5/ 5


User Rating
2 total ratings

 

Raves


Introduction of new characters showed a bigger world for Trese; so far, it has the best fight scenes in the series; Improvement in art especially in the details

Rants


The detective elements were lessened to give way to the action; inconsistencies in The Madame's and Trese's faces; the previews seem to have shown half of the book


To sum it all up..

TRESE BOOK 6: HIGH TIDE AT MIDNIGHT follows the titular character as she once again tries save her city from the supernatural, but this isn’t one of her usual cases.

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Posted December 12, 2014 by

 
FULL REVIEW
 
 

trese 6

Trese 6: Hightide at Midnight follows the titular character – Alexandra Trese, as she once again tries to save her city from the supernatural. But this isn’t one of her usual cases.  There’s a new drug going around that can give you the speed of a tikbalang or the strength of an aswang. At the same time a storm that is actually an elemental, who has another agenda, is growing stronger. On the flooded streets of Manila, Gangs of Taga-Dagat creatures are preying on the innocent.  Though things might seem bleak for our heroine, her kuya , the Verdugo, and his “squad” will fight by her side. But will that be enough to save the city? Could all these be connected? Trese might always be working in the dark but her real enemy has yet to reveal herself from the shadows.

[Check out… LET’S TALK KOMIKS: Budjette Tan & Kajo Baldisimo swim to HIGH TIDE AT MIDNIGHT – Trese Book 6]

Trese 6: Hightide at Midnight follows the same format from Trese Book 5: Midnight Tribunal were all the stories are connected throughout the book and not the usual one “case” story that we’ve seen in the other books from the series. Budjette Tan’s storytelling is the same as the previous books but with some changes. The story was fascinating on how it was written to begin from different starting points then weaving them together throughout the comic. The Trese series has been known for its detective noir & mystery, but Book 6 separates itself by being as action-packed. New readers need not worry that they might not be able to follow the events of Trese Book 6. It is still a good to reads on its own. Budjette introduces a lot of new characters in the newest installment. Much like how he introduced characters before, he won’t reveal their whole back story. But will give us hints of their origin. Budjette leaves us characteristics of characters that make them interesting and captivating thus making us want to find out more about them. Nobody was left out and everyone had their own spotlight moment.trese6online chapter2 page04 kambal

Kajo Baldisimo’s art has once again changed compared to the last book. His balance between black and white before was already a nice touch on Trese, providing that dark atmosphere, but now his shading and detailing has improved. The creatures looked sinister enough without having to make them look disgusting. His illustrations of the fight scenes successfully relates to the readers the intensity of the battles. The gore here is just the right amount. It is not too gruesome to make you cringe but it still looks detailed enough to express the intensity of the fight. Though there are many new characters, each of them was drawn with their own details and doesn’t look too generic.

Though with enhancement of  the art, there were still some points in the book you might notice. Specifically, panels in which Trese was drawn with eyes bigger than usual (almost manga-like). Though they are appropriate to show surprise and delicate, they seem to be too out of character. The other was the inconsistency of The Madame’s face. One look at her from the previous book and you’ll already recognize that she’s a derived from a certain former first lady. In Book 6, she bares less resemblance to her previous illustration, even so as the story progresses.

Alas, though it might have improved a little from before there are still some fault in this latest installment. Giving way to the action-packed elements of the book seemed to cost it some of the detective and mystery elements that we usually find in each Trese story. Not that there wasn’t any but it’s easy to notice that it was reduced. The previews that were released months before were almost half of the book. If you haven’t seen them then there is no problem. If you’ve already did you might feel a little regret reading it but fret not that was just mostly an introduction.

Trese 6: Hightide at Midnight is a satisfying installment to the Trese series and also a good enough jumping point for new readers. Though there might have been some flaws, they are not that extensive to ruin your reading experience. With all these characters and plot set-up, who knows what might be in store for us in the future. With the holidays season just around the corner, this might be a gift that is worth giving.

 


Luigi Cabrera

 
Enthusiast of things geeky, weird, and random. He finds peace in writing.


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