My Future Activities

I just posted this on Facebook and Twitter.

"I can see a time when I'll be limiting all my activities to San Pablo City, even comics conventions. That means a revival of the San Pablo Comics Festival. Considering this seriously."

I can delude myself by saying it's to help decongest the traffic in Manila, but it's just me just getting plainly sick of the big city, the pollution, the insane traffic. Mainly it's for self preservation because I want to be where I feel I'm healthiest, and because of mobility problems that make it difficult to travel long distance. A single trip to Manila for one day wipes me out. The last Komikon event was amazing, but I just got too tired by the end of the second day, which actually led to some health consequences that I'm still paying for today.

I will make my final stabs at Komiket and Komikon next year, 2018. But I'm afraid they'll perhaps be the last events in Manila I'll be attending. Perhaps my team can be there to sell my books in 2019 and beyond, but I myself won't be there anymore.

There are currently no comic book related events in San Pablo City, so that most likely means I'll go and have to revive the San Pablo Comics Festival. The first one was held in 2003. A new festival will be the fourth one. With Johnny gone, it will be much harder, but the owners of Tia Maria's Sining at Kultura have agreed to have festivals like this at Roño's Place. It's out of the way, but if the event is held there, it will be much easier for me to manage. This also means the Komikero Artists Group would also need to be revived for additional manpower and support. Well just have to promote it like crazy so people in San Pablo and surrounding areas would be aware that such an event is taking place.

Clearly I have gone beyond simply "considering it seriously".

At Komikon 2017

It's always nice meeting up with my old buddy old pal Jonas Diego specially at Komikon. It was a special Komikon for us because our mutual and late buddy Johnny Danganan received a posthumous Comic Aid award for his numerous charitable efforts to help comics creators in need. I pirated a bit of Komikon's recorded live video footage of the awards, inserted a special video that I did of Johnny and Jonas receiving the award on behalf of Johnny's family.

As far as Komikero Publishing goes, I think it was a pretty successful one for us. We sold a whole bunch of Bakokak as well as Elmer and Rodski. It was fantastic seeing all my old friends and meeting new ones. I'm specially proud of Kevin. His work on Bakokak seemed to have gone over well with readers and I'm glad to have had a little hand in introducing him to a wider audience.

I really owe a debt of gratitude to the Komikon organizers who have so graciously and generously helped me out with some of my concerns. Because of them I stayed at the event far longer than I scheduled to, and had a great time in the process.

Thanks also to Danry Ocampo for helping me out by getting copies of some new indie komiks that I wanted to get. I wasn't sure if I was going to get the chance to go around much so it helped having an extra set of Danry's legs to help me get these comics.

Of the things I've read so far, Puso Negro by JP Palabon and Please Take Care of My Heart by Gioseppe "Loser Mangaka" Custodio were just so hardcore that I couldn't help spewing profanity as I read them. P*cha, E 'di KOMIKS by Toto Madayag is always funny. Ultimo by Ruvel Abril was very exciting and has excellent artwork. I have yet to read the rest. I must mention the reprint of Dante Perez's "The Cursed" (bottom row, third from left). I was so glad to see this in print. A rare work of a master Filipino artist who passed away too soon.

I'm also very grateful to my wife Ilyn and my ever present Komikon crew: Zara Macandili and Edjee Chozas, and Ilyn's niece Kyla Florese in her first Komikon ever.  I would not survive Komikon without these guys.

In spite of the two annoying typos in BAKOKAK (which are entirely my fault, argh), I thought it turned out well. I'll be sure to correct that in the second printing.

Bakokak Launches at Komikon 2017

My first new graphic novel in three years, Bakokak, launches at Komikon 2017 this November 11 and 12 at the Bayanihan Center in Pasig! I've written it and artist Kevin Ray Valentino illustrated it. The Komikero Publishing table is located at A49 and A50 (see map below).

All Komikero Publishing material will be sold at those two tables including Bakokak, Elmer, Rodski Patoski: Ang Dalagang Baby, Crest Hut Butt Shop #4, original inked at from Marvel, and official Bakokak merchandise bundles (with Bakokak, pins and shirts) in partnership with Green Turismo. Bakokak artist Kevin Ray Valentino will be at this table to sign your books!

However, I will be located somewhere else (for various reasons that I really can't explain at the moment). I will be sitting, for both days,  at table B72, near the screen. I will not be selling any Komikero books at this table. I will just be on hand to sign your books (and anything else you bring to me).

The Komikero Tables will be open for the entire two days. I will have a more limited schedule. At the B72 table I will be there:

Saturday, November 11

10am-1:00pm

4:00pm-6:00pm

Sunday, November 12

1pm-5:00pm

Thanks very much to Komikon for making this possible. I'm really looking forward to an awesome event! And I'm very much looking to share my newest book with you all!

Unfortunately, I still can't shake hands because of my vulnerable condition. I can get sick very easily, specially in crowded places. I really hope you guys understand and not take offense.

Axis, Komikon and Other Things

It’s been a very difficult couple of months for me, physically. I caught pneumonia late last month and as I recounted in my last blog entry, it was truly horrible. After I wrote that blog entry I thought it was all over, but much to my dismay, it took far longer to recover than I realized. It became so bad it affected my schedule for inking Axis. Although I still inked more than half of issue #8, I have to thank Jason Paz for stepping in to help, and specially to Leinil Yu, who has been very understanding of my situation and gave me as much room as he could. Leinil tells me that we won’t be working on anything new until January so that comes as a huge relief for me because I truly need the break.

I wasn’t feeling so good the day before Komikon that I seriously considered not going and just let Ilyn and Zara take care of the table. I was still furiously working on Axis at the time and there were still a couple of pages to do. I decided to go anyway because my printer ink ran out and I had to get some from Manila. It turned out to be an incredible Komikon.



My doctor has advised me not to go to crowded places and if I did, I needed to wear a face mask. I didn’t wear a face mask, at least for most of Komikon. I just decided not to shake hands with anybody and just stay at my table and not wander around. I hope I didn’t offend anybody by doing so. It just couldn’t be avoided. I asked my friend Danry Ocampo to wander around for me instead and buy me comics. There were a few new potentially good titles that came out that day that I just had to get. So thanks Danry! I haven’t gotten a chance to read anything much yet except for Manix Abrera’s “14” which was fun and interesting. Oh yeah, JP Palabon’s “Pera” was also hysterical.

My childhood friend Dan Yatco came to Komikon to visit me (dude on the left at the photo above). We’ve been friends since Grade 6 (Grade 7 for him because I’m accelerated hehe). We were also friends and classmates in High School and then again in college. It was me who actually convinced him to take up Architecture because I couldn’t bear to go to a new university by myself. I don’t think he’s particularly interested in comics, but he reads them and goes to these events because of me and that’s really touching. Sometimes there are friends you make for life.

Now I feel much better and I probably will be able to do some bit of work. There is another thing I have to do for Graphic Classics that has also been delayed because of my illness. I can probably start doing that again soon. I’ll most likely take it easy and ease myself in, maybe just a few hours at a time in a day.

Summer Komikon 2014

Photo by Jonas Diego

I think I’m still feeling a little dazed from Summer Komikon. It was probably the most physically stressful time I’ve had at a Komikon. My allergies were pretty bad that it’s embarrassing, specially since I had to talk to people a lot and do a couple of interviews. My bad knee also didn’t spare me and I had to walk around with a cane. People started calling me “Don Gerardo”. I hope it doesn’t catch on. I think I will be using that cane more often from this time on. It’s also embarrassing that I forgot the names of a couple of people who were, at some point, closely acquainted with me. I feel really bad about it.

Bad vibes out of the way, it was also one of the most spiritually rewarding Komikons I’ve been to because we launched “Rodski Patotski: Ang Dalagang Baby” and we sold a lot of copies. At a rough estimate, we sold around 300 copies, plus 100 copies of Wasted. The early feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. It feels just great knowing Rodski came alive in the minds of people. That’s what I really take away from this. That things I create find a life of its own outside of me.

Rick Olivares reviews Rodski for the Philippine Star. Thanks Rick!

Bad knee notwithstanding, I did try and manage to snaggle up a few things from other creators, a few of which was given to me (thanks very much!) The output this year has been very impressive. The quality of writing and art, and the quality of formats just keep increasing with each passing year. Here are the stuff I got, which is only a fraction of what was available at the event.

I post comments on titles I’ve already read (or are currently reading).

“K8″ by Jay and Jim Jimenez, published by Black Ink.

I’ve only read like 15 pages of this so far and I’m really liking it. Jim’s art is very impressively detailed and the story by Jay is very easy to follow. Unlike a lot of the Black Ink titles available, this one seems like it’s complete in one book, which makes it a nice, compact package that can stand on its own.

“Time Machine” by Apol Sta. Maria

“Kuatro Kanto 2″ by John Nano

“Abangan” The Best Philippine Komiks 2014

Edited by Rob Cham, Adam David, Carljoe Javier and Elbert Or
Published by Visprint

“Best Philippine Komiks” is a pretty bold claim. Thankfully enough, with names like Manix Abrera, Budjette Tan, Kajo Baldisimo, Bong Redila, Emiliana Kampilan, Paolo Fabregas, Elbert Or etc contributing to this book, it more than lives up to it. This collection is definitely some of the truly best Komiks to come out of the Philippines in 2014. I haven’t read it through and through, but the variety in this book makes it a perfect cross section of the best the Philippines has to offer.

“Sumpa” Chapter 1 by Paolo Herras and Brent Sabas

“BuhayHabangBuhay” and “Noodleboy” by Paolo Herras and Tepai Pascual 

“Adventures Inside the Glory Hole” by Carlo Valenzuela 

“Enter the Dragonfly” by Noel Carlos N. Caragay

“Alamat ni Manila Man” by Mike Ignacio and RH Quilantang

“Frequency One” by Andrea Catrina Tolentino, John delacruz, Tyrell Tan, Nate Piekos

“Lagimbal: Saving the Messiah” by Rawwrr Enrique

“Caution: Drugs/Sex/Rock ‘N Roll” by Rawwrr Enrique

“Komiks!! Atbp. Ultimate Edition” Edited by Jon Zamar, Artists: Various

“#CheesyFit”, by Mel Casipit and various artists.
Not strictly a comic book but a joke book with artwork that accompanies each joke. It sports a really nice Bong Redila artwork on the cover (Bong is fast becoming one of the most excellent Filipino cartoonists around), plus other art by guys like Macoy, Freely Abrigo, Randy Valiente and Mel Casipit himself on most of it. It’s actually very funny.

“Puso Negro II Part 1″ by JP Palabon

JP continues to offer some seriously uncomfortably funny stories, plus a character that will probably sear into your memory and haunt you in your dreams. I’m still going “OMG” whenever I see a visual image of it.

“Minkowski Space Opera, Chapter One” by Aaron Felizmenio

This is a very surprising comic book because it’s so different from anything else other local creators are currently doing, and it’s a huge departure from Aaron’s previous work, Gwapoman. This universe seems well thought out and very complex. Presented in full color, this is a very ambitious piece of work that’s a pleasant surprise to witness in local comics. I knew early on Aaron had the potential to be one of the big talents in the future of Philippine comics, and with this comic book he starts to fulfill that potential.

It’s also worth noting that the last two titles presented above have been printed and in full color. Local comics is definitely leveling up.

Public Facebook Summer Komikon 2014 Photo Gallery by Jonas Diego.

Thanks and congrats again to the organizers of KOMIKON. In spite of the bad traffic, in spite of many Manila residents have already left for the provinces for Holy Week, I think this year’s Summer Komikon still pulled off a decent sized crowd. The event itself seemed to have proceeded without any visible problems. Security has been vastly improved. Great job all around!

Komikon Day

It’s 4:22am as I write this. The Wasted Box sets are not yet done, but they will be at some point in the day. Rodski books are all set downstairs. We’ll be bringing 600 of those, 100 will go to Comic Odyssey for them to sell at their stores. I know 500 copies is optimistic, but that’s how I prefer to be, just in case! I’ll also be bringing 150 more copies of Wasted, along with a bunch of original artwork for sale.

I slept at around 10:30pm and woke up at around 1:30am. I’ve been drawing the Wasted sketches for the box sets as well as doing the letters. I printed out the list of Rodski pre-buyers as well as the Komikon ingress form. I’m still trying to think of what I may have forgotten… I’m sure I’ll forget something.

I still have to do a Wasted commission I’ve owed to someone since November. I still have to price more original artworks, cut the certificates of authenticity for the box sets, look for the reserved copies of Batch 72, and maybe a blog entry. Oh yeah, here it is.

Two Days to Summer Komikon

All of a sudden, I’m nervous. I have absolutely no idea what kind of reaction “Rodski Patotski: Ang Dalagang Baby” is going to get at this Summer Komikon on Saturday, TWO DAYS FROM NOW! I’ve always said I have strived to satisfy myself first and foremost, and if I was able to do that (satisfy myself), then I’m sure it will find satisfied readers as well.

But Rodski is a huge, HUGE risk. It’s the first full color book I am self publishing. At 2000 copies on it’s first printing, the cost of printing it was extraordinarily high. I could have bought a new car with that kind of money. Thank goodness the printer allowed me a deal that would make paying it much more easier. Would I break even? Would I make enough money to actually pay Arnold? Would it make enough money to pay off all my other debts?

I’m relatively confident that we will sell all of that eventually and if we do, I’ll be able to fulfill a lot of my financial obligations. I’m confident because it’s Arnold who’s drawing it, and he’s done a spectacular job. I think people will see that.

The book arrives here at the house tomorrow, and I’m very excited to see it.

While Rodski is a huge risk, I think RIZAL would be a much higher one. But that’s a story for another year. I’m already psyching myself up for that one!

Right now, Ilyn and I are busy putting together batch 2 of the Wasted Box Sets. Ilyn more than me because I also have an inking job to think about. So I’m inking, and doing the hand written letters and Eric sketches. Sara is helping out with the reproduction of the photographs and Wasted extras booklet.

Browsing Facebook I see a lot of other comics folk burning the midnight oil trying to finish their own books. It’s amazing to see such creativity and drive over something that’s driven by the love of something. So much new Philippine comic books coming out this Saturday. It’s truly a great time for Philippine comics. I’m so glad to be part of it.

Fund Raising at Komikon

The Komikero Artists group would like to make an announcement with regards to fundraising efforts through auctions at this Saturday’s Komikon. We planned these fundraising event a few months ago, initially to benefit our fellow Komikero in need, Vergil Espinosa for his medical needs. Then the earthquake in Bohol happened, and Lui Antonio contacted our group if we could help raise funds for that calamity as well. We agreed.

We will continue with our fund raising efforts for Bohol Earthquake victims as well as for Vergil at this coming Komikon.

We are fully aware of the great and unimaginable tragedy that has befallen our country within the last week due to Typhoon Yolanda. We understand that many of you would wish to help those victims as well. Please do not worry as we will have plenty of opportunity to do so. For this Saturday, we do wish to go ahead and raise funds for our original recipients: Bohol and Vergil, as this is what we have already promised to do.

There are now plans to have another fund raising specifically for Typhoon Yolanda victims. Since it is still currently being organized, we cannot share more info about it, but rest assured it is being put together will all due haste as we understand that the need is great and immediate.

Thank you for your understanding.

*The above ELMER illustration is one I will donate to benefit Vergil Espinosa specifically. It’s pen and ink on 11″x17″ art board.

Please check out this Facebook gallery to see what artworks are available for bidding.
https://www.facebook.com/johnnydanganan/media_set?set=a.751925151491241.1073741837.100000212889335&type=3

If you wish to bid right now, please send a PM to the gallery owner, Johnny Danganan. This will be a silent online auction, which will continue at Komikon until 5:30pm. Please contact Johnny for details.