Flying the Friendly Skies



In all the fun, enthusiastic energy and komiks wonder that was the recently-concluded 2nd Komikon, there were two standout moments for me in particular. One was meeting my old college professor Cesar Hernando and one of his students, a guy named Jay who told me that when he was in high school, the first indie comic he read and loved was Angel Ace. Later, I met another guy named Mike (who made an impression as he and his pal were dressed as Lego Men) who revealed he was also a fan of Angel. I then learned that he had been looking for copies of Angel Ace since he lost his copies some time ago when his house burned down.
It's been over ten years since Angel lifted off from the ground, and it's still amazing to know that there are people out there who still await her adventures, still scanning the skies for any copies. Who am I to let them down?

Next Komikon, or perhaps sooner, there will be another Angel Ace comic. And perhaps another after that. And another. Along with the next K.I.A.'s and Kunoichi Boy issues to come. Who knows. The sky's the limit. I've got the inspiration back. Let's see what happens next.

KOMIKON 2006

Lots of komiks, creators and readers on this day of days. This year's Kon had more people, more local komiks, more komikeros, more enthusiasm, more sales and fun till the end of the day. I met cool people aplenty- old friends from Alamat, my ol' college professor, guys from UP Fine Arts (my Alma Mater!), young komikeros, old masters of the komiks and even Angel Ace fans whose love for the Flying Princess still burns to this day. For that, just for that, I have gotten my enthusiasm back to keep Angel flying. To keep ninja girls ninja-fighting. To keep doing comics and komiks. Awesome. Next year, next Kon, I'll have stuff ready.

Here are the pics. I'll be uploading bigger versions on my phlog as soon as I can.



I took home a TON of stuff, including Fresh! from Taga-Ilog, Elmer Damaso, Taga-Canal and their crew, Gerry Alanguilan's Elmer #2, the new TROPA! and Rambol comics from Gilbert Monsanto, a new wave of Alamat xerox-comics including Kadiliman, Artifacts, Ultracops and The Last Datu, stuff from Istrong Repablik and Break Out, stuff from Ariel Atienza, Reno Maniquis and Jamie Bautista's debut issue of Tri-Tech... and that's just the stuff I can remember top of mind. I bought a LOT of stuff, so I'll be looking them over in the next week or so. It's like Christmas, just before Halloween.

Unfortunately, I didn't get copies of Trese since they frickin' SOLD OUT just after lunch. Budj, I'll be waiting for my copies.

Thanks to Ariel Atienza and Artists' Den, and everyone who made this year's Kon a glorious reality.

Seeya all next time, in KOMIKON 2007!!!