One Mantra Is All That It Takes: Events: Experiencing February Komiket 2016

Saturday, February 27, 2016

Events: Experiencing February Komiket 2016

Komiket comes back for Year 2 as it took place once again at Quezon City.

The February Komiket 2016 was held last February 20 at Elements Centris, Quezon City. It remained as a one-day event unlike the October Komiket that will be conducted for 2-days.

There were a lot of fresh new writers and artists present on the event. Most of them are students from the 1st batch of Komiket University that was held last year.

Present as well are the 2015 winners of the different graphic novel awards, namely: Zombinoy ~ Issue No. 6 (2015 Filipino Readers' Choice Awards for Comics & Graphic Novels), Rodski Patotski: Ang Dalagang Baby (34th National Book Awards for Graphic Literature in English), Tabi Po ~ Volume 1 (34th National Book Awards for Graphic Literature in Filipino) and 14 (34th National Book Awards for Wordless Graphic Literature). These are a must buy for komik enthusiasts.

There were two comic books that was a gem to be found on that day. The 1st one is Anino Comics' 12:01. This book was scheduled to be launched the following day (February 21) on a different event. A book that gives perspectives on the dark side of the Martial Law period was made available to everyone's surprise. The 2nd book is Nautilus Comics' Buhay Ang Baston. It collects the Philippine's first 24-hour comic book challenge. This is the first 24-hour comic book challenge done a decade before Studio Salimbal conducted one last year. Five copies were present from their table at that time. This is one of those rare finds that you'll only get during comic conventions. The question lies on whether you know what you are looking for and where to find it.

Speaking of the 24-hour comic book challenge. Some of those that were created from the Studio Salimbal Comics Challenge were present. Some of them were: Bench by Mel Casipit, Space Quest 2015: Quest In Space by Cy Vendivil and The Hundredth Monkey by Noel Pascual (who joined the challenge online).

Komiket Year 2 showcases a much different aspect of comics being produced locally. Many of the new works that can be seen are 'slice of life' stories. These were evident among the nominees for the Komiket Awards 2016. It is awesome that comics geared to this genre are increasing in number.

If one thoroughly browses each table, you'd be amazed by the increase in number of female comic book creators. Comic conventions are often dominated by men, hence, it was great to see more women involved in this type of literature/art.

It might still be a long way, but with the steady increase of awareness and enthusiasm for the local comic scene, we might just find ourselves entering a period of metamorphoses for komiks.

Here are more pictures from the event.