The biggest and longest-running annual convention that showcases Filipino komiks and creators, Komikon Grande, is happening once again on November 23 to 24, 2019, at the Bayanihan Center in Pasig City from 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM.

Get to know the legendary artists of Filipino komiks including those who have worked with Mars Ravelo and Carlo J. Caparas, as well as renowned editorial cartoonists of daily broadsheets. The event also helps aspiring comic creators to exhibit their work through the Indie Komiks Tiangge, an exhibit for start-up and first-time comic creators.

One of the highlights of this year’s gathering is the "Album ng mga Kabalbalan ni Kenkoy," a 32-page compilation of classic comic strips from Tony Velasquez, who is acknowledged as “The Father of Tagalog Komiks.”

Kenkoy, a character created by writer Romualdo Ramos and illustrator Velasquez, was featured in a komiks strip in Liwayway magazine in the 1920s. Kenkoy represented a humorous look at Filipino life during the American period. Kenkoy classics will be made available at Ian Velasquez’s table at Komikon Grande with only 90 copies priced at PHP300.00 each.

Hal Santiago started his komiks career as an illustrator in 1958. He won the Best Illustrator Award for WIKA in 1980 for his artistic visualization of novels such as Pablo S. Gomez' Sun God and Carlo J. Caparas' Saka Natin Itanong sa Diyos. Santiago became a favorite and inspiration for many artists and readers in the 70's up to the 90's and produced many students who became komiks artists such as Joseph Christian Santiago (his eldest son), Vincent Kua Jr., Larry Santiago, and numerous others. In 2016, he illustrated Zuma, The Origin, written by Jim Fernandez.

Jess Abrera is a UP College of Fine Arts graduate. He is the creator of the comic strips Pinoy Nga! and A.Lipin that appeared in the Philippine Daily Inquirer. He created the Kalabaw, Guyito- the mascot of the broadsheet and also illustrated editorial cartoons there. Another of his creations is Kikomachine's Manix Abrera.

Tickets are now available in Comic Odyssey branches at a discounted price of PHP250, while 1-day tickets (PHP150) will be available on the day of the event.

To check the schedule of talks, film screenings, sponsors and other special guests, visit Komikon’s Facebook page.

Komikon Grande is one of the three events that Komikon organizes every year, together with Summer Komikon and Indieket.

Cover images grabbed from Komikon’s Facebook page.