APCC 2018: Making Memories and Possibilities
Always changing things up and letting fans let loose is the culture of comic cons. On its 4th year, Asia Pop Comic Convention Manila has further improved their guests, line up, and convention floor. Read on to see what went down this Asia Pop Comicon (APCC) 2018.
The excitement started on Friday with mostly the early birds: students on summer vacation and geeks on vacation leave. The entire first floor of SMX Convention Center was the main convention floor with a good arrangement of goods. Starting from the west, you get independent artists selling fan art, then the small retailers usually only available online. Bigger like Filbars and Gaming Library were also selling discounted goods.
Around the middle were the event sponsors—Globe gave away prizes and a free 360 video while ABS-CBN set up a booth promoting local superheroes Captain Barbel and Darna. Chevrolet also went all out with their car showcase and games. Towards the east were bigger sponsors like Jollibee—where attendees lined up for the early release of the Filipino fast-food chain mascot’s Funko.
APCC was also a chance for attendees to meet cosplay and comic book guests like Leon Chiro, Alex Sinclair, Lan Medina, and Artgerm. This year, Netflix whipped out their biggest area boasting shows Riverdale, Stranger Things, Luke Cage, Disenchantment, and Aggreretsuko.
Osric Chau remembers when he used to cosplay and go to events like these before his fame in the Supernatural series as Kevin Trau. “Comicon is the place for anyone, geek or otherwise to be just themselves and be openly accepted.” The star is working with other Filipino artists like Jasmine Curtis-Smith and Dante Basco in a possible film set in the country.
The main stage was on the second floor with a non-stop schedule of guest panels, cosplay contests, performances, and the much awaited “Hall Showcases”. Before APCC Manila, exclusive showcases were a thing for conventions like San Diego Comicon, New York Comicon, and Tokyo Game Show. Thanks to Marvel, Netflix, and for the first time, Disney, these brands got to show event goers exclusive clips, content, launches, and so much more.
Luke Cage stars on gearing up to meet fans for an autograph signing and photo opportunities
For the Netflix showcase, they surprised many fans by bringing in the star of the show Luke Cage, Mike Colter with Mustafa Shakir and Cheo Hodari Coker. Joining them was the star of Iron Fist, Finn Jones himself! Netflix even brought up the ante by the premiere of Netflix Anime, Castlevania Season 2 as well as two premiere clips for Iron Fist season 2. If you missed Hall N, you also missed the screening of the first episode of Iron Fist season 2 and it was badass.
Jollibee released Funkos of their beloved mascot during APCC.
Not to be outdone, Hall M was easily the most anticipated showcase with people lining up for passes for over two hours! Marvel revealed their new animated show, Marvel Rising, at Hall M. For games, we saw previews of Marvel Strike Force, Future Fight, and Marvel Battle Lines for mobile, along with Marvel Powers United VR for the Oculus Rift and Marvel’s Spider-man for the PS4. Marvel Comics also had a few surprises in store for attendees, especially the return of Fantastic Four, Wolverine, and a new Captain Marvel comic to look forward to.
Hall D included something Filipinos should be proud of. Furniture designer Kenneth Cobonpue from Cebu, known around the world for his use of natural materials and inspiration, revealed his Tie Fighter Chair, Darth Vader and Darth Sidious Chairs, Death Star floor lamp, and the Jedi Chandelier. For TV shows, Disney announced the premiere of Starwars Resistance which will air this October. For movies, they had Animation Supervisor Mark Henn show us an extended clip from Ralph Breaks the Internet where he animated Princess Ariel.
Asia Pop Comicon is also the place for CAGE, or the Cosplay Authority Global Challenge, where only the best and biggest solo cosplayers competed for the grand cash prize of US$ 10,000. This year’s CAGE Grand Champion was Jessy Salvador, who was dressed up as Kung-Fu Panda 3 villain Kai.
The event may have ended but the hype has not died down. The organizers vowed to always make it bigger and better the next time around, and we will be here to attend and enjoy the autograph signings, exclusive releases, thoughtful panels, the showcases, and the camaraderie it brings.
Here’s to the biggest pop culture convention in Manila—Asia Pop Comicon 2018!
Also Read: Asia Pop Comicon Manila 2018 at SMX this July
