summer komikon 2014

so, got my face on a komikon poster and i guess it's all downhill from here.

the maskot film and DVDs seemed pretty well-received, and by that i mean no one's complained about it, except maybe for that one social studies teacher at the panel (mediated by jason inocencio of and the geek shall inherit the earth) who wanted to know why ketchup had to swear so much in that one scene. ketchup and i made long-winded explanations about maskot's pent-up rage and need for catharsis, and then direk chris just says "it was funnier that way."

people seemed excited to get two new issues of school run, and to hear that the end is in sight with about four issues to go--that's only two more releases, if i can stick to two new issues per event.

i feel rather proud of school run 6 and 7, the culmination of quite a bit of setting things up between robert and maki.

still, it feels like i've been doing school run for a decade, and it'll be good to start on something new. or some things. :)

komikon in general: with so many of this season's must-have new titles being offset-print (rodski patotski, sulyap 2) or visprint-published (abangan, tabi po) GNs, and many of the established indie folks releasing increasingly thicker, pricier volumes, i wonder if komikon isn't becoming a victim of its own success.

ang maskot short film panel, photo by victoria velasco

ketchup, he's just a swell guy. what can i say?

already komikon is the book launch venue of choice for comics publishers, and as more mainstream GNs and pricey indie titles get released at the same event, buyers will find themselves having less and less money left to spend on less-established creators, on impulse buys and tryout purchases. and in the end, that'll be bad for the market. how will new talent gain a following if people lack the budget to buy their work?

it's pol medina jr.!
 a.k.a. "seatmate"  heh heh

one solution might be to have a komikon store where people can buy stuff all year round, but that's probably not feasible right now for a number of reasons. another could be more, smaller book launches throughout the year, but good luck getting publishers to go along with that. maybe it's just up to convention goers to start saving earlier and bring more cash. or maybe the organizers can team up with mastercard or visa and start offering pre-approved komikon credit cards. devious!

photo by kim buncio