Summer 2011 Komikon

WELCOME TO KOMIKON!

Finally, after several attempts to attend a Komikon, I finally made it! It was only through Gerry Alanguilan's tweet that I found out there was one. This was last Thursday. I had to beg/force Jan to promise me that we will go. There has just been too many times that I missed it! Unfortunately, I was stupid enough to forget my camera so I had to do with photos from my iTouch. Kainis.

We arrived around 11AM. I actually wanted to get there earlier to participate in the games. Hahaha! But well, it's really no fun to rush on a Saturday morning. It was good that the venue was quite large. There were just a few people in the morning but I was certain there would be more coming in the afternoon.

Indie tiangge of comics. Comics as low as P20!

Animahinasyon clips were already showing on the screen. I'm happy to observe that we have so much potential with animation. There was a Siopawman clip shown, as if a trailer for a cartoon series. I'm not sure if it is for real though I very much hope it is.

This little girl was enjoying the shadow art style animation.

I was happy to see that there were a lot of independent comics producers. Many of their products were actually just photocopied original art. I think that adds to the charm. In case any of the guys that I bought would become rich and famous, I would have a collector's item. :P

Comic Odyssey also brought their comic book store at the Komikon. They discounted their stuff to as low as 80% off! I actually wanted to buy the X-Men: Days of Future Past and X-Men:First Class. They also had single issue comics and I saw one Sin City title and New Mutants #21 which went for P20. I wanted to get it too! Two things stopped me - 1) I did not budget for it and 2) I was intent on supporting local comics for this event.

The Comic Odyssey section.

Another section of the indie tiangge

Around lunch time, they had a Hero Sausage sandwich eating contest. The host asked for 10 hungry guys to come on stage. One of the guys who went up was Danny Acuna (more on him later). The winner would, of course, be the one who ate the sandwich fastest. I didn't really bother finding out who won.

Danny Acuna is the guy in black with white hair.

It was the girls' turn after the boys finished. At first, there were only three girls who came up. It took a lot of prodding before the ten contestants were completed. Again, I did not bother waiting for the winner. :P

Enjoy the sausages, girls!

After a while, Jan and I decided to go around the venue to look at the comics sold. I was also intent on looking for the celebrities of the Philippine comiverse. I actually brought with me the three volumes of Trese, the first compilation of Kiko Machine, 12 and Andong Agimat for the writers and artists to sign.

We bumped into a couple of Jan's friends from UP Fine Arts who had their own booths. There was Elmer Damaso who created Cat's Trail with his wife. We also bumped into Carl at his Electromagnetic Tentacle booth selling shirts that gave foreign superheroes a local twist. Jan bought the Lobo for me and Dirty Harry and Green Parol for himself. I also wanted to get the Batmanananggal and the Friendly Neighborhood Spiderfight but our funds were not up to our whims anymore. :P

I also bought three comic books from Macoy. I discovered that he was from Gabay, an organization in the Ateneo. I love his artwork!

THE HOTSHOTS

Pol Medina, Jr. was there! It's awesome how he was able to sustain Pugad Baboy through the years. Up to this day, I love the humor of PB. Unfortunately, I rely on my brother for PB comics so I did not have any for him to sign. I was thinking of buying one but then I really had to be smart with my purchases so I just took a photo. Next time, I will get my bro's stuff and have them signed instead. :P

I saw a Freedom Wall. Since I can only stick figures, I just had my photo taken with it instead. There's a little drawing that's trying to hit me in the head though. :P

A few months back, I heard about the Filipino Heroes League through Jonas Diego's blog. I wanted to get it but have yet to find it in bookstores. Finally, I was able to lay hands on it today. It was a surprise to find out that Paolo Fabregas of the Coca-Cola "Bridesmaid ka lang" commercial with Belinda Panel actually created the comics! I've only read the first two pages so I could not say anything about the story, but I really liked the artwork.

Paolo Fabregas, FHL creator. :)

My signed copy of FHL!

I was most excited about meeting Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldisimo, the team behind Trese. I absolutely love Alexandra Trese and the Kambal. The characters and the concept are superb! And how I wish they can produce as many issues as possible! I'm so in love with the comic that we bought two collector's items posters -- "Maliksi" (#157 of 1300) and "Hannah and Ammie" (#57 of 1300) I also bought Presinto 13 which Budjette did with David Hontiveros.

We saw Manix Abrera there as well. It's Jan who's really the fan of Kiko Machine. I liked his work on 12 most. It's amazing how you can tell so much without words! I would say that Manix is the best when it comes to signing his comics. He takes so much care in doodling your name and writing with care plus a little drawing to match. Rakenrol!!!

Manix signing my copy of 12

A sample of his meticulous autograph signing. Asteeeeeg!

THE LEGENDS

I felt bad that I did not know much about the Filipino legends in comics. I saw this old guy who reminded me a bit of Stan Lee. He was signing some posters, so I knew he was someone big, someone younger artists looked up to. At first I thought he was Alex Nino, the guy which Neil Gaiman mentioned as one of his favorite artists when he was younger. Upon more snooping, I found out he was Tony de Zuniga, creator of Jonah Hex!

I had to get something from the man! At first, I wanted to get the Star Wars poster, but I decided to think about it first. Mali! It was sold out by the time I decided to get it for my brother. I had him sign a Conan the Barbarian poster instead. While I was enjoying the signature on the poster, I realized I was envious of my bro. I decided to get one for myself as well. While the Jonah Hex posters were exquisitely done, it was much too dark for my taste. I decided to get an illustration I liked but I absolutely had no idea who it was. Hehe! Still I finally have a Tony de Zuniga signature!

I only had my photos taken with Tony de Zuniga. Here was after he signed the poster for me.

The poster he signed for my bro.

For my bro.

For me. Any idea who she is?

I also several other old guys in the event. I tried as much as possible to get their names, but it was a bit difficult. It would have been better if the organizers put some name plates or their names on the IDs so the fans can easily identify them. I was unable to find out the name of the guy below. Sayang.

I discovered one of the other legends present was 87-year old Jess Jodloman, who illustrated for some horror-mystery comics in the US.

He seems intent on the Komikon newspaper.

There were several other artists I was trying to get hold of, but it was a bit difficult. The last two I was able to encounter were Rico Rival and Danny Acuna. Rico Rival did some work in the US but was more prolific with the local comic scene.

Rico Rival in yellow and Danny Acuna in black. Both of them were sketching for clients. DA was doing mine actually. Hehe!

I already said that Danny Acuna joined the Hero Sausage eating contest. During the contest, he showed the host the empty wrapper of his sandwich as if saying he won. When the host asked him if he was done, he showed his half eaten sausage. It was at this point that he endeared myself to me. He was a funny man with a quick smile that I could not help but be drawn.

When we were looking around and he was doing a sketch of a young man, he talked to me and said, "ikaw sunod." I agreed even without knowing what his style is or how much it costs. I just wanted to have a moment with a legend. I also bought three of his comics, each at P30. So he did sketch me...

Danny Acuna doing my sketch.

As usual, I was conscious so I was laughing while he was sketching me! I had a headache from smiling too much.

One just had to pay a donation for the sketch. Jan bought some Filipino comic artists portfolio for P300, I bought three of Danny Acuna's comics for P90. In total we gave him P500. He gave me a fourth comic for what we gave him. He's adorable. :)

His signed works.

His sketch of me. Not too much like me but it's still a DA work of art!

Overall, it was a great day of comic bliss! To be in the same room with all these artists really made my day. I ended up spending much more than I expected but I really don't mind helping out struggling artists or affirming established ones. I dream that the comic book industry in the Philippines prospers and reaches more people in the country and even abroad.

Looking forward to the next Komikon in October/November!