Summer Komikon 2009- My First Comicon Experience

I went to the Summer Komikon 2009 with 3 goals: 1) to buy a box for my comic books; 2) to look for issues 2-4 of Cursed; and 3) to enjoy the experience. It was my first time, after all.

So the first order of the day was to look for the box. Lucky for me when I entered the venue, an opportunity to hit 2 birds with one stone presented itself. Right smack when I entered was the booth of Comic Odyssey with their boxes of comic books all priced at Php 20 pesos!

It took me a while to actually get to the comics because there were so many people surrounding the booth, scouring boxes upon boxes of those comic books being sold so cheaply! I eventually did manage to wrangle my way to the front ( after waiting patiently for my turn, of course) so that I may take my turn in going through the boxes.

As I was going through the boxes, I asked the lady owner ( I forgot to ask her name) if they had storage boxes for sale. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any. But the kind soul that she was, she told me where I could buy since they don’t currently sell them at any of their shops.

But! Luck was on my side! I found issues 2 and 4 of Cursed, a comic I picked up at the Free Comic Book Day event.  I also picked up an X-men Vol 2 Issue 2! I’ve been wanting to get my hands on it for years and finally I have it. And at Php 20 pesos each, I sure got lucky!

I moved on to Hobby Point’s booth which is just on the right side of Comic Odyssey’s booth were I picked a WildCATS Vol 1 Issue 2 for Php 100 pesos- still quite inexpensive because the last time I saw one, it was being sold at Php 200 pesos. It made me one comic book closer to completing the Jim Lee mini-series.I already have issue 4, and I know I have issue 1 somewhere in the house so all I need is issue number 3.

I went around the venue countless times, going though boxes and stacks of comics and books. I managed to pick up some locally made comic books. I bought my very first Mangaholix comic book at the Mangaholix booth. I bought issue 1 for only Php 40 pesos and it also came with a free sketch! The artists at the booth were very accommodating when I requested for a sketch of a particular character. I have read it from cover to cover and I  enjoyed reading the stories. And the art was amazing! I’m going to get the other issues next chance I get.

I also got the Kubori Kikiam book “Kubori Strips For The Soul”! It’s been so long since I have read a Kubori Kikiam comic! I last saw the strip a few years ago when Culture Crash published it’s last issue. The artist, David, was kind enough to sign it for me and even pose for a photo.

The book is a compilation of Kubori Kikiam strips from kuborikikiam.com and was sold for Php 80 pesos. I’ve finished reading the book and I have to say it was such a hoot!

Going around, I also picked up two titles from independent publishers. Gerilya Komiks  and Aswang Files: Declassified. Gerilya Komiks is published by Saging Komiks.

I got all three issues in the series. Each issue contained 3 stories. Each issue was sold for only Php 15 pesos!

Another indie title I picked up was issue 1 of Aswang Files: Declassified. It was Komikon 2006’s winner of the Best Indie award!

The comic book was sold for Php 50 pesos and came with a short novel titled ” Pare I love You.” The artists say the next issue will debut at the next comic con later this year.

I also had an artist do a sketch of myself. Actually I walked away with 2 sketches since another artist joined in and started to sketch me as well. The sketches had no set price. There was just a tip box on their table where satisfied “models” could place any amount.

After a snack and one more round of going around the venue, I left the Summer Komikon. While I may not have fully accomplished goal number 1, I did accomplish goals 2 and 3, with a few more kicks thrown in. I went home tired, but truly satisfied with my first Komikon experience! I can’t wait for the next one!