James Bacon reviews this year’s huge Singapore Comic Con – the second of three special reports for downthetubes from Asia…
It’s a beautiful sunny day, warm and blue skied, twenty seven degrees. It is December, but this is the weather that awaits fans as they make their way to Singapore Comic Con, and the fans are here and ready, as they surge out of the Bayside MRT exit and walk the fifty yards or so to the queue.
There’s an incredible atmosphere and the queue is mighty and the chance to see so many comic creatives is an obvious draw, but crikey, this is a convention centre, to one side the enormous and absolutely fantastical Marine Bay Sands Hotel, and then through the ginormous columns one can see the science fictional and wonderful structures in the Gardens by the Bay.
The Exhibition Halls and Function rooms of the Marina Bays Sands encompass an incredible 31,750 sqm and it is a constituent part of the Marina Bay Complex and Shopping centre, with its vast Food Court and incredible array of restaurants. This is wild, this is not like any comics event venue I have ever been in.
The convention has two parts: the ground floor is the Comic Con, a huge 14,000sqm hall, and the basement hall, some 17,190 sqm is split between a Bandai Game and Card event, and Collexicon which is a huge Pokemon and card collating sales hall.
There is quite an incredible list of comic creatives at this convention from across the globe, and this is obviously a large draw to fans. Indeed, it was so impressive to see the queue for Stanley Lau – Artgerm. He was signing non-stop as soon as he sat at the table, and demand for sketches, which he had pre done, drawing, comics, and prints was unreal. There is no doubt he is stylistically beautiful in his portrayal of characters, and it became apparent how many fans, and fellow creatives look up to this Singapore resident. Was everyone here to see Artgerm?
Stanley had also brought along hundreds of his comics, as he was able to, and this was hugely popular. Picking up his variant covers for $10 (£5.78) was great value.
There was British representation too, and it was lovely to see Sean and Jacob Phillips, working hard on sketches, painted commissions, and signing, but they were not alone. Glenn Fabry, who I had chance to talk to, was very busy with fully painted work, and working at a fantastic pace, producing some lovely paintings over the weekend.
Art is powerful here, and it was interesting to see what Mark Hay from Splash Page Art and Matt Ditullio had brought along. It was really nice to see original art of such a high calibre, and variety. I also got the chance to speak to Dan Scott of Scotts Collectables, all the way from London, who was supporting the convention, and I noted that Stanley Gibbons Baldwin’s had a booth and were displaying some fascinating comics. The company is, of course, better known for its stamps business and its work in comics collectables is not known by everyone, so they were seen as a new operator.
Collecting art is very popular, and has a long standing here in Singapore, and I was lucky to see one collector show an incredible selection of Silver and Bronze age artwork.
Jacob Phillips, known for his work on That Texas Blood and Newburn has been working on comics from a youthful age, but these two comics are amazing, and I was delighted to chat to Chris Condon, who wrote That Texas Bloodand also The Enfield Gang Massacre, which Jacob drew. Chris’s work on Ultimate Wolverine is excellent, and I learned that he has also undertaken a run on Green Arrow, another bunch of comics to add to the wants list!
Jacob and Chris also have a new Vertigo series coming out, Brutal Dark, a story about P.I Ezra Cain. “Nazi-punching-moustache-sporting-New-Yorking P.I is back and better than ever in The Peril of the Brutal Dark the sci-fi adventure,” we’re told. “The first in what will hopefully be a whole bunch of adventures we get to tell.”
It was especially nice meeting and chatting with Leirix, who has done some incredible comic book covers. Leirix really can capture emotion, moments of action and the atmosphere of a character and comic, while also being able to present a dynamic scene, with incredible beauty. There is a clear focus and thoughtfulness when she speaks about art, and creating it, but this was matched with a wonderful laugh and relaxed friendliness, and it was noticeable just how many fans were looking for signatures, and of course, the comics she had brought along, were disappearing at pace.
There were queues for Kael Ngu, Carla Cohen and Lucio Parillo, and Simone Bianchi was working on large painted pieces, and really happy to talk about his work as he painted. It was incredible to see how he used the pallet, and also how the paintings developed, and, suddenly, he has magically created such distinctiveness. Simone Di Meo was really nice, but crikey, like many of those mentioned busy, but happy to make time and chat. Di Meo’s Batman work has a real distinctiveness to it.
Elvin Ching was a surprise announcement, and very welcomed, as a local, his pencils on the recently released Predator Badlands #1 are lovely, and the story written by Ethan Sacks.
With a cover by Juan Ferreyra, it’s a prequel to the film, which was created in collaboration with director Dan Trachtenberg.
One felt that there is a strong comic community here, in Singapore, where comic creatives seem to like to live and work. There is a great support for the “local” artist as one might say, but there is a hugely broad interest.
It was really nice to speak to Derrick Chew, whose work on Star Wars has been really beautiful, and also Simon Segovia, whose covers on Star Wars really captured something, an essence or power about the characters that is just fantastic, I think his portrayals of Luke Skywalker are really quite fantastic.
This was one of the unique elements for me about Singapore Comic Con: I was privileged enough to be able to get here, and meeting so many artists who live in Singapore, or nearby countries, and who one just rarely sees in Europe was awesome.
I was pleased to meet Tran Nguyen, whose work is utterly astonishing. Tran has won the Chesley Award twice, the World Fantasy Award and was nominated last year in the professional category for the Hugo Award. Her work is incredible, and I am not alone in thinking that, as her Facebook has over one million followers. Born in Can Tho, Vietnam, Tran lives in Atlanta Georgia, and her paintings are a delight to see. Tran was just at New York Comic Con, and it was one of those aspects about this convention, that there was the opportunity to meet artists that one holds in high regard.
There was an incredible variety of comics available. Comic Grail Vault, a shop that keeps expanding, had sponsored a number of artists, and they had a very nice selection of comics available, related to the guests. Doctor Ruain Comics had brought back issues, starting at $2 (£1.16) and increasing with the silver age and slabbed copies of more important comics. Harley Yee from Detroit Michigan had turned up with a wall that was impressive, from Fantastic Four #4. #49, #50 and #52 to ASM #4, #7 and #9, some Pre-Code EC Horror Comics, and some cracking Golden Age, such as Sensational Comics #9. Many keys, from the first appearance of Wolverine, Banshee, Punisher, Morbius Rogue, as well as the sad death of Gwen Stacey, were just some cracking titles available. It was a lovely wall to see, and with a Tales of Suspense #39 selling at $16,000, some serious comic books available.
All the comic dealers I got chatting to were very friendly: Brian and Randolph from Grail, Harley and Andrew, Captain Durian and Mohammad, all pleasant, friendly, and engaging.
It was easy to spend money on so many wonderful things, and there was a lot of custom occurring: original art, commissions, pages, and even covers were selling, although there are also challenges with judging the market. No one wishes to begrudge professionals making money, this is important, but it was clear a comic book professional charging $45 (£25) for a signature was neither sensible not viable, and the lack of queue is proof that a balance needs to be found between pricing and fan encouragement.
Alongside comics, the Hall was filled with large commercial booths with merchandise from Transformers, Gundam, Marvel and Star Wars really being noticeable and The Mask making a return, along with a number of card games, animation and statues, all featuring, the artists alley was full of local work, and it was astonishing to see the calibre here.
The food area was astonishing, too! There were about 20 or more stalls set up, and it was like street food in the con! All types of wonderful food was available, and the smell was incredible.
There were other aspects to the Comic Con which were really interesting. The Singapore Police had a physical catch game machine, that dropped randomly, that everyone wanted a go of, a mix of mental and physical agility and they had a selection of prizes, can anyone imagine such a fun presence, laughing and engaging and funning with comic fans.
The National Library and National Archive had a lovely stand, with beautiful paper fold out items that children could make, and they had a Card Game based on the Libraries of Singapore, which looked amazing. Yu Xiang and Ren Rong were amazing ambassadors, and their art wall, and warmth of welcome to the Library and Archive space was fabulous.
In the basement, Collexi-Con was heaving. This was where hundreds of card dealers, with thousands of Pokémon cards were busy selling, available as well as role-playing games, a vast gaming area, lots of adjacent hobbies, and cosplayers, who have moved their hobby into the business sphere of content provision, and entertainment, and monetised the demand and appreciation for their art and fair to them.
There was also a Bandai Card Games Fest, Monopoly Championship and the CCG aspect was hugely popular: not just Magic The Gathering and Pokémon, but also Battle Spirits, Ultraman, Digimon Dragonball, Gundam – all leveraging anime IP. While statues and figures were huge.
Local favourite XM Studios did not have a display this year as they have their own showroom downtown, but Yolopark for Transformers, Queen Studios with Black Myth Wukong and Batman statues ,not to mention all the smaller figures by Funko, Joytoy, Bandai, were in abundance. I failed to find any Macross/Robotech or Gatchaman/Battle of the Planets, though, despite searching!
As mentioned, cosplay was in abundance, and there was a lot of energy and enthusiasm for the hobby, although I think it is so big that some of the basement hall space could be dedicated to them for storage and respite.
and Ispiderlpool – Monkey
One of the more astonishing events was the performance of Sympathy G-on, a 75-piece orchestra ensemble playing a sequence of pop culture music live. PassionArts AudioImage Wind Ensemble (also known as #teamaudioimage) and were scheduled for three appearances over the weekend, and I made sure I got to see one.
This was a powerfully energetic orchestral performance, with incredible level of skills. As a local group it was impressive and the music was lifting and strong, filling the venue with a joyous sound. All the musicians were in cosplay, representing something or someone from the performance. Conductors Mohamad Rasull and Yeo Jieyuan were jubilant and so full of energy, engaging with the audience, and the accompanying singers were unreal. I have seen a variety of orchestras perform, and I have to say, this group was really quite fine in their playing, arrangement and they were brilliant.
The play list included Sonic the Hedgehog, Star Wars, Baldur’s Gate III, Final Fantasy XIV, and Kpop Demon Hunters. KPop Demon Hunters were represented by cosplayers, a huge KPop Demon Hunters fan club stand and some very interesting crafting.
There was a strong presence of media sponsored items, such as Spongebob Squarepants Movie, KPop Demon Hunters, Five Nights at Freddys 2, Avatar: Fire and Ash, much of which is hugely popular. It will be interesting to see if KPop Demon Hunters has a comic release at some stage.
There was also a delegation from Indonesia, Asosiasi Komik Indonesia (AKSI) and Komiket (a major non-profit organisation in the Philippines with many links to the Lakes International Comic Art Festival here in the UK that runs comics art markets and promotes Filipino komiks and indie creators), and an independent seller from India selling Indian published comic books.
By my reckoning (and I’m happy to be corrected) there were creators from at least 13 countries at this event: Singapore, Malaysia, People’s Republic of China, Indonesia, the US, UK, France, Korea, Japan, Italy, Vietnam and the Philippines.
Local artists are so productive. “The Dawg Pound” was full of incredible work, and AXP from students studying digital animation on Singapore Polytechnic is an amazing broad sheet comic, now in its ninth issue, costing £2.50 and full of really interesting comics and art; and digital art schools also advertising courses. It is notable that Artgerm used to be a lecturer at Republic Polytechnic and is now Creative Director of 3dsense Media School. Educational links to the Comic Con were very strong.
The friendliness was astounding, there was a lot of chat, and engagement, there was a lot of cosplay, and of course, there were many elements that I missed. Perhaps next time.
Many thanks to Jielin Soo and all at GenerateXP for facilitating James and Randolph from Grail Comics and Christopher Hwang for their support.
James Bacon
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James Bacon (he/him) is an Irish fan, a train driver living in London. A Hugo Award-winning editor of the fanzine “Journey Planet”, he is a comic fan and enjoys comic art, war Comics, Star Wars, Irish aspects to comics and railways in comics or otherwise. He has been writing about comics for over thirty years.
Categories: Comic Art, Comics, Creating Comics, downthetubes News, Events, Features, Other Worlds, Reviews
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