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I've never been a fan of crowds, but there's something about a gathering of creative people that gets my blood going. Bars and live-band type cafés are usually buzzing during weekend evenings, but there's a different kind of atmosphere when you have a group of people there ready for an evening of passive entertainment, and a very different kind when you have people who hunger to create as much as--if not more than--they hunger to consume. Mag:net Katipunan was filled with this kind of energy from six to nine in the evening of Independence Day 2010, the night of the official launch party of Espresso Comics magazine, which you may remember from our previous coverage. A sample of the pilot issue, which will be available on June 15 [Edit: Correction, June 21] at LRT stations and Comic Odyssey, was passed around. The issue revealed that the next two would contain our very own Macoy Tang's "Ang Maskot" komik (albeit a slightly different version; the first installment should be in the July 12 issue), which we reviewed--before Macoy became a writer for Pinoy Pop, mind you--here. (Full disclosure, Espresso Comics will feature one of my own comics later in the year.)
Amongst those in attendance were Elbert Or (Lola: A Ghost Story, Bakemono High), Lyndon Gregorio (Beerkada), Kiko Dans (Card Battler Teks) , Hannah Buena (of Artspice), and Budjette Tan (Trese). It was interesting just listening to the flow of conversation, which ranged from artist's shoptalk to brainstorming about future collaborations. The energy was, perhaps, aided by the cups of espresso (naturally) handed out to all the guests. Freebies from sponsor Garnier were also handed out to all the guests, but I doubt these were responsible for the restless hum.
This is exactly the sort of environment that I think Ria Lu and the rest of the crew from Komikasi Enterprises want to foster. In her speech, Lu spoke of her desire to create a new venue for Philippine comics creators, a venue that would make it more likely that these creators could make a living from doing what they love, and perhaps turn the very idea of being a comic creator into a viable occupation that one need not be ashamed to announce before, say, one's parents.
Of course any dream worth having is bound to come with its own attendant difficulties, obstacles which test the strength and determination of the dreamer. Espresso Comics was no exception. "Getting to this point has not been easy for our group… The past weeks, we've emailed called, visited companies who might be interested in Espresso, been passed around from one department to the next, been made to wait, been made to hold, been ignored, been rejected, been brought almost to the point of tears, but… we made it anyway."
Lu went on to describe how the idea of Espresso Comics took on a life of its own. "While we were busy trying to get it off the ground, the creators started hoping, the critics started looking, and the dream--even if it's flailing and floundering in the beginning--started to take flight. At the moment, the project is not just Komikasi Enterprises anymore. It's really ours… yours…"
Lu then surrendered the floor to other members of Komikasi Enterprises, who toasted to the success of Espresso Comics, and the local comics industry as a whole. The event ended with a musical performance from Njel De Mesa. You can catch a the latter half of Ria Lu's speech, as well as the toasts, in the video below. (If the video is giving you problems, click here to go to view it on youtube.)
[Image and video source: Paolo Chikiamco]
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