The Callous Blog

    Summer Komikon 2011 is coming up fast!  This would only be my second comic convention appearance (behind a table, at least) and I'm thankful to say that I'm at least not as blind in my preparations as I was prior to my first 'con.  Nevertheless, my excitement has escalated quite significantly after this morning's exhibitor meeting.

    This year, the event has been given the alternative name, 2011 Komikon Summer Bayanihan.  A "bayanihan", originally, was a term given to the Filipino community act of helping a family transport their house from one location to a new, specific one.  They would literally carry the whole house on their shoulders and walk on over to the new site as one community.  This practice is hardly done anymore, if at all.  But the spirit of the name remains in usage pertaining to any undertaking where a there is a communal unified effort to achieve a goal.  That makes the convention's current moniker a pretty clever one.  First, it has been known to move around different venues and convention halls in previous iterations, thus giving the nickname the subtext of a clever wink to those who've supported the event in the past.  Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, it shows the currently blossoming local comic community as a common, unified movement, working as one to promote and further develop comics in the country.  Thirdly, well, it fits the new venue, The Bayanihan Center.

    And now I'll be talking about what to expect from my little tabletop in this convention.

    I'll be in the part of the convention floor dedicated to independent comics and artists.  In conventions handled by the popular Komikon group, this is known as the Independent Komiks Tiange!  A Tiange (sometimes spelled Tiangge) is a Filipino term currently used to refer to a group of vending stalls in a building, usually selling lower-priced goods.  It however is used more endearingly than the definition implies.  Much like a flea market, people go to tianges to find good deals on what could end up being a prized gem for a particular consumer.  Most of the comics you'll find here are mini-comics and/or ashcans but the content of these independently produced fare is often priceless.

    I'll have a third of a standard table to myself and here are what will be featured on that prized little piece of real estate.



    I'm bringing back my first book, this time produced via printing press (the first 100 copies sold last year were printed through my home printer).  This second version includes the same comic strips from the first with additional aesthetic changes.


    Chocolate Chip Wishes and Caffeine Dreams is the first ever compilation of Callous Comics!  It is a collection of selected Callous comic strips from 2007 - 2010, all of which were originally published online and are not found in print anywhere else.

    The book itself is in trimmed A5 size (5.8" x 8.3"), saddle-stitched, with 32 full-color pages and a laminated board cover.  I'll be selling these at PHP150.  Naturally, I'll sign every copy sold at Summer Komikon. :)