A Taste of Comic Con Madness: AsiaPop Comicon Manila 2015

As a self-confessed “moderate” geek, I often found myself being amazed by the spectacle of comic conventions or comic cons, especially the famous San Diego Comic Con in the US. Seeing so much of today’s pop culture phenomena under one roof was a sight I’ve been at least intrigued to see.

Thankfully, we in this part of the world got at least a bit of a taste of what a full blown comic con is like with the first ever AsiaPop Comicon Manila that was held over the weekend at the World Trade Center Metro Manila  convention center. For this historic event, the Urban Roamer could not afford to miss it.

Being the first edition of what is hoped to be an annual event, the venue is not packed with exhibitors which is a good thing since there is now more space for people to roam. I hope succeeding editions would make a way to keep sa sizeable space for roaming.

As this venue is primarily a comic convention, some of the exhibitors there are comic book shops, (which surprisingly are not as many as I expected) as well as independent local comic book creators and studios who have a chance to showcase their works.

Then there are the variety of toys, action figures, shirts and other merchandise on display, from the indie outlets to the big guys like Lego and Funko with their assortment of figures on sale.

Speaking of action figures, there are a number of impressive detailed model figures being exhibited from the 5-6″ Stormtrooper figures to the life-sized Alien vs. Predator figures up to what is considered the biggest model figure ever exhibited here, the four-meter high Iron Man Hulkbuster armor that was featured in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Whoa indeed.

Of course, no comic con would be complete without the presence of the major entertainment companies who have been us these pop culture favorites to the small and big screen. Notably, there is the Fox International Channels Philippines which brought here favorites like The Simpsons, Family Guy, and the Walking Dead among others. There is also iFlix, Asia’s answer to Neflix and their shows and movies streamed on demand. Then, there’s Disney who has under its wing the Disney animation, Pixar Animation Studios, video game Disney Infinity, and its two big “geel” properties: Marvel and Star Wars.

There were some notable guests and events that transpired at the AsiaPop Comicon Manila, with The Avengers’ Paul Bettany, Arrow’s Colton Haynes, and Game of Thrones’ Nathalie Emmanuel in attendance to meet with the fans here. There was also an exclusive peek of the upcoming film Captain America: Civil War. Unfortunately, the Urban Roamer was unable to get to those events. Nevertheless, there were a lot of fan signings and meets happening in the convention floor itself, getting a chance to talk to various comic book artists, writers, and cosplayers.

And what would be a comic con event without cosplayers?

All in all, I would say it was a successful event and here’s hoping for more tosee in next year’s AsiaPop Comicon Manila. And a bit more organization wouldn’t hurt either.