GMA covers Komikon

This is a short, but timely reaction to late but welcome article from Carmela G. Lapeña, Indie komiks draw crowds in Komikon 2010

I find it so strange that the major news outlets always seem to have some interest in the state of komiks, but not enough to get into the business themselves. Anyway, everybody seems to be picking up on the good news that the indie komiks industry is thriving! Of course, we all have our little objections that she may not be entirely accurate here and there, but this is still something to be grateful for.

I do worry that when you see a news article like this one, or Paolo Chikiamco's article over at the POC, that people may be misled into thinking that there is an actual komiks industry, like the old one. I wish we could safely say that komiks making is profitable and stable as a career, but not everyone gets to be as successful as Budjette Tan or Manix Abrera. And even then, if we are truly honest about this, the definition of success needs to be qualified with how success is defined in other careers. Komiks still has a long way to go to be profitable enough for us to get into it full time.

I don't mean to be the cynic here, but I am saying komiks makers need to be wary that they may pick up a false sense of security from all this. All the news outlets also raved when Caparas 'revived' komiks not so long ago, as well as when Stone first came out almost a decade before that. The news outlets are great for letting the world know komiks is still here, but they won't do all the work of promoting and marketing komiks.

Let me end this with a little suggestion for all you komiks makers out there, if I may: there's a link in that article to email the editor. Send them that email. Tell them that you want to be interviewed, and maybe even advertised with GMA. Be aggressive enough that they can't say no, irregardless of your age or qualifications. Maybe you won't all get a response, but it will make them take notice. GMA can do way more in promoting your work than this humble blog could. :)