Gone were the days when Filipinos of all ages would go to the newsstands to buy or rent a comic book to pass the day. Those weekly dose of drama, comedy, horror and suspense were the greatest source of entertainment before there was television and the internet. Artists like Alfredo Alcala, Francisco Coching, Nestor Redondo, Alex Nino and more have been acknowledged abroad for their great talent. But beyond entertainment, people can attest that comics taught them how to read. Those were the days. Did Philippine comics die?
 For the past four years, The Annual Filipino Komiks Convention (KOMIKON) aims to bring together different comic book artists/groups and publishers in a venue where they could present their talents, works and services to the public. Most importantly, it aims to give a break to aspiring comic artists. It would like to provide the venue for different art groups and different generations of artists for a free exchange of ideas. Hopefully it would lead to a transcending of stereotypes and broaden the scope of comics – from local to international to cross-cultural, sequential to strips, amateur to professional and traditional publication to independent comics publishing. This event will give people the awareness of the exciting state of contemporary Philippine comics industry.
Contests like the Independent Comic Book Creation Contest, On the Spot Comic Strip Making and the Original Character Making Contest hopes to bring out the next generation of Comic Book creators to the fore front. Our Special Guests, comic book superstars from the past and present, both coming from the local and international fields will be available for questions and will be present to provide insights about the industry through their experiences. This year features our guest of honor, Gerry Alanguilan, artist for local works such as Wasted, Johnny Balbona, Humanis Rex!, Timawa and ELMER. He is also known abroad for his work on Wetworks, X-Men, Superman: Birthright, Wolverine, High Roads, Fantastic Four, and Silent Dragon. This year highlight the 30th anniversary of the Samahang Kartunista ng Pilipinas (SKP) a group of editorial and comic strip artists that has worked with various NGO’s, government leaders, malls and restaurants, and schools. The limited edition SKP Roster book, featuring the works of its members, will be available at the event. Another thing to watch for in the program is the most awaited reunion of the people behind Culture Crash Comics. First released in the year 2000, Culture Crash comic introduced the manga art-styled comics with the Filipino twist. Since its closure in 2004, fans still wonder if Culture Crash will ever return. Hopefully all their questions will be answered on November 22.
The event has prepared something different from the previous years. KOMIKON 2008 has week-long activities scheduled from November 17 to the 21st. Opening the week is a talk entitled “KOMIKON 101” to be held at the auditorium of the College of Fine Arts in UP Diliman. The talk will discuss 2 topics namely “KOMIKEROS for HIRE” and “KOMIKS in Education”. The first discusses local comic artists working for companies abroad while the second talks about how comics can be incorporated into the school’s curriculum. Lectures within the week will be held in the College of Fine Arts and the College of Arts and Letters with the help of organizations UP LUNAROCK and UUP GRAIL. Topics for the lectures are “Comic Writing for Artists” , “Comic Making for Writers”, “Old Comics to Modern TV/Film Adaptations” and “Publishing Comics: Mainstream and Independent”. An exhibit will also be available for viewing at the Galeria 1 of the UP Faculty Center starting November 18.
The 4th Filipino Komiks Convention is on November 22, Saturday from 10:00am – 8pm at the UP Bahay ng Alumni, UP Diliman, Quezon City. Tickets are at P50.00 only. For more information about the event, click here or visit http://komikon.blogspot.com or http://komikon.deviantart.com or email us at komikon@gmail.com
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