Events: Experiencing Southside Collective

I had attended their event on its first day at around 11:00 a.m. It was still too early so the music part of this event were not yet present. So that leaves us with the fashion and art section.

All of the booths were nicely decorated and presented. I'm not much a fashion lover so its the art section that I had my eyes on in which most of them had framed illustrations up for sale.

I noticed that there were only two booths that had other merchandises up for sale aside from the framed illustrations. The booth named Steph Alvarez offers various items, with the artist's own designs on them, that could be used everyday rather than left hanging on a wall. Notebooks and ecobags were beautifully designed with different illustrations of women.

The Meganon Comics booth is the only one who sells comics in this event. One of the people manning the booth (or in this case womanning) was Tepai Pascual (Maktan 1521). I had discovered some interesting things as I talked with Ms. Pascual. To begin with, she mentioned that their Meganon Comics booth in the Southside Collective was the most presentable booth in comparison to the previous ones they had made.

Purchasing a comic book from Meganon Comics during this event, will entitle you to one (1) free pass for this year's 36th Manila International Book Fair. One free pass will be given for every comic book that was purchased.

Also, if you're a fan of Paolo Herras' Strange Natives and has noticed the small orange colored poster for sale, according to Tepai Pascual, that is the cover of the 2nd stand alone story for the Strange Natives that is being rushed to completion within this year. When asked if there were any updates for the release of the 2nd chapter of the Ang Sumpa series, she said that they are still convincing the creator to try to finish it within this year. Tepai Pascual has been a really nice artist because she patiently answered most of my questions as she helped me in purchasing some items from their booth. Southside Collective have a different approach when it comes to payment so it can get really confusing.

A piece of advise for fellow comic lovers, especially to our locally made komiks, be sure to check out any post that an artist, group or from the story series' facebook fan page to be always updated of whether they'll be taking part of an event closer to you. This event really was a treat for we seldom see our local comic creators in the southern part of Metro Manila.

Southside Collective has been a nice venue to showcase our local talents, not only the comic creation side, but also in terms of fashion and music.

Here are the things that I got from Southside Collective:

• Buhay Habangbuhay ~ Chapter 1: Buhay Buwis Buhay
• Paolo Herras and Tepai Pascual
• Meganon Comics
• Buhay Habangbuhay ~ Chapter 2: Buhay Agaw Buhay
• Paolo Herras and Tepai Pascual
• Meganon Comics

Events: 14 Silent Comics Exhibit by Manix Abrera

An exhibit of Rak en Rol! Quality will be done on the 3rd Floor South Wing Gallery of the UP Vargas Museum. Artworks from the 14 Silent Comics by Manix Abrera will be showcased in this exhibit.

The opening event will be done on August 5, 2015 at 4:00 p.m. Entrance will be free on this day. All artworks shall continuously be displayed until August 19, 2015. After the opening day, an entrance fee of Php. 20 will be collected from UP students, faculty, staff and alumni while a fee of Php. 30 will be collected from the other visitors.

Artworks are said to be on sale after the exhibit.

 

More information about the 14 Silent Comics Exhibit can be seen at:

Facebook Event Page: "14 Silent Comics | Manix Abrera"

Facebook Page: "UP Vargas Museum"

Twitter: @UPVargasMuseum

http://vargasmuseum.upd.edu.ph

Comics: Benjo ~ Issue 1: Bilangguan

Illustration and Story by: Edgar Daryll Cumigad

Gray Tones and Inks by: Jose Paolo De Torres

Rated: M / Suggested for Mature Readers

Spanton Productions

(5/5 ★★★★★)

The Plot:

In the future, the Philippines has used the Pag-asa island, the second largest island among the Spratley's group of island, as a place to house prisoners. The Pag-asa island prison was built as a modern day Alcatraz. As prisoners serve their life sentence, human experimentation secretly exists to serve the needs of Ibarratech Company.

The Good:

The story and the illustrations were great. The slicing and shooting scenes in the first few pages were so fantastic that it would make you pause for a moment and think if what you're reading is another post apocalyptic zombie story.

An interesting thing done in between the story was the one page advertisement of the Luna series, also from Spanton Productions. This method of inserting ads in between the story is a first that I had seen among Philippine comics but it is not unusual in the American comics since this is regularly done by DC Comics in their single issues.

The best thing about Benjo #1 is how they had packaged it. The comic was placed inside an orange envelope. This is an interesting way to pack comics purchased from Spanton Productions. It is like saying that we, their readers, will not just enjoy their comics but they will also see to it that the comics we bought from them are cared properly in order to prevent it from having any damages.

The Bad:

Stories of an island prison wherein human experimentation is conducted is no longer a new idea. Thus, the challenge for the creators is on how to twist this so that it deviates from that same formula.

The Verdict:

This is still a captivating comic from Spanton Productions. The comic's cover and packaging will already get a thumbs up from a regular comic reader. This series have the potential to be really great, which was already proven by the illustrations that have the capacity to capture the interest of the readers. The first few pages gives off the vibe of The Walking Dead and Zombinoy due to its art, thus, encouraging you to keep on reading it. The story will be the biggest factor on whether it could keep their readers for the next issues. 

This is not bad as a first issue comic for the Benjo series. I'm really looking forward for the 2nd issue.

"Bilangguan man ay paraiso din sa patakarang maka Diyos at makatao..."

More of Benjo can be seen at:

Facebook Page: "Spanton Productions"

http://www.benjokomik.weebly.com

http://www.spantoncomics.blogspot.com

Events: Linggo Ng Wika 2015 - Komiks Ang Bida

This is the first event for August 2015. The theme for this event is the celebration of Filipino Comics (Komiks). It shall be held on August 1, 2015 from 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. at the Fisher Mall, Quezon City.

There is no entrance fee for this event. A lot of activities will be conducted such as a Raffle Contest, Komiks Balagtasan (Komiks Fliptop Battle), On-The-Spot Komiks Fan Art Drawing Contest, and Pinakamahusay na Pinoy Komiks Cosplay to mention some of them.

 

The best thing for me that will happen during this event is the free komiks and/or illustrations that will be given to the first four people in line of the table of an artist.

So mark the date and head on to the Fisher Mall to meet your favorite komik creators and witness the launch of new komiks. Experience the Filipino literature through Komiks.

More information about Linggo Ng Wika 2015 - Komiks Ang Bida can be seen at:

Facebook Event Page: "Linggo Ng Wika 2015 - Komiks Ang Bida"

Events: Adarna House's #AklatPamana

Adarna House is currently celebrating their 35th anniversary. As part of their all year long celebration, they launched the contest #AklatPamana.

Events: Umuulan ng Libro: NCBD 2015 Book Fair

This is the last book fair (probably) in Metro Manila for this week. This is another Umuulan ng Libro event by the National Book Development Board (NBDB). This event entitled Umuulan ng Libro: NCBD 2015 Book Fair will be held on July 25, 2015 from 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. at the Rizal Library, Ateneo De Manila.

Events: 19th Philippine Academic Book Fair

Book events doesn't seem to end this week, for the 19th Philippine Academic Book Fair will be held from July 22-25, 2015 at SM Megamall, Mandaluyong City. Some of the participating publishers are C&E Publishing, Inc.; Rex Book Store International, Inc., Ateneo de Manila University Press, University of Santo Tomas Publishing House and University of the Philippine Press.

Need a textbook for school? Head on to the Academic Book Fair to get some great discounts. This will surely save you some money on your school expenses.