Free Comic Book Day

I don't know why this year was different. I mean last year, I was also at CCHQ during Free Comic Book Day. I wasn't impressed at the titles being given away (especially since there were only a few choices). Sure, there was Ultimate Spiderman, but the editing of that edition wasn't exactly the best.

And I usually don't buy my comics at Comic Quest, so I don't know the whole process. Do you get a free comic when you purchase another comic?

Anyway, at 10 am, there was a long table outside CCHQ. Around a dozen or so titles were displayed and it was difficult picking only four (unfortunately, they didn't have Keenspace but oh well, you can't have everything). The one I want to read, The Best of Dorkstorm, is currently with Elbert, which hopefully he won't lose.

On a side note, there was a huge crowd of people at the FBR building, mainly because of this event.

All-Star Cast

I mean people like Carlo Vergara, Quark Henares, Ruey de Vera (did I spell that right?) dropped by, as well as some not-so-famous-people like Ramon de Vera, Chris Costello, Fero Benedict. That's not mentioning the rising artists like Elbert Or, Andrew Drilon, and Chito Esguerra.

Enough of the name dropping though. Got introduced to Fero who gave me a free copy of Questor's Mangamania, surprised that Ramon remembered me, had Carlo sign my copy of Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah (because I was too shy when I dropped by their offices yesterday), and made future plans for people's careers.

OST - Original Story Theatre

I don't know why Elbert chose the European spelling of "theater". Anyway, that was Comicol's second comic launch for the year, which is 32 pages (cover included) of b&w art and text which was given away for free. There were thirty copies at CCHQ and when we left, there was something like three or four left. I wish we could have distributed more but alas, misfortune struck the other day which put a strain into Comicol's budget, at least temporarily.

On a good note, I'll be rereleasing OST sometime in June or July. It'll still be in b&w but will now fit in a CD slipcase as well as containing a whopping 60 pages (that's more than Grafic!) of comics and illustrations. That's 32 pages more (since we're not counting the cover) than the Free Comic Book Day Edition, and yes, Comicol members will actually make up a bulk of the content. Hopefully. =)

Sickness

I'm not sick but people are catching a cold left and right. Of course we're all hoping it's not SARS. And I managed to drop by Megamall (and the Podium) today and a lot of people were at the malls (it's a sale!) despite paranoia of the virus. And well, a lot of shops were on sale as well, such as Comic Quest.

Financial Burdens

Didn't buy anything though since I'm trying to save money for future publications. Which means I'll be publishing another comic before the end of the year but right now, I'm battling between the idea of producing 100 copies to be given away for free, or have the financial problem of producing 500 copies and selling it. Oh yeah, the said comic will be in manga tankoubon format, which means it'll be 184 pages long (b&w, as usual) and bound. It'll feature works from Andrew, Chito, and Elbert, each having 60 pages of unadultered creativity.