Beware the Jabberwock

Komikon Anyone?
Is Komikon 2005 worth it? I mean the first Philippine comics convention, if there really is one.

I've seen the indie products being sold two months ago in ComicQuest and it's still not up to par with the foreign products sold in the same store. Heck, the stuff that brought up by these same local creators aren't even up to par some years ago when Whilce (Portacio) was here.

So, will it be different? Or will it still be the same lackluster hack art by people who don't have their own idiom of expression? Who only makes art limited to what they see on animes on TV? Who are stuck to the same genres and never pushes the envelope? Who are afraid of making a statement about anything like politics, society or religion? And most especially, throws the technicalities of illustration, anatomy, and layout out of the window?

The news I'm getting from my friends was that it's just another get-together by fan-boys trying to pick the brains of their "fave artists" and most probably, get a free copy.

What's worse, these creators used to tell me that they are doing this FOR FUN. Sure it's fun, but if you are going to be serious about this country having it's own "industry", you also have to check the other side of the medium. That is, comics is also a business, not just a medium of self-expression. If this convention is successful as they say, then you have to judge it by the sales of your comics sold, and by then you can judge how much interest people have in your work. Only that you made a sale that you have the finances to make another book and add continuity to your stories.

So far, sadly as I was told, that local creators still continue to sell crap that they made some years ago.

Around the internet, I don't see anyone making a statement if the last Kon was successful or not. Or how many attended or how much they made in sales. But if I know the mentality of my fellow filipinos that when an event does not succeed, they keep quiet about it, and never hype it anymore.

I could be wrong.

Current Mood: apathetic

Advertisement