Summer KOMIKON 2011

Best. Summer. Komikon. EVER!

The Philippine comic book community flocked and converged under one roof last April 16, 2011, Saturday at the Bayanihan Center for one the summer’s most awaited comic book event, the Summer Komikon. The day was something else, lemme tell ‘ya. I took table A09 for the Komikero Gang as our base of operations for all the many things we had planned for the day. Some of the highlights include:

Lapis at Papel

Photo by Laarni Tadeo.

I was once again drafted as an auctioneer together with Johnny Danganan, Gerry Alanguilan as we raised money for Sister Melinda Malacaste’s “Lapis at Papel, Kulang pa” (which Johnny is helping) which aimed to provide under privileged school children with school supplies for the coming school year. Joining us on stage was Edgar Tadeo who generously donated two original artworks which we managed to auction off for Php 5,600.00.

Back at the JonasDiego.COM table, superstar artists Harvey Tolibao and Heubert Michael Khan were doing a marathon sketching event, drawing a sketch for everyone who donates any amount. They eventually raised Php 5,075.00 giving us a total of Php 10,675.00.

People also came in and donated supplies (pads, pencils, sharpeners, etc.) and anything they can.

In behalf of Sister Malacaste and Johhny Danganan I would like to thank everyone who contributed and gave their time and effort to help kids go to school. Actually, Johnny daw was just holding back the tears (na-touch daw siya).

Pocket Comics and Komikero Komiks...LIVES!

The Summer Komikon also saw the launch of my new full color comic magazine, Pocket Comics featuring five ongoing stories that’s sure to catch your fancy whatever genre you’re into. Special thanks to Jamie Bautista and LSA Publishing who did an amazing job printing the book. It simply looks awesome!

The event also saw the re-launch of Komikero Komiks, the Komikero Group’s quarterly comic publication featuring a brand spanking new production team headed by Johnny Danganan (Editor in Chief), April Ann Ricafort (Production Manager), Neil Amiel Cervantes (Creative Director), and still published by JonasDiego.COM. The guys really did an amazing job of putting out the issue. This edition of the Anthology features an R-18 warning much to the delight of some fans. Ha ha ha!

Also at the table were Freehand and Starchild and Jaganauth from the UPLB Graphic Literature Guild (GLG), our official student organization partner, which also experienced brisk sales.

Salamat sa lahat ng bumili ng comics namin!

Other Stories

The day also saw me being one of the judges for the Komikon Character Making Contest and I am happy to report that there were some pretty interesting entries this year.

I also gabbed it up with a few people I haven’t seen in ages: Nikka Uminga and the IllUST folks (yes, I will make it a point to visit you guys again in UST one of these days), Budjette Tan, Kajo Baldisimo, Carlo Vergara, Ace Vitangcol, and Paolo Fabregas (congratulations on the launch of your graphic novel, dude). I also finally met Manix Abrera’s fiancé (who is a very lovely lady indeed) when they dropped by to give us our invitations for their wedding (weep, fangirls…weep!).

There were a lot of other people I wanted to interact with unfortunately time was limited with all the things that were happening. Sayang, hindi ako nakapagpa-sign kay Sir Tony de Zuniga (inatake ako ng hiya…he he he!).

The venue was really top class! It was a lot easier to get to, the air conditioning was very efficient, and there were a lot of places to go to for food (just across the street). I also saw a lot of quality comics this year (some are quite ready to go pro in my opinion) which is a very good thing. The Komikon guys really have outdone themselves this time around and I for one can’t wait for the main event!

Kitakits sa susunod na Komikon!

Other Summer KOMIKON Posts!

Hazel Manzano
Rocket Kapre
Reimaru
Beerkada
Johnny Danganan