 When In Manila and on the search for some awesome comics and amazing comic artists, Komikon is definitely an event you don’t want to miss!
 I first attended a comic book convention back in fourth year college. It was held at a conference hall at our university. My friend tagged me along and I had nothing to do that day so I thought I should go with her anyway.
It turned out to be a great event! What came to my mind was that I would attend more comic book conventions if I get the chance to.
Well, that’s exactly what I did. I attended the Summer Komikon 2012 last May 26 at Bayanihan Center, Pasig City.  I brought my friend Joy along since she was the one who invited me to attend the first comic book convention I went to. We wanted to arrive on time and the event was 10 AM to 7PM so we left Makati at 9AM. We arrived at 9:30 A.M. When we arrived, the line was so long!
Look at that line! Â And it’s half an hour before the doors open!
When we got in, we wanted to do a quick walk around the venue before stopping at all the stalls. Now, what caught my attention first was the 20% off at all comic books by National Book Store. I was eyeing to buy Gerry Alanguilan’s Elmer and to have it signed that day so it’s cool that I was able to buy it at a cheaper price.
20% off on all local and international comic books!Â
Then there’s ComicxHub’s stall. The staff there was really nice! I was bugging them about lots of stuff but they were very accommodating. I asked them why they had a card catalog of comic books at the event.
I thought this was some sort of card catalogue of comic books.Â
I am mistaken! It’s just a neat way of displaying the comics. Cool.
We also saw some Summer Komikon merchandise being sold. There were pins, ID laces, eco bags, and shirts. Joy and I bought  ID laces.
Summer Komikon 2012 MerchandiseÂ
Some people were crowding up at one spot and when I peeked at what was going on, it was because people were free to try out the Intuos graphic tablet. The booth person was offering me to try it but I said I can’t draw to save my life. Of course, the attendees were also talented like the comic book artists gracing the event!
Also tried on some cute character hats from Bini Boshi! Saw a lot of people walking around with their Bini Boshis on.
Cute hats by Bini Boshi
Chibify yourself. Should have tried this one.
We took a little break by a corner and had a glimpse of the whole venue. It was jam-packed! So many people in the same room with a love for all things comics.
A pool of comics and comics-loving people!
Not all activities were comics-related. There was a drawing contest in the morning and a Hero Hotdog Eating Contest in the afternoon. Â I was by the stage when the host called out for 5 hungry men who wants to have a hotdog sandwich for free. Â And hungry men came flying up to the stage! They heeded to the call!
Then we went around, looking at each stall one by one. Randy Valiente was there. I met him before at the Urban Sketchers Anniversary Sketch Walk. You really get to meet interesting people when you go to events. He’s the first and only comic book artist I know.
Randy Valiente, Jerri Barrios, and Seb Chua: the Pilak boys
I also dropped by a stall and the guy there asked “So you’re from When In Manila? Awesome!” I said, “Yes! So what’s your name?” He answered, “FPJ.” Yes guys, I have talked to FPJ. lol. And he blogs too at Manual to Life!
 FPJ, the comic book artist action star!
Such bad-ass looking comic artists with a cute collective logo.
They’re from Ice Cream Indie, a comic book artist group from Bacolod.Â
 Rommel Estanislao in the house. His comics’ covers looked so cute!
The man behind Zsazsa Zaturnah, Carlo VergaraÂ
The artists of Trese being interviewed by the pressÂ
Pol Medina, Jr. was also there! Of course everyone knows about the iconic Pugad Baboy comics series.Â
After going around, Joy and I finally approached Gerry Alanguilan for an autograph. I have read Elmer before because a friend lent her copy to me. She bought it before when it was just being sold at comic conventions. I really loved the story line and the unique idea of having chickens as the protagonists of the comics. Â He was also at the first comic book convention I went to and 4th Young Multimedia and Graphic Artists’ Summit held at DLSU last year. Ok, now my fangirl self is showing! Can’t wait for the Amazing Adventures of Jose Rizal. Rizal in a Sci-fi comic book!
Drawing a chicken, Gerry Alanguilan style
The guys from Manila Bulletin was holding this sign up when we passed by
After I got my comic book autographed, Joy and I went out to fall in line. She wanted to have her Kikomachine 8 signed by Manix Abrera. The line was so long, and I mean looooooooong. Â Gotta hand it to the fans of Manix for their patience and deidcation to have their comic books signed.
 We saw a lot of people drawing on these 3-panel gigantic boards and
then it hit us that it was for the Manila Bulletin contestÂ
A cute couple waiting in line and reading their Kikomachines
We were in the line for over an hour and I was getting bored. I noticed the comic book the guy beside us was reading and he said it was Beerkada. He lent it to me because I think he sensed my boredom. Â We got to chat for a while and he said he goes to Komikon twice a year.
JC while reading another comic book ‘coz I was reading his Beerkada Â
Then we noticed that the dude at the back was drawing for the Manila Bulletin contest. We snooped at what he was doing and it looked really nice. Found out we were batch mates. He also had this file folder with him with lots of his artworks. We were teasing him into giving us one since his works looked great. Turns out he was with a group called Kami Naman that had a booth at the Indie Tiangge inside. He gave us copies of their comic book!
Being in line for two and a half hours was a blast with these new friends!
Dario (farthest left) while talking to some of our other “line”mates
And yes, after two and a half hours… Joy finally got to go inside for autograph signing. There was still a line inside but at least JC, her, and Dario were so close!
 Rak en rol!
Next task we imposed ourselves was to find the three artists featured at the Komikon poster. First we found Freely Abrigo with the awesome hairdo. He was really nice and his works look cool.
Freely Abrigo
Beside Freely’s table was Elmer Damaso’s. He was really busy with his fans and comic book buyers, gladly entertaining their questions and request for autographs.
 Elmer Damaso
The two of them had their talks at Conference Rooms B,C, and D earlier but we were going around that time so we sat in at Heubert Khan Michael’s talk. It was a very inspiring talk. He said the comic book industry is slowly getting back on track because of the movies. The Avengers for example; some people say Sino ba si Avengers na yan?! (Who’s that Avengers person people are talking about?!) then they’d know it was previously a cartoon. When they get to the cartoons, they’d ask if it were from cartoons and they’ll find out that they’re from comics so people read the Avengers comics. He also said that aspiring comic books artists nowadays are lucky because the industry is not in a cookie cutter manner now. The readers are more open to new concepts and new ideas so artists can freely express themselves in their comics.
Heubert Khan Michael giving a talk
Another highlight of the event was the pre- The Milla in Manila appearance of Mark Millar. He had an autograph signing the next day but dropped by at Komikon that day. The crowd went insane when the host called out his name. Three attendees of Komikon was chosen from a raffle and got the chance to take home a signed copy of his new comic book and get their photos taken with him. Lucky,lucky fellows.
The Milla in Manila!Â
Before going home, we passed by this booth that had a fishbowl with lots of tiny folded paper in it. It was one of those piso raffle things and I tried out for five.
Luckily, I scored one and got a free fortune telling session. I asked “What would be my career five years from now?” Lico answered, “It has something to do with hospitality management and entertainment. But it has a high lay-off rate.” Now what could that be? Hmmmm.
The tarot cards have spoken.Â
But wait… I was at Komikon, but where are the comics, you ask. Well, here’s some snaps of some interesting ones we found!
 Comics, comics, comics!
It was such a tiring but fun,fun,fun day! Did I say fun? I will surely attend the next one! It’s really great to see all these people supporting the local comic book scene.
So When In Manila, show some love for the local comic book industry while having a blast at the Komikon comic book convention!
 SUMMER KOMIKON 2012
Website: https://www.komikon.org
Facebook:Â https://www.facebook.com/komikon.org
Twitter:Â https://www.twitter.com/komikontweetsÂ
Comic Convention Philippines: Comics, Geeks, Super Heroes and more at the Summer Komikon 2012
