Komikon X + ESGS = An Epic weekend recap

It's quite rare for me to have two back-to-back weekend events to attend, and last weekend is definitely an awesome way for me to end the week!! :D

First off; Komikon X!!

My small little company; Powerplay Wear, made its debut on Summer Komikon 2014, and I really found it fitting for it to return for Komikon 2014.

And this time, I brought something special along with me that I introduced back in Toycon 2014; the videogame sword replica collab project with Hello Knightmare by Louie. And I got me the Parallel Falchion from the game Fire Emblem: Awakening.

We setup the booth early on and despite the much more crammed space, the atmosphere in the event is simply... electric!! :D Here's a shot of our humble table that's crammed with stuff to sell!! :D

As soon as the crowd came rushing in, I had very little time to go around the event and cover it myself. I was too busy marketing our product and generally taking care of the booth. I'm simply glad that our products got alot of loving during Komikon!! And even if our replica swords didn't sell, they managed to get alot of curious onlookers to enjoy and appreciate the sword up close! :D

And one thing I love about Komikon, is that cosplayers are starting to get more and more accepted in the event! As a cosplayer, I love it as well, and I hope I can cosplay as one of the local komik characters that's in Komikon.

Sadly, as much as I enjoyed Komikon, I ended up with a very slim loot during the event. :( Since I could barely go around, and most exhibitors set-up late, I didn't get to buy alot of komiks during the event. :( Here's my Komikon 2014 loot:

Kanto Inc. compilation book
Story by: Joanah Tinio Calingo/Taga-Ilog
Art by: Kilayman

Dragon Breed Vol. 1
Story by: Maria Cornelia Damaso
Art by: Elmer Damaso

Pasig Book 2: Issue 4
Story & Art by: Taga-Ilog

I've yet to read all of my Komikon loot (days have been busy with me doing client work and preparing for the next convention), but I'm simply surprised with the amount of amazing works coming out of Komikon!! The creators are really putting out their best foot forward, making sure the readers get their money's worth, and its a win for us fans. I look forward to next year's Komikon releases!! :D

But the absolute best loot I got during Komikon, wasn't even a komik itself, but this:

This lovely piece of art was a limited edition print run by Mr. Carlo Vergara, creator of the popular superhero; Zsazsa Zaturnnah.

Seeing the piece in person was simply breathtaking, and considering I'm a huge fan of the style of Alphonse Mucha, and I'm proud to be hanging this wonderful art on my wall. Mr. Vergara even made a nice Certificate of Authenticity, which is a really nice touch.

Moving on to day 2; which was ESGS!!

It was a gaming centric event that focused more on e-sports and videogames. I definitely appreciate the effort put into it, and I hope the event grows bigger next year, but as of now, its a little bit fewer in attendance than Komikon. 

I was finally able to try out the local games made for the Occulus, and safe to say, it does show potential. However most of the games presented during the ESGS, does lack some polish (with controls not exactly responsive, the map layout is confusing and abit too large) however it can only get better in the future. I look forward to seeing more locally made content soon!

One thing I do appreciate though is that gaming cosplay is becoming more and more mainstream here in the Philippines:

Whew!! What a weekend!! Still having some weekend hangovers due to the epicness, but I definitely had tons of fun!! Till next time!! :D

Cyburban's Superheroes VS Villains Urban Challenge!

Ever wondered how cool it would be if there was an urban race challenge where:

• Participants are in full cosplay gear, representing their beloved superheroes or super villains!
• Participants not only running towards a straight track, but towards an ingenious set of obstacle courses ala Takeshi's castle!
• Participants get an app that not only tracks their progress, but gamifies their experience as they earn bonus points and exp points in participating!

Sounds too good to be true? Thankfully, that won't be a dream anymore. Introducing CybUrban!!


Cyburban Adventure App from Shodensan on Vimeo.

Having softlaunched just recently, they plan to expand the idea of gamified urban challenges by introducing a brand new concept; the Superheroes VS Villains Urban Challenge!! Here's a sample peg of what they have in mind:


Superheros vs Villains 5K Race from Awal Media on Vimeo.

And the great thing about this is they are open to ideas and suggestions to make the first ever Superheroes VS Villains Urban Challenge THE event that cosplayers, gamers and enthusiasts are dreaming of. Simply go and fill out their survey form and let them know what you think and add in some ideas that you think would be cool for the upcoming challenge. You can find the link here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1uglayigHvzaleREa_rEq0XSCZa4WEDKG5ZDkVqMpwA4/viewform

Rurouni Kenshin: The Great Kyoto Fire movie, first look!! (NEW YEAR UPDATE 2014)

Happy New Year everyone!! And what better way to start the year, than to reveal the latest update from the Rurouni Kenshin film's sequel!!

Click photo for bigger geekgasm details!! :D

 That's right guys, you are looking at Shishio Makoto's infamous elite death squad; the Juppongatana (Ten Swords) in full live-action glory!! :D

For those of you who are waiting for updates regarding Rurouni Kenshin's live-action move sequel, here's some photos of the cast in their respective characters!! Take a look!! UPDATE: Added photos of Yumi Komagata (Shishio's woman) and other cast.

Kazufumi Miyazawa as Prime Minister Okubo

Min Tanaka as Okina

Tao Tsuchiya as Misao

Yusuke Iseya as Aoshi Shinomori

Ryunosuke Kamiki as Soujiro Seta

Maryjun Takahashi as Yumi Komagata

Tatsuya Fujiwara as Shishio Makoto

UPDATE: They have now released a teaser trailer online!! Take a look:



So what do you guys think? Do you guys think they nailed the look of the characters? Let me know via the comments below! :)

Trese Night Gallery @ The Crucible... I WAS THERE!! :D

Today was the launch of Trese's latest graphic novel "Trese: Book of Murders", and I was fortunate enough to be there. :D

To those who don't know who or what "Trese" is all about, here's a quick primer. "Trese" is a graphic novel created by winning tandem of Budjette Tan (writer) and Kajo Baldisimo (art). It's a locally made graphic novel that revolves around mysterious cases that range from the weird to the supernatural. When a crime goes for the supernatural, the police go to the mysterious Alexandra Trese to help solve the crime.

I could go on and on what I love about the series, but the best way to get into the world of Trese is getting a copy of the graphic novel yourself (which I highly suggest that you do). XD

Anyway, upon my arrival at SM Megamall, I was blown away by the number of people lining up for the gallery!! I mean look at this!!

Lots of love for Trese indeed!! :D I was fortunate enough to be able to get to the gallery itself and I'm simply floored by the latest artwork Mr. Kajo Baldisimo made!! I love the detail and polished lineart and I can't wait to see how Alexandra Trese's latest adventures would look like seeing Mr. Baldisimo's work in the gallery. :D Congratulations sir and looking forward to a second gallery of amazing artwork from you! :D

And here is some pictures of the gallery itself:

I went ahead and dropped by to say hi to Mr. Kajo Baldisimo and congratulate him for his amazing gallery (I got lucky to have caught him not busy signing an autograph)!! I was supposed to say hi to Mr. Budjette Tan as well, but he is simply swamped with alot of fans asking for him to sign their copy of their latest book; "Trese: Book of Murders", as shown below:

Lots of people who want their copies of Trese signed by the amazing team. :D Sadly, I wasn't able to get my copy of the book, as I'm abit strapped for cash lately. But I heard from Mr. Baldisimo that they may consider selling copies at this coming Winter Komikon, so I'm crossing my fingers till then. :D

To wrap up my busy day today, I saw this huge ass Gunpla for sale and I simply cannot resist the urge to take a picture.

Hope you have a great weekend guys! :D

Thor Mjolnir Hammer USB drive @ Jollibee!!

If there's one thing I loved about Jollibee, is that they always release awesome toys for their Value Meals! Just remembering their amazing Voltron Toy set that they released a few years ago which looked like this:

Ha! Take that McDonalds! XD

Anyway, Jollibee's new toy is for the upcoming Marvel movie "Thor: The Dark World", which is Thor's famous hammer; the Mjolnir! And the sweet thing about this hammer is that its actually a USB drive too!! :D

To be able to purchase this amazing lil USB drive, you'll need to purchase their latest burger value meal; the Cheesy Bacon Mushroom Champ!!

Since I wanted to get my hands on that USB drive, I decided to get myself that meal! Upon ordering I learned that apparently you need to purchase the value meal first which cost Php165 (roughly $3.5) BEFORE you can purchase the Mjolnir Hammer USB drive which costs Php95 (roughly $2.5). Well, considering the overall total cost would cost me the same price of an actual lousy, boring USB drive anyway, I decided to get one. Atleast this one comes with a deliciously lookin burger, along with that amazing Mjolnir Hammer USB drive.

As for the burger, I can definitely vouch for its yumminess! I mean just look at all the cheese oozing out of the burger!

Anyway, before this post becomes a foodie review, here's the actual USB itself:

This awesome gadget is actually really solidly build. It's made out of thick durable plastic and has a really nice weight to it. It definitely doesn't feel light or flimsy, but has enough weight to make it feel solid. It comes in 1GB storage capacity (which is a bummer), but hey atleast if you find yourself in a pinch, you'll have this one ready to transfer small files for you. It definitely doesn't look bad when placed in my desk. :D

Congratulations again Jollibee for such an amazing product tie-in to the upcoming movie "Thor: The Dark World"!! So to every geek out there, what the hell are you waiting for?! Go to your nearest Jollibee store RIGHT NOW and grab this before stocks run out!

PS: Jollibee, since you're already releasing awesome USB toys, I'd like to request you get this too next time for your value meal toys:

I'm damn sure this would sell out like hotcakes, I can assure you guys that. :D

100 ARAW ng KOMIKS: Knight of Grey (aka My First Attempt at making Komiks)

In commemoration of the “100 Araw ng Komiks”, I’ve decided to share to everybody my very first attempt at making a komiks.
(NOTE: This article is a pretty long read and contains a lot of large images and may take awhile to load, so read at your own risk. Thank you!)
I’m an avid fan of pinoy komiks, growing up reading Funny Komiks and Bata-Batuta Komiks. I was weaned by local heroes made by local artists that opened my eyes to the world of komiks. So, being an ambitious young kid, I told myself that I’d one day make a komiks too (aside from my dreams of making videogames, but that’s for another story…)
1996, I was still in highschool back then, I made my first 10 page komiks entitled “pH2: The Psychic Police”. Here’s a sample art:

(AUTHOR’S NOTE: This is an updated version of the original art that I did back in college I believe. I lost all artworks I ever made back in highschool because I had no scanner or PCs back then)
Basically the plot was my take on X-Men/Psychic Force 2012, and as to how “psychics” (my version of mutants) formed a taskforce to help find and arrest evil psychics that abuse their powers. It is because of this story, that I met my long-time friends Jon Infante, along with Ria Lu, and the three of us started dreaming of making our mark in the local komiks industry forming what would later become “Komikasi Enterprise”. Technically, “pH2: The Psychic Police” is my “first” attempt at making komiks, but considering that it wasn’t made available publicly and that only my 2 friends had the chance to read it, I decided to give that honor to my first published komiks that was actually distributed and read by other people…

(AUTHOR’S NOTE: This was the first banner for my komiks which was put online)
Fast forward to 2008, I was a graduate of Fine Arts Majoring in Advertising, but I ended up taking calls at a well-known call center company. Feeling frustrated that I haven’t had the chance to fulfill my childhood dreams and losing a sense of direction in my life (because that’s what working at call centers can do to you… suck the fucking life out of you in exchange of huge amounts of money) I got a call from my friends who asked me if I’m available to go on a meeting with them at SM Bicutan (and by defintion, the word “meeting” is another way for me and 2 other friends of saying “we’re hanging out”).
So I arrived at SM Bicutan, and met up with Ria and Jon at Tokyo Tokyo. There Ria laid out her plan of releasing a komiks for Komikon that year. Considering that all 3 of us were busy with our respective work lives, we decided to do a 1-page komiks, that we will then compile and distribute it for free on Komikon. At the time, to my knowledge, most komiks at Komikon were for sale and only a few artists allow people to see glimpses of their work. For me, giving away free sampler komiks would be a real nice way to introduce most people who are apprehensive on paying for komiks and ease them into being komiks fans themselves. So I went home with renewed hope and started thinking of what kind of story I’ll be working on…
After much deliberation, I ended up working on a medieval themed story, with a vampire hunter as the lead. This choice in story simply reflected my love and passion for a particular game series…

(AUTHOR’S NOTE: This fanart is my own drawing around circa 2005)
Yes, I’m a huge Castlevania fan.
And since I’m so inspired and in-love with the series, I decided to base off my story from this game, along with other anime/movies I watched at the time as inspiration for my komiks. And the result was “Knight of Grey”.

The title came about when I wanted a title that would suit a story for a vampire hunter that is also born a half-human, half-vampire or a “dhampir”. I had an idea that since he’s half-good (white) and half-evil (black), he would be somewhere in-between (grey). Thus I ended up choosing that as my title for my komiks. Along with my 2 other friends who also made their own komiks series:


Mars Mag (Ria Lu) & Para Xi (Jon Infante), we decided to take the plunge and went ahead to Komikon bringing along our very first printed komiks. Our game plan was to give away the teaser komiks to people which will in-turn entice them to go to the komikasi website where we will be continuing the series releasing them 1-page per week. Here’s what the site looked like back then:

(AUTHOR’S NOTE: This is what’s left of the site as it was already taken down. This is an offline version of the site stored on a PC.)
Komikon came along and we finally released our teaser komiks to people. I helped along by distributing the komiks to any passerby who visited our booth as well as distributing fliers at the entrance to let them know they can get free komiks at our booth. It was a very interesting and memorable experience for me, as I kinda felt the feeling of how most komiks creators went thru in going out of their way to make their works known and the amount of work they put into their komiks, even if mine was a pathetic 1-page teaser. I had a deeper appreciation of what a komik artist goes thru each time they go to Komikon, hoping someone would atleast notice them. I also felt my heart break whenever I see people just throw my work into the trashcan, tear it to shreds, dismiss it or see copies of my komiks on the floor being stepped upon by people. It was a mix of sadness and happiness for me; happiness in a sense that I finally have something that people are reading, and sadness whenever people reject your work. It was an experience I will never forget.
As I look back now, while my first attempt at making komiks is pathetic to say the least, it did teach me a lot and gave me a lot of insight in terms of entering the komiks industry. It also gave birth in a way to another project we did at Komikasi; The Espresso Komiks Magazine. And this coming Komikon, I look forward to my second attempt at making a komiks, and not a 1-page teaser. Thank you for reading and long live pinoy komiks!

PS: For anyone interested in reading “Knight of Grey” I uploaded all of the teaser pages on my DeviantART account. You can view them all here: http://diobrando.deviantart.com/gallery/8201614