My website, Komikero.com, is currently undergoing repairs so for the meantime, I will be posting updates here. I will eventually transfer all posts from here to my original site when it's fixed.
Last weekend was Komikon 2015, the first time Komikon was held for 2 days. I was excited about this because I have always believed over the last few years that Komikon has grown and must continue to grow. Adding more days to the event is one way of doing it. I don't live in Manila and to man a table for two days posed an interesting problem of logistics. I always rent a van for these events to transport our books. That meant renting a van for two days (which can be expensive). Do I get a hotel? That still meant getting a van for two days because I need to bring in and bring back books (which is more expensive). I decided to just get a van for two days and go home after each day. It could get tiring and expensive, but I thought I'd just find a way to earn enough money to pay not only for the transportation but for the cost of tables for two days.
I did find it tiring towards the end of each day. I apologize for leaving early and leaving my table with Ilyn and Zara, but I didn't want to wipe myself out too much. But even though it was tiring, it was all worth it. Komikons are always fun, and it's always personally inspiring to me to see what new things my fellow creators come up with. And this year didn't disappoint. I've so far browsed a few new titles and I'm very very impressed. The quality of stories, artwork and format have grown dramatically over the last ten years. A few of the creators who have been around making comics for a while have started to produce much more mature, much more professionally polished work. What I mean by "mature" is not "adults only" but a work that's more artistically sophisticated, benefited by years of experience and education. There's nothing amateurish bout new books like Josel Nicolas's "Bearings Windmills Volume One", "Light" by Rob Cham and Adam David and Mervin Malonzo's "Ang Subersibo". Looking at books like these make me highly optimistic about the future of Philippine comics.
The organizers of Komikon have done a tremendous job keeping things together for their first 2 day event. I remain thankful to them for taking the time and effort to create this event for the benefit of Filipino comics creators, readers, and Philippine comics as a whole.
Thanks to everyone who dropped by the table. Thanks to Iya Santos for feeding us continuously throughout the two days. Your cookies are awesome!
