If it wasn’t for our thesis, I wouldn’t know how rich our
komiks industry is and that’s the time I got fonder of reading local komiks.
I’ve been reading comics before that time, but they were more of comic strips
and Witch, a comics for children (I
got really childish sometimes). One
of the few komiks that I have read were some volumes of Pugad Baboy by Pol Medina and those found on joke books.
It was also because of our thesis when I said to myself that
I will support the komiks industry by buying komiks and attending komiks
conventions. I even keep every komiks-related article and clipping I found.
Speaking of comic conventions, there is an annual komiks convention in our
country that is well-attended by komiks lovers. I’m referring to Komikon.
It was 2009 when I
found out about it. I accidentally discovered it while I was researching on our
thesis which was about the current status of the Philippine komiks industry. I
wanted to attend it out of curiosity. Unfortunately, there was always something
that I need to prioritize. That is why even though I’ve discovered it two years
ago; I can’t seem to attend it …but not until a week ago.
I was checking my facebook for some updates until I stumbled
upon their call for volunteers. Since I don’t have a job for now, I found it
very timely to join. Alas! I will finally attend it and I can volunteer at the
same time. How cool is that? I
wanted to tell it to my thesis mates who’s also fond of komiks but I didn’t
because I know they were busy with their jobs. That night, Naj texted me that
she also found out about it and she said that she will join too. It turned out
that she resigned from her job days ago. Wow! I was ecstatic. So we both joined
but her shift was on the afternoon while mine was on the morning. She requested
for her shift to be changed but nobody wanted to exchange with her.
The day came and it was a fun and memorable experience. It was surprising that I enjoyed my duty more than the event
itself. Maybe because I was exhausted to look around and take pictures after my
shift but not that I was complaining. It’s good to know that there were still
people who supports and spends on komiks despite the continuous price increase
on almost everything.
I was also with my sister but she started complaining in the
afternoon. I can’t really blame her; it’s her first time attending such
convention, not to mention that she sat for hours while waiting for my shift to
be over. But, she also had the time to spend with Naj since they were stuck
with each other for some time. I also ran into someone, Nikki, my former practicummate. But we just chatted for around ten minutes
because sis and I were about to go home.
Moreover, I was able to meet a lot of komiks artists, have a
picture with Tony De Zuniga and Manix Abrera.
I also scored
some
freebies such as Komikon bag, Jam, Komikon shirt, Komikon pin and even a
certificate from volunteering. I
also had a preview of some komiks to come.
So, see you all on the next Komikon?
P.S. Komiks is the Filipino term for comics. As you
noticed, I’ve used the word many times which means I’m referring to the local
version and not the foreign one. I didn’t also bring Zephyr since I am yet to familiarize
myself with it.
