Masayang ibinahagi ng isang Pinoy comic book writer ang pagkakapili ng kanyang sikat na comics na “Trese” ng American publisher na Ablaze.
Ito nga ay matapos ang ilang taon nilang paghihintay na mapansin ito sa labas ng Pilpinas.
Sa exclusive interview ng Star FM Baguio sa award-winning comic book writer na si Budjette Tan, inamin nito na masaya sila sa nalalapit na release ng kanilang obra sa Estados Unidos at Canada sa buwan ng Setyembre.
Excited na rin sila na maibahagi ang kanilang kwento sa mas malaking audience lalo na sa mga Pilipinong nasa ibang bansa.
“Obviously, we’re very happy and excited to get more readers and foreign readers. More importantly, Filipinos who have grown up in other countries who lost touch with our history and culture will now get introduced to Trese. Making Trese is also our way of paying tribute to everything we’ve learned about Philippine mythology and folklore.”
Kwento ng writer na ngayon ay naka-base na sa Denmark, mula raw ng simulan nila ng artist na si Kajo Baldisimo noong 2005 ang comics ay ilang beses na rin nilang sinubukan na ipasa ito sa ibang bansa, at matapos ang mahigit isang dekada ay nabigyang pansin rin ang kanilang likha.
“All these years, since 2007 or 2008, we have been sending Trese to editors and publishers abroad. Siyempre, matagal na rin naming dream na makapag-distribute sa States and as well as other countries. All these years, we’ve gotten rejected with our submissions. Sabi ni Kajo, he wanted to redraw, and let’s put it to Indiegogo. Because of that Indiegogo promotion, that caught the attention of a company called Ablaze. It is a new comic book company, but the founding members are editors who’ve worked in comics for a long time. They sent an email, and we said yes!”
Ibinahagi rin naman nito kung paano nabuo ang kanilang critically-acclaimed horror-crime black and white comics, na pinagmulan ng sikat na detective character na si Alexandra Trese.
“Growing up in the Philippines, we all have our stories from our lolo and lola about the aswang, the white lady of Balete Drive. I would hear a lot of these fantastic and scary stories. Combine that [with my love for reading comics], I wanted to tell my own comic book story about the detectives and ghosts and monsters, but I wanted it to be set in the Philippines.”
Marami rin umano ang naging pagsubok sa pagbuo ng kanilang obra na ngayon ay magkakaroon na rin ng upcoming Netflix adaptation.
“In 1995, [Kajo and I] were doing comic books, but it was in 2005 when Kajo said, ‘Budj, gawa tayo ng monthly comics. Basta bigyan mo ko ng 20-page script, tatapusin ko siya in 20 days. Gagawin ko siya tuwing lunch break.’ We both worked in ad agencies during that time. I honestly didn’t think we would get past issue number one, because life in advertising is super busy, but we finished one issue, until finally nakabuo kami ng isang libro, until we got a publisher. Sabi ko kay Kajo, let’s just do this for fun. Wag nating gawing business ito. Noong unang taon ng Trese, 30 copies lang ang pina-xerox namin, kasi ayaw naming gumastos.”
Ayon naman sa writer, wala pang pinal na petsa kung kelan ito mapapanuod sa streaming giant.
“The Netflix show is part of their anime series. It’s still in production and we will get news about it soon. Coming soon!”
Samantala, nagbigay payo naman si Tan sa lahat ng mga nasa comic book industry at sa mga nangangarap na mapansin ang kanilang mga likha maging sa labas ng bansa.
“Do it for fun. Don’t do it for the money. You need to love doing comics. You need to love drawing, writing. We now have so many super talented Filipino artists who are drawing for Marvel and DC comics. They are the guys you wanna look up to. They are making a living by doing the thing that they love. Me and Kajo, we still have day jobs aside from comics, so kailangan mo talagang mahalin ang paggawa ng comics. The more you work at it, the good stuff will eventually come your way. Kung nagkataon na maging movie man yan, maging toys, maging cartoon, mangyayari yun dahil minahal mo yung paggawa ng comics. Focus on the story you want to tell. Put your heart into it, and tell it as best as you can, and eventually, all the good stuff will good your way.”
