Komikon was held at SM Megamall, which is far more centrally located and accessible than its usual site at UP Diliman. But it was also held at the same time as a mall-wide sale was taking place, filling the building to near capacity. While the shopping crowd mostly stayed away from the convention area, this made navigating the rest of the mall a nightmare. In addition, there were two other conventions taking place and using-up the rest of the available exhibition floor space.
One aspect of timing that could not be controlled was that the Komikon took place after the Manila area was hit by back to back typhoons. Gerry Alanguilan organized several Ebay auctions to help fellow artists and other typhoon victims. His efforts were extended to several live auctions at the Komikon. The pieces I did see sold anywhere from ₱1000-5000 (around $20-100).
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| Syeri Baet, Jonas Diego, Gerry Alanguilan auctioning off an ELMER slipcase |
The Komikon was also held in conjunction with the first Philippine International Cartoons, Comics, and Animation (PICCA) Festival. More on the organizers of the event can be found in this article that's very much in the "go team comics" spirit. The only time the two events converged was the announcement of the winners of certain student cartooning contests. Apparently the next festival will be held in Quezon City. No word yet on the venue for the next Komikon.* The event was also the occasion for the launch of The First One Hundred Years of Philippine Komiks and Cartoons written by the academic John A. Lent. He made an appearance at Komikon. This is the only book I'm aware of that sold out at Komikon. The author, who edits the International Journal of Comic Art, was there for a short Q&A session.
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| John A. Lent |
Finally, the event put up a retrospective exhibition of the work of Francisco V. Coching and Alfredo P. Alcala at the far end of the hall. Most of the artwork displayed were reproductions obviously, but there were pages of what looked like original art, including samples of Voltar:
They don't draw like that anymore.
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*Update: the official site is conducting a poll on where and when to hold the next Komikon.
Update: The winners of the Komikon Awards have been posted. The biggest no-show at the event was best creator/best graphic novel winner Arnold Arre - creator of Martial Law Babies. The 2nd biggest overall winners were Mangaholix creators Groundbreakers Inc.
