FULL LIST: 2019 Komiket Awards winners

MANILA, Philippines – The winners of the 2019 Komiket Awards were announced Sunday, February 17 at the 5th Filipino Komiks and Art Market (Komiket), the biggest komiks and art sale for local creators in the industry.

The two-day event, which ran from February 16-17 at Centris Elements EDSA in Quezon City commenced with the announcement of winners for these 4 categories and one special prize: Best Illustrator, Best Writer, Best Student Komiks, Best Komiks, and Geiser Maclang Award, respectively.

The 4 winners received a “komikstarter” cash prize of P5,000 and P10,000 for the special award.

The winners

The Best Illustrator Award went to Ruvel Abril for his entry Ultimo #2, a supernatural story with Katipunero characters. For Abril, his hard work to get the pages done right paid off. 

The Best Writer Award was bagged by Michael Molo for his entry Darahug #1. This horror anthology is a graphic novel inspired by Visayan mythology. Molo is also the artist/Illustrator of this comic book. “It still feels surreal! It’s the first time I was given an award for writing, and I’m so happy because I was a writer first before an artist. So this Best Writer award still isn’t sinking in but I’m very thankful,” he said.

The Best Student Komiks Award was won by Zyrus Manue for his entry No Rest for the Gagus.

The Geiser Maclang Alamat Award was brought home by Alain Andrew Boquiren and Gioseppe Custodio for Acads Zone or An Abridged Version of How One One Guy Made His Thesis About Komiks. According to Komiket organizers, the Alamat award is open to cash sponsors. 

Each winner gets P2,500 cash and a P5,000 komikstarter grant to publish their next komiks, while the winner of the Geiser Maclang Alamat Award won P10,000 to fully develop their zine into a komiks.

This year Komiket, featured over 550 local creations, including 53 entries.

Finalists for each category are as follows:

Best Illustrator 

Cosmic Reaction by Sean Sonsona
Lindol #3 by Tedi Villasor and Randy Valiente
Sin by Patmai
Link by Mikey Marchan

Best Writer

Suicide Girls by RJ Baculo
Norman Zero by Fluffi
Ang Laptop by Chocnut-sun

Best Komiks

Wars of Whispher by Andre Palma and JV Tanjuatco
Ligaw-Tingin by Emiliana Kampilan
Tales from the Kingdom of Tundo #4 by M.A. Del Rosario
Norman Zero by Fluffi

Best Student Komiks

Super Proxies #1 by Sampay
Big-One-City by Vincent Lapuz

The Best Komiks Award was given to Ligaw-Tingin, edited by Emiliana Kampilan. Its publisher, Gantala Press, is an independent, all-female collective that publishes work for, of, and by women. The judges were Nida Ramirez of Visprint Inc., Ruel De Vera of Philippine Daily Inquirer and Richard Estueta of ProjectX.

Camaraderie

The Komiket has been encouraging participation, especially for a new breed of Komiks creators in the country, through the Komiket Awards and Comic Book Creators’ Workshop. It has now grown into a vibrant community supporting both newcomers and established creators.

Still, its biggest selling point is camaraderie, according to the Managing Editor Paolo Herras, as it is not only a chance for a meet-and-greet with the artists but a way of supporting them sustain their craft.

Silaw Publishing, the publisher of Sean Sonsona’s finalist book, said “the Komiket right now is full of creative people and it’s great to see both new artists as exhibitors and a lot of new people – along with familiar faces – coming in to support the event.”

They said they are happy for Sonsona, especially because he worked for two years on his komiks.

Lucky attendees also received posters, postcards, keychains and T-shirts, as well as free copies of the National Book Development Board’s Bookwatch magazine. Its latest issue Graphic Literature, which Herras edited, features a contemporary history of Filipino komiks.

Komiket, Inc. is open for registration for more komiket events and workshops. Check this link to register. – Rappler.com