Get ready for some new Pinoy indie komiks at Indieket!

With Ariel Atienza and Jon Zamar 

Get ready for some new Pinoy indie komiks at Indieket!

by rick olivares

The fourth Indieket is two weeks away and according to event co-founder Jon Zamar, judging by the leap in the number of exhibitors, fans can expect a whole lot more promising comics this year from even more creators.

“For this year’s Indieket (August 15, 2015 at the Bayanihan Center along Pioneer Street in Pasig City), we made it bigger,” said Jon Zamar, co-founder of the Komikon events. “Previously, we used only one hall. Now we are using two. So far we received a good response from exhibitors. We’re going to have more this year and hopefully, that will bring more fans.”

Zamar and co-founder Ariel Atienza, who incidentally are both komiks creators themselves, related that historically, Indieket which caters to new and independent creators, isn’t as jam packed at the annual Komikons that kick off and close out the calendar year. "The first Indieket compared to Komikon medyo nag-underperform,” noted Zamar. "That first event we had about 500 people in attendance. The second was the best as we doubled the attendees and exhibitors. The third dipped a bit. But that is to be expected as you have to factor in Komikon, you have every facet of komiks from international stars to the big retailers to the sheer volume of collectibles available. Indieket is stripped down — just the creators with lots of new works. No frills." 

“Indieket,” added Atienza, “is where people are a little hesitant to try new and untested komiks. A lot of people normally wait for good indie titles to spread via reviews and word of mouth that come the November Komikon, people are willing to give some titles a try." 

“Nevertheless, Indieket is a very good opportunity na ma-expose yung mga new indie works,” chimed in Zamar who cited named like Tepai Pascual, the Frances Luna studio, and Gio Paredes (Kalayaan) to name a few who broke out of anonymity to become best-selling komik creators. "If you are going to Indieket you can expect great local creators and great local komiks. It is a celebration of local creators. And more often than not this is where you get your first look at them and their creations."

Entrance to the one-day Indieket (10am-7pm) costs P100 per person. Tickets can be purchased at Comic Odyssey branches at Robinson’s Galleria, Fullybooked at Promenade, Greenhills and Bonifacio High Street or at the gate.