A Festival Of Delight: The Philippine International Comics Festival 2025.

More than 200 Filipino comics creators are set to take the center stage at the Philippine International Comics Festival (PICOF) 2025. Happening on July 5-6 at SM Megamall's Megatrade Hall 2, PICOF 2025 aims to celebrate the country's vibrant komiks heritage and highlight its continuous global recognition. Readers, creatives, students, professionals, and even those who are simply curious and intrigued are invited to this exciting and fun-filled event, with doors opening from 11am until 8pm.

Why Komiks?

With almost a hundred years of richly contributing to Philippine art and culture, Filipino comics, or komiks with a k, is currently riding the wave of its second renaissance.

Filipino Komiks is Traveling the World 

During the first golden age of Filipino comics, world-renowned illustrators such as Tony de Zuniga, Nestor Redondo, Alfredo Alcala, and Alex Niño invaded the US to offer their illustration services for the big comics publishers such as Marvel or DC Comics.

Now, it’s the storytellers with their original stories and characters, who are getting published around the world, with over 100 foreign editions of Filipino komiks, published in the US, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and in more countries around the world, making komiks the most translated literary genre of the Philippines.

All of this can be found in the documentary film, “Komiks With a K” directed and produced by National Book Award winning author Jay Ignacio. His 60-minute film will have four screenings and Q&A with the director on Friday 530pm-8pm, and Sunday 5PM-8PM at Megatrade Meeting Room B.

If the world is starting to read komiks, all the more Filipino readers of all ages should start reading komiks as well.

The Books Kids (of all ages) Love to Read

With the growing challenges in literacy, reading books that children or students love to read will definitely be a huge step in the right direction to solving this dilemma. Schools and libraries are more than welcome to start including komiks in their libraries through PICOF.

The PICOF Official Selection

What makes PICOF unique from all the comics festivals around the world, is it’s the only comics festival that selects an Official Selection of ten graphic novel pitches, that are developed in a Creator’s Lab, and published in time for the festival. Several of these books have won awards locally, and represent the Philippines globally with the support of the National Book Development Board.

This PICOF, two Official Selections will be launched—“Blight” by Yuri Pinzon is about a zombie outbreak in Baguio City, and “Cat Cafeteria” by Arli Pagaduan, about a mother-and-daughter and how they build a safe space for their community cats.

New Releases in #PICOF2025?

“Blight” and “Cat Cafeteria,” are just two of the 100 new releases set to be launched in PICOF2025. Creating a full-length graphic novel takes a lot of time, talent, and energy, so here are more titles that will be releasing chapters of their work: “Doobiedoo Asks Whatcha Up 2" by Bambi Amago, Jakob Amago and Roland Amago; “There’s A Daemon In My Head” Chapter 0 by Milo Galang; “Hiraya” Chapter 2 by Fred Cabredo; “Sibol” Chapter 2 by Patricia Ramos and Viel Vidal; “P.S.” Chapter 2 by Danyel Maxin; “The Dungeon” Chapter 1 by Kurt Arzaga; “Bodies On Rooftops” Chapter 1 by Aaron Gabao; “Strike the Spark!” Preview Chapter by Maria Maranan; “Kundiman” Chapter 1 by Yen Peters; and “The Last Wild Swan” Chapter 1 by Tintin Pantoja.

International Guests

Among the international guests present are: Fil-German creator Sheree Domingo (Long Distance Call,) Eisner Winner for Best Webcomics Erica Eng from Malaysia (Fried Rice,) and Singaporean Best Book winner, Kenfoo (Cockman) will all be launching the Philippine edition of their books under Vibal Publishing’s Agimat Comics imprint. There will also be comics creators and publishers from Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan, China, Brasil, Slovenia, and Turkey.

Comics Masterclasses

From July 4, Friday to July 6 Sunday, 1030am to 8pm, fourteen Masterclasses will be taught from comics professionals around the world. Notable masterclasses are Randy Valiente’s Hagod workshop, teaching the lost art style of Filipino komiks, a Cartooning Workshop with the Samahang Kartunista ng Pilipinas, while Itaewon Class creator Gwang Jin will be speaking about Korean Webtoons and the Industry Landscape. Also teaching masterclasses is award-winning Fil-German creator Sheree Domingo, Thailand-based British creator Jonathan Scott, Eisner Winner Erica Eng from Malaysia, and many more.

Comics Exhibits

PICOF will have three comics exhibits this year, the first featuring the PICOF Official Selection, the second is a tribute to Mars Ravelo’s Mahiwagang Makinilya, and the third is the country of highlight—Palestine through the Enter the Mulberry exhibit whose first public appearance was in the Lakes International Comic Art Festival last year.

Support Palestine

Readers can support Palestine by purchasing merchandise from the Enter the Mulberry exhibit, watch hourly live drawings of komiks creators doing “Panels For Palestine,” and buy a book of Palestinian creator Safaa Odah. All proceeds of the book, merch, and “Komiks With a K” film screenings will go to Medical Aid For Palestine and Safaa Odah herself.

There are so many delightful reasons to go to #PICOF2025. And if that isn’t enough, the first 1,000 attendees on both days can get a free copy of the TUWA Comics Anthology, featuring 100 independent creators from the komiks community! #SupportFilipinoKomiks at the Philippine International Comics Festival!

Tickets are 100php and may be purchased at the entrance or buy tickets online here: https://www.ticket2me.net/Komiket

The Philippine International Comics Festival: Bridging Filipino comics to the world.

THE Philippine International Comics Festival (PICOF) 2024, the only comics festival in the world with an Official Selection of ten graphic novel pitches, developed in a Creator’s Lab, and published in time for the festival, announced the ten titles that made it to the festival’s Official Selection list.

Among these are the 40th National Book Award and 7th National Children’s Book Award winner “Alandal” by J. Philip Ignacio and Alex Niño. “Alandal” is currently published in German and Burmese, and Niño also received the 2022 Eisner Hall of Fame Award in the USA.

“Doobiedoo Asks” by Bambi and Roland Amago is an autobiographical komiks about discovering that their first-born child is diagnosed with autism. It won at the 2021 Asian Festival of Children's Content - Best Media Pitch Winner, and at the 7th National Children's Book Awards as Kids' Choice Awardee, Chapter Book Category.

There is also “Twinkle Twinkle” by Tori Tadiar, which won the National Children’s Book Award, and the Filipino Reader’s Choice Award for Best Comics. Tadiar’s next work, Ilustra, is going to be published by Disney Hyperion in June 2025.

From L-R: Alandal, Doobiedoo Asks, Twinkle Twinkle.

Two new titles will get their first release, “Nino Bughaw” by CJ Reynaldo, about a deaf weather engkanto who has to save his parents from the evil stormy engkanto, and “Watchdog Of Manila” by Lucas Lacorte, about a young boy who uses his newfound superpowers to guard Sentro Manila.

For the first time since PICOF’s first edition in 2020, PICOF 2024 will be held face-to-face on July 20-21, 2024 (Saturday and Sunday) from 10 AM – 8 PM at The Podium Hall, 6/F of The Podium, located along ADB Avenue, Ortigas Center, Mandaluyong City.

𝑀𝑒𝑒𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑐𝑠 𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑦

Festival attendees will also have the opportunity to meet and greet some of the country’s most popular and top-notch creators, such as Pol Medina Jr., Tarantadong Kalbo, Libreng Komiks, and SSKAIT. National Book Award winners RH Quilantang from Leyte (“Ang Mga Alitaptap Ng Pulang Buhangin”), and Mike Alcazaren, Noel Pascual, and AJ Bernardo (“Death Be Damned”) are also in attendance. Flying in from Iloilo City, on the other hand, are Pasyon Komiks and Kartilya Komiks, and representing Davao City are Pulitzer Prize Finalist Ren Galeno and Gigi Chan of the popular webcomics, “Somewhere In My Past,” while Yuri Javillonar will come down from Baguio City to release a preview chapter of her work “Blight.” Students from the Komiket’s 9th Comic Book Creator’s Workshop will be releasing their first komiks, and the Makiling Komiks Kolektib are national arts scholars from the Philippine High School for the Arts in Laguna who will also be in attendance.

Pol Medina, Jr. 
Photo credit: Esquire Philippines.

Being an international event, PICOF will also see the presence of international delegates from South East Asia like Eisner winner Erica Eng from Malaysia, plus Chin Yew and Sam Seen, also from Malaysia. Juliette Yu-Ming Lizeray, as well as Fang Kai Loo, both from Singapore, will be joined by Toni Masdiono and Tita Larasati of Indonesia, and Ping Sasinan and Maelon and Seesaw representing Thailand. Readers may find each of their short comics all together in the SEA Kommunity Comics Anthology.

Tarantadong Kalbo.
Photo credit: Pep PH.

Multiple Eisner Award winner and a recipient of the Gold Medal from the Society of Illustrators, Craig Yoe (USA), will also be releasing his new book, “Woman and Man.” Sean Michael Wilson, also an Eisner and International Manga Award winner who has penned more than 40 titles, together with PICOF’s festival partners from the UK and Australia will also be in attendance. From the Lakes International Comics Art Festival, Lucy Sullivan, Lyndon White, and Mollie Ray will be representing the UK, while Katrina Turner from Perth Comic Art Festival will represent Australia.

𝑀𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑐𝑠 𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑠, 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑐𝑠 𝑒𝑥ℎ𝑖𝑏𝑖𝑡𝑠

And PICOF 2024 will not be complete without the Comics Masterclasses so it’s the perfect time for festival attendees to attend these masterclasses. It’s a rare occasion to have these international comics professionals in the country, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get up close and hear them talk and help everyone hone their skills not just in comics but also in sequential art and visual storytelling. All classes are definitely worth attending, like Toni Masdiono’s class on “Dynamic Flow & Angles,” Lyndon White’s “Stand Out Cover Art,” and Carlo Vergara’s “Digging Your Well: Unearthing Your Personal Catalogue Of Story Possibilities,” just a few of the 12 Comics Masterclasses available for interested students.

Attendees can also get a sneak peek at the creators who are next in line, as the PICOF Creator’s Lab creators are releasing the first chapters of their work. “Hele,” by Mitzi Bajet and Alex Sevilla, follows the life story of jazz and bodabil singer Ada set in the Filipino-American period. There’s “Hiraya” by Fred Cabredo that creates a new mythology about a powerful babaylan, Jalberta, who uses the mystical page of Hiraya to cure her dying grandson, “Tablay” by Kat Olan and Paul Medalla, a high-octane Filipino myth mecha adventure, while lovers of Filipino manga will adore “Sitnalta” by Ray Magbanua.

Komiket, which has been conducting Comic Book Creator’s Workshops since 2015, announced that the 9th batch of comics creators will be launching their komiks for the first time and they will definitely need all the support they can get.

Likewise, new released comics will get the special treatment they deserve as they will go on stage for the launch of their comics. The launch will be hosted by world comics expert Paul Gravett, Singaporean Comics Critic CT Lim, and Duy Tano, who will get to interview the creators. Among the new releases to be launched are Tuttle Publishing’s international edition of “Janus Silang,” the “Gigil” Anthology featuring 13 girls love one-shot comics, and “In the Jaws Of St. Camillus” by Stevie Barot, whose work was initially featured in Shortbox Comics Festival in the UK.

On the other hand, the Lakes International Comic Art Festival (LICAF), a long-time partner of Komiket working on the tenyearstosavetheworld.com project on climate change, will be working on a four-panel comics workshop for kids, with the view that comics can create a better world. This will be led by Mollie Ray of UK and Patty Ramos of the Philippines. The finished comics will become part of the comics exhibit of PICOF.

𝐶𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐹𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑐𝑠 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑤𝑡ℎ

This year, PICOF will also pay tribute to the Alamat Comics creators who started the independent comics scene in Manila through a comics exhibit of collected artworks by the Komikero Museum, and a comics anthology, Alamat Origins. The anthology takes readers back to the stories and art of the first and sometimes only issues of 17 titles released by the Alamat comics group in the 90s. These komiks have now been unearthed, remastered, and revived for new readers to enjoy.

Komikero Museum in San Pablo City.

In a groundbreaking initiative for Southeast Asia, a Comics Rights Market will be held a week before the festival, featuring a two-day rights-selling training with international comics agent Ivanka Hahnenberger. This special project, supported by the National Book Development Board and organized by Komiket, aims to enhance the professional development of Filipino komiks publishers. After the training, they will pitch to eight international publishers from the USA, France, Italy, Czech Republic, Korea, and Myanmar, engaging in business matching sessions to promote Filipino komiks titles. This development initiative supports industry growth and aligns with preparations for the 2025 Frankfurt Buchmesse, where the Philippines holds the distinguished position of Guest of Honour. This prestigious fair, the oldest in the world specializing in translation rights, underscores the Philippines’ commitment to advancing its literary contributions on a global stage.

There will also be festival merchandise available to help raise funds for PICOF2025 to keep the event free for komiks creators and komiks publishers. This year’s poster is illustrated by 2022 Eisner Hall of Fame awardee Alex Niño. Komiket also calls on Filipinos to support over 200 Filipino komiks creators and publishers by purchasing their komiks. Every purchase during PICOF 2024, where book lovers, film geeks, and animation and video game enthusiasts who love visual storytelling will enjoy in this festival of sequential art, will help encourage creators to continue creating magnificent creations that can be showcased to the world.

Now is the right time to #supportfilipinocomics. Head to the Philippine International Comics Festival (PICOF) 2024 on July 20-21, 2024, from 10 AM – 8 PM at The Podium Hall, 6/F The Podium along ADB Avenue, Ortigas Center, Mandaluyong City. Tickets may be purchased at the venue entrance for only PHP 200. The first one-thousand paid ticket holders will get a free Kometverse komiks anthology featuring 95 Filipino creators. And during the grand raffle, one lucky komiks reader gets to receive over 100 komiks as a gift by the community.

#PICOF2024 is organized by Komiket, and supported by the Office of Senator Loren Legarda, National Commission for Culture and the Arts, and the National Book Development Board.