Goin' Indie at Free Comic Book Day 2013

Free Comic Book Day for me was hot, literally and figuratively.

I've spent the last few years going to Comic Odyssey in Robinson's Galleria to celebrate Free Comic Book Day, but this year I decided to change things up a bit by going to the FCBD event in National Bookstore Quezon Ave. called Setting the Record, where they aimed at setting the record for most number of artist sketches done in one comic book event.

I arrived at the event at around 10AM, and by then the line for free comics was snaking through the venue! These brave souls braved the heat of the venue to get free comics, which is a good sign.

I didn't get any free comics though, but I didn't mind. I was more interested in the independent comic creators present at the event.

FCBD is a purely Western creation, after all, so it was interesting to see how our local Pinoy artists are using the hype generated by the event to show the non-comic book reading public that indies are here...and they're growing!

To be honest, I've pretty much ignored Pinoy indie komiks for the good part of my comics-reading life, but it took this year's FCBD to show me what I've been missing these past few years! I got myself a copy of the Ambush Omnibus by Andrew Villar, and I got to shake hands with the good folks who made the hardboiled western indie Drop Dead Dangerous, which is my favorite indie comic find!

Also, I got to meet with Sir Bernce of Hollow Point Comics, who obliged fans' requests for sketch cards through Facebook, including mine. I got him to draw Iron Man and my favorite Pinoy superhero, Rene Maniquis' Maskarado. I loved it so much, I've got an itch to collect sketch cards now!

It didn't help that National Bookstore had a sale on graphic novels at the event, which meant I had to catch up with some Pinoy komiks titles I've been following, like Mikey Recio and the Secret of the Demon Dungeon and Filipino Heroes League!

So while it was ironic that I spent money on comics on a day dedicated to free comics, I'm happy that I got to discover new stuff to read that I would have otherwise overlooked. Pinoy indies found a new fan that Saturday afternoon!

So how was your Free Comic Book Day? Tell us all about it via the comments below. Thanks for reading!