Going Small
As the nation's premiere event to showcase comics as an artform worthy of respect, Komikon is still a very young and fast evolving convention. Last year it partially left its original home in the hinterlands of the UP Diliman campus by splitting into two: A summer event at UP, and a fall event at SM Megamall, Mandaluyong (Or if you prefer, a dry and wet season event). They also teamed-up with the newly formed PICCA Fest to help increase their public profile. This year, Komikon's organizers decided to scale back to far more modest dimensions. The crossover with PICCA is gone. The biannual format was apparently popular enough to justify its continuation. But the change of venue from Megamall to the nearby Starmall caught most fans by surprise. The latter is a clear step down in the quality of facilities: The event space is smaller, the parking is terrible, and vehicular traffic at the building's location on the EDSA/Shaw blvd. intersection is hellish to say the least. But this arguably allowed its organizers to hold a cheaper, one day event. And they retain all the advantages of holding Komikon at a more easily accessible, heavily frequented, urban location.
Another dubious advantage of holding a smaller event is that it gave the impression of being better attended. Komikon hasn't released any official numbers for objective comparisons. But there's no doubt that cramming the same number of attendees and exhibitors into a hall half the size of last year's event, and for just one day, would produce more uncomfortably close social interactions. By mid-day the situation was getting positively claustrophobic. Exhibitors were already packed so tightly that many lanes could only accommodate a bit more than one-way foot traffic. So when anyone paused to examine the items, it caused traffic to a stall. And the line that formed at the Visprint table for the Manix Abrera signing was so long, it physically divided the attendees into two crowds.
Certain extras were also sacrificed for exhibitor space. The panel area had no chair seating, which forced attendees to mill around the stage, exacerbating the crowding situation. There was also no gallery space, which was an unfortunate loss. But the biggest casualty of the smaller con was the dropping of the Komikon Awards for this year. This is something the organizers would need to build momentum on if they want to cement their convention's reputation as the place to honor the industry's finest komiks creators.
That Indy Feeling
In keeping with this year's smaller venue, Komikon was light on announcements and book launches from the bigger names in the industry. The highest profile project was the opportunistically timed Pacquaio: Winning In & Out of the Ring by relative newcomer Jose Gamboa. His last project was last year's Laban! A Love Story. Three of the Special Guests were professionals known for their contributions to American mainstream comics: Harvey Tolibao, Stephen Segovia, and Carlo Pagulayan. Strangely, none of their work was prominently on display.
The individuals who truly ruled the floor this year were the local comic strip creators. The hugely popular Manix Abrera was there to sign the latest compilation of his Kikomachine Komix strip. He was accompanied this year by his father, the celebrated cartoonist Jess Abrera. The elder figure captivated attendees during a panel held for the two. But other cartoonists were doing well for themselves: Lyndon Gregorio, Pol Medina Jr., Michael David were some of the cartoonists attracting attention with their own strip compilations.
The smaller space and fewer announcements from established pros had a salutary effect on this year's indy creators selling mini-comics. They were out in force, which made them a more visible presence throughout the hall. Despite the appearance of pros like Tolibao, Segovia, and Pagulayan, there was a strong undercurrent of celebrating the people who love comics enough to fold and staple every copy of their work by hand. Unlike last year, this felt a little closer to some SPX events I've attended in the past. There was a variety of styles on display: from manga, to superhero, to genre entertainment, to art comics. This was a young and idealistic crowd. It seems that Komikon and similar events play a disproportionally larger role in engendering a sense of community amongst the present generation of creators. But in comparison, the webcomics scene is still underdeveloped. The event itself functions as a substitute for the dearth of major publishers and distributors willing to take a chance on them or komiks in general.
In lieu of an actual awards ceremony, Komikon has published an anthology titled Sulyap. The book collects stories from a few of its past winners as well as creators who established their reputations at the event. The book was being sold at a deep discount, and will be available in bookstores at some point. Komikon has also upped its game in other ways. The website was redesigned for this year to be slicker looking and a bit more informativ. And the con, for once, actually printed a somewhat useful event guide book, although there were not enough copies for all attendees. But at least an attempt at professionalism has started to inform the event's organization.
There's still a lot of painful growth ahead before it fulfills its potential. But overall, I found Komikon to be a satisfactory experience, and I would have easily spent more on the event had I more money in my pocket.
More photos in part 2. There will be people in them.
