The Rolling Shutter Saga: Laboy #1: Asia Pop Comic Con: Day 2 & 3

The biggest, baddest comic con this side of the planet? Probably!

Asia Pop Comic Con (APCC) is an event granted to third-world mortals of the Philippines by probably the gods of Disney and Marvel and whoever's at the helm of the organization. This unbelievably awesome event was one I'd probably look forward to every year as long as I have money to spare. This is the first time in a long time I flew above the clouds in nerdgasmic joy.

It's just about every overgrown kid's dream come true the moment I arrived at the event's doorsteps at the World Trade Convention Center in Pasay...
(click to read more about APCC!)

... and into the long, long queue line for tickets.

Of course, gratification isn't instant in this kind of thing. For an event as major, major as APCC, everything seemed organized right from outside to inside. Sure the lines were long, but the volunteers, marshals, and all event-related personnel were very helpful to attendees.

I first arrived on Day 2 of the three-day geek event with not much in mind but to just enjoy whatever's inside, especially Paul Bettany's (Vision in the Avengers: Age of Ultron movie) appearance, and a special teaser screening of Captain America: Civil War. Along the way, my friends came - it became sort of a college days reunion. For Day 3 I was almost alone save for one of my pals coming over for the event.

It wasn't long before we got inside, thanks to the, again, ultra-organized team of ~~undercover S.H.I.E.L.D. agents~~ er-- people manning the event.

This is how it looked before I entered:

Pretty basic huh? Yeah, standard entrance decor. I nonchalantly walked into and got dazzled by the ultimate cream of awesomeness building itself right before my eyes. And yeah I don't have a pic because the place was too big, too wide for my camera and lens to handle.

So what was inside? I kept screaming inside as me and my buds pulled all the stops and walked incessantly from one area to another. The content was out of this world! And some in it of course. For starters, there's COMIC AVE studio's hulking Hulkbuster armor for display and photo exhibit!

Life-size replica, for a larger-than-life photo op!

Following that up, is Studio ADI's nook with their world-renowned works for Alien, Race to Witch Mountain. On set are the Alec McGillis and Tom Woodruff! Yes THE guys themselves!

Woodruff-sama demonstrating Bernie's animatronics

There's just too much to handle, apparently. My buddies and I missed out on the Civil War teaser and barely got a glimpse of Paul Bettany onstage. I managed to get several clicks, though it's from a distance.

Loki would've loved to be on stage.

Paul waves the crowd into submission with the Mind Gem.

So we just geeked ourselves out with everything inside the con hall after that. Too bad I didn't have a lot of cash that time.

Some noteworthy spots include a Knight Rider exhibit-- this is a show from the 80's starring David Hasselhoff, a.k.a. Mr. Baywatch. It was made from a restored car of the same model - the only one in the entire country. There's also a big spot for Star Wars fans through the 501st Legion's photo area, complete with a Han Solo in carbon seal prop and of course trooper cosplayers! Many of the stuff at APCC actually exudes nostalgic feels. There were also a lot of artworks from popular comic artists!

Who would've thought this was a RESTORED vehicle? It's Pimp My Ride geek version!

Speaking of artworks, I didn't take photos of them, except for the two I posted above in the lead paragraph, which I bought. This is out of respect for the artists' effort to create their pieces, and also in hopes of leading people to not just browse through their work online but to make the effort to see them in real life. Yup, it's worth it!

As for the merch, the place was packed with it. From Lego to Gunpla, it's all there! They also happen to have a huge display of these wares for geeks to bawl over.

Every kid thought of himself as the stormtrooper on top of the AT-AT here, most probably. I did.

Gunpla heaven.

Hand-painted masterpiece.

Die cast figures to die for.

And of course a geek con won't be complete without cosplays. Cosplayers strutted their stuff across the floor and onstage for the CAGE (Cosplay Authority Global ChallengE) competition. International and internet personalities also graced the event, with figures like Vampy Bit Me, Leanna Vamp, propsmaker Bill Doran and crafter Amanda Spayd having a fun time and selling premium prints and items.

The difference between APCC's guest cosplayers and other cons was that the guests were allowed to mingle with fans-- they're not guarded and fans don't hound them too. It makes for a very friendly atmosphere and further ups the fun factor for both guests and attendees!

Propsmaster Bill Doran

Xena and Gabrielle. Man I feel old.

Daenerys Stormborn... and all her titles. With Drogo.

Darth Vader, trying to Force-choke me.

One of the prettiest Namine cosplays. Ever. Wish I got her name.

A very accurate Scarlet Witch cosplay. Even her phone matches the costume!

Joker and Harley (Suicide Squad version) rockin ' the floor (without explosives).

Undoubtedly Uncanny: the X-Men!

Perhaps one of the points I learned from APCC is just how great art can inspire a person. While the convention utterly kept the geek in me in high spirits, what really made me thankful for having spent so much for this event were the artworks.

I can't hope to be a graphic artist anytime soon, but it did inspire me to keep on being a photographer. I have to improve my art. I have to stop being a consumer, and become a producer. If I want to make photography a career I really have to keep pushing to improve on it, no matter what life throws at me. That, I think, will be true success, not piles of money.

Moving on to Day 3, APCC had special guests Colton Hayes (Arsenal of Arrow series) and Nathalie Emmanuel (Missandei of Game of Thrones) onstage. The crowd, once again, flocked to the stage proper like mountains of flesh in unison, ala-World War Z. Good thing I went there early, got a good enough spot, and managed to get decent snaps.

Doin' the AlDub thing. She doesn't know it, buti na lang!

Truly lovely.

I was stupid enough to record her on video while she spake Valyrian (of which she knows in two forms... wow) of Daenerys' titles (all of them yes!)... and then I forgot the audio was off. DARN IT.

Back to the convention... another thing I love about APCC was the crowd - not rowdy, and people actually lined up like decent people instead of clustering together like a bunch of meerkats. Even the hardcore geeks handled themselves well from throwing down their underwear upon seeing their idols. It's a far cry from the usual community I'm used to, from events where supposed-to-be grownups keep running like cartoon ninjas, screaming like pigs in the butcher shop or just about making over-the-top actions that aren't necessary or worse disturb the general public.

Aside from that, the staff were all very accommodating, hospitable, and cooperative. Worth mentioning was the quick response of the marshals when an attendee in the ticket queue fainted- the APCC team was as Flash-fast on the scene and brought the distressed youngster and her family to the medical team immediately. I didn't even had time to react! Now that is what you call fast.

When I arrived in Day 3 I found that it was a bit difficult fiddling around my stuff trying to put on the event wrist tag. Near the entrance I approached one of the staff and she (forgot to take her name, didn't even try because it might send mixed messages...) helped me out. It was only then that I noticed she was a PWD (person with disability). It put me to shame. Here I am, a fully functioning individual with all the powers of a working anatomy, and I barely help people out; here she was, helping this person who can perfectly do it had he just tried putting down his bags. Shame on me, yes.

It doesn't end there - the staff inside was as organized as the CIA on a Presidential visit. People manned lines from "queue starts here" to "queue ends here" - to ensure no one gets lost in the plethora of lines for meet-and-greets, photo ops and autograph signing. They also ensured everyone finds what they're looking for-- ask one around for where a certain booth is, what time a program item is coming up, they all know it. What are they, Protoss Khala? The organizers seem to have installed a unified mind server for all their staff! Beyond amazing!

By the time APCC ended I was lost for words and just hoping there's another one next year. It is by far one of the most memorable events I've gone to this year and probably the cause of why I'm not attending several more lined up for local events. The expectations and quality brought about by this con proved indeed that it is the biggest, baddest (in a good way) geek gathering this side of the planet.

Here's my hopeful list of guests next year:

Stars/actors: (one or more)
Chloe Bennet / Gal Gadot / Scarlett Johansson / Tom Hiddleston / Jason Momoa / Grant Gustin / Emily Bett Rickards / Clark Gregg / Andy Serkis
Production staff:
David Benioff & D.B. Weiss / Bryan Singer / any Star Wars prod team head
Artists:
Alex Ross / Stephen Segovia / David Mazzuchelli / Man-at-Arms
Cosplayers:
Jannet Vinogradova / Enji Night / Maridah / Yaya Han / Living Ichigo
Internet Personalities:
Pewdiepie / SMOSH

and let me wrap up this article with some more photos from APCC!