mababang langit

my kids grew up watching me make komiks, and at some point they started making their own, without prompting or instruction from me. eventually i redrew some of those comics (with permission) and released them at komikon alongside the original creators:   and then, as befits my bloodline, a decade went by without any new issues. BUT then sometime after puberty, they started fooling around on my old drawing tablet, and lo and behold, they maketh pinups, and it was good. so i offered to sell some of them at my komikon table this past weekend.   and people bought them, like mike! thanks mike. (mike has a new comic book out, check it ) people also bought copies of aswang high...all the copies i brought, in fact! cy and i also received our very first fanart, ever. i was touched. thanks marco! you had some great questions! komikon was held at the UP college of fine arts gallery, and there were a bunch of greek-style statues scattered around the venue. it was the most number of peni...

sat down with komikon's jon zamar and my partners in crime ardie aquino and cy vendivil to talk about making komiks with other people, and how collabs are basically like relationships: the give-and-take, the need for constant communication, and the chance of things getting toxic.    

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 s...

random footage by pinoy tekkie gerry alanguilan's komikon vid. 0:37 shows part of the The Great Komikon Proposal, featuring cartoonist lovebirds omeng estanislao and ails casis a feature on a trio of comics personalities, care of jerald uy and rappler.com more links and discussion over at sir gerry's summer komikon 2013 roundup post .

aside from selling komiks again, the other thing that got me really excited about this komikon was the release of the first trailer for chris costello and mihk vergara's "ang maskot" short film:  both chris and mihk were there, and thankfully mihk brought his laptop because the AV guy's laptop couldn't read chris' USB stick for some reason. photo by bien del rosario i think we got a pretty good crowd reaction, considering that not many people know about my comic. i think having a super-recognizable cast really helped pull in the otherwise uninterested. the second time they rolled the trailer got a much better pop, so i suggested to our host, sherry baet-zamar, that we loop the trailer for the remainder of our allotted time. she just laughed; i think she thought i was kidding. after a quick Q&A, carljoe javier and bogart the explorer took the stage to unveil a trailer and crowdfunding pitch of their own. and then i went back to my ind...

a respectable haul, but i missed so many good titles :( after missing both indiekon and winter komikon in 2012, it felt really good to be back behind a table selling komiks again at the bayanihan center yesterday. it was my first time at the indie tiangge since it got moved to a separate room away from the main hall, a decision that aroused quite a bit of controversy within the indie komiks community last year. the good bits: - the laid-back atmosphere.  the indie tiangge occupied two conference rooms and was never crowded or noisy. you could chat with people without having to yell. some people took advantage of this and used the area as a place to rest before plunging back into the crush of the main hall. - security. much-improved security this year; i haven't heard of any burgling incidents so far. still, not having a crowd to cover their movements kept prospective thieves away from out little nook. - my sales were good. better than last year's, in fact. the n...

from the komikon baguio facebook page: Komikon Baguio is organized by Bag-iw Art Society and Literati, with the support of Komikon Inc. Join us for our first event, 'Sirko ng Komiks' on February 9, 2013 in CAP Bldg, Post Office Loop, Session Road, Baguio City Komikon Baguio Facebook Page

as a comics fan and someone who makes self-published comics, i've spent the last decade or so watching pinoy komiks redefine itself and struggle to bounce back from the 90's malaise that saw mainstream comics dwindle down to near zero. i've watched the independent komiks scene, led by creators like budjette tan, gerry alanguilan, arnold arre, carlo vergara and the komikon team, make slow, gradual progress toward establishing itself as critically and financially viable. komiks shifted business models, moving from the banketa to the bookstore,  the newfangled comics convention circuit, and the web. and yet, some people still insist that pinoy komiks is "dead." their definition of death varies slightly, but the thought remains the same. the longtime komiks blogger/s who goe/s by the name "aklas-isip" posted a blog titled "WHY THERE IS STILL NO COMICS INDUSTRY IN THE PHILIPPINES Part 1" late last october, where he/they stated: "...we...

photo by GeekMatic! comics superstar mark millar , writer of wanted, kick-ass , and the ultimates , was a surprise guest at this year's summer komikon, and he had the crowd guffawing with his opening quip, spoken in filipino: "How are you guys. I am Dingdong Dantes. Only a few know this, but I'm Filipino. I color my hair blonde to look caucasian. This is our secret!" (it should be explained that he was preceded onstage by local actor dingdong dantes, who has quite the female following.) millar went on to talk about how national bookstore won a personal appearance from him by ordering a truckload (or two) of his latest title  supercrooks, on which he collaborated with local comics heroes gerry alanguilan and leinil yu. thanks to carlo pagulayan for posting the video! EDIT: geekmatic!  posted another vid on youtube, it's got better audio. also, here's a link to mark millar's amusing manila journal . he seemed quite surpr...

ok, so let me bite the bullet and get this over with. school run #5 will not be available at tomorrow's komikon. i am sorry. i put off starting for too long, incorrigible crammer that i am. and by the time i started in earnest, dayjob-related stuff magically began to pile up. so i missed my self-appointed deadline for SR #5, i missed 24-hour book day, i chickened out of flipread's 24-hour komixathon, i chickened out of my contribution to the melon pinup anthology, i failed to do my unofficial komikon indies preview... aagh. my apologies to adam and benj and to everyone waiting to see what will happen to maki and the gang. SO, as i type this i am hurrying to finish yet another long-delayed project so i won't be completely empty-handed tomorrow (if i can find a photocopy shop that opens early, that is). it's a collaboration with a pair of young, very young, up-and-coming creators. still 7 or so pages to go!

"andaming tao" "kelan yung susunod na issue?" "philippine flag costume nanaman?" "alin dun si kajo?" "eiiii! si manix!" "meron bang polgas na stuffed toy?" "ano'ng devart mo?" ah, ikaw pala si ___________ sa devart!" "alin ang bago?" "dito ko lang nilagay yung laptop..." "ikaw ba yung artist?" "inaantay ko parin ang culture crash reunion" "ang mahal naman neto, xerox lang yan e!" lots more here

photo by katkat munoz for comics people, there is no high like a convention high. it's such a high that sometimes it takes a week for stuff to sink in and one can actually think about the experience objectively. so, that's my excuse for this late post. some personal notes: - record number of indie komiks participants: 42 groups, some 100+ new titles (i failed to get my hands on a catalog so i'm not sure about the exact number) - sales on an individual level seem to be down compared to last year, judging by the lack of "sold out!" remarks from comics creators, although this could be due to the increased competition and better inventory management on part of the creators. - my own sales were decent but not as good as last year's. - realization: if you want to make money as an indie komiks creator, release new stuff. pretty obvious, yeah? my sales during summer komikon (when i had no new releases) were about a third of what they were this time arou...

november komikon 2011 is next week! the list of new indie komiks titles is said to be around 100, which blows my mind. here are a few that i (hastily) grabbed from the indie komiks manila facebook group. enjoy this sampling of what to expect in a few days! WIP 2 by hub pacheco & teddy pavon F-HATE #1 UP Syndrome  by Edward Jener  B.A.T.A.  by Amjie Love My Love Is A Stapler  by Toni Jayne Buang  by Cyrus Romanes Magusta  by Fredirick David Greywing  by Lex Jordan prologue & weather-weather lang by norby ela various titles from ice cream indie manga various titles from inkjinks curtains for hire by joanah calingo kanto inc. #3 by calingo, calingo & kilayman various titles from revel circle various title s from hyper comics starstruck (game) by komikasi patintero #5 & #6 by kai castillo kulas compilati...