Komikon Virgin

Well, I do admit it was my first time: I was attending the 6th iBlog Summit at the University of the Philippines on Saturday and I thought of passing by to check out the Komikon at the nearby U.P. Bahay ng Alumni.

Serendipity aside, I sometimes had a chance of passing by previous incarnations of Komikon but never got around to doing it. But this time, my office colleagues and I had lunch at Chocolate Kiss on the 2nd floor of the building and I thought I might as well drop by.

And what a sight there was to see there, with indie and self-published 'zines and comics on display on creators' tables all over the place. There was Bayan Knights, Gerry Alanguilan's Elmer (which I finally bought a copy on convention discount), Budgette Tan's Trese, Manix Abrera's 12 (with ads proclaiming his next kikomachine output), Laban: A Love Story, Kubori Kikiam, Philippine Adventure & Romance Stories,...

There were also anime series on DVD being sold, as well as cosplay clothes, collectible toys, graphic novels and-- of course-- lots of mainstream comics from DC, Marvel, etc. The PinoyWriMo were also there, hand-selling their e-novels to passersby.

What was interesting for me was the can-do spirit of the comic book creators at the event, of how they've managed to put in their love for the form and the storytelling medium to come upw these works using their own time, money and effort.

The other interesting thing that happened to me at the event was that, while dining at Chocolate Kiss, Gerry Alanguilan sat down at the next table and I went fanboy on him to get my copy of Elmer signed, which he gamely did.

Would I wish more creators were like this, eh?