The effects of launching a book

So Ninoy: Art and Essays is well-received by the public. Thank God!

A lot has happened to me because of this book. But first, let me stress that I didn't do the book for fame or popularity. It was 100% love for my Lola, my Lolo, and for the comic-book industry.

But the book is taking me places where I've never been before. A lot of people are proud of what I did. And I'm very thankful to God for His help. I really don't deserve all of this.

Why am I reacting? For one, I just had a friggin photoshoot. I'll be appearing in the October issue of People Asia. The writer told me that this is not the end for you... More will come. I don't think I'm ready for that.

I'm being featured as a SCION. Since that's the theme of the October issue. KC Concepcion will dawn the cover. Other Scions that will be featured are Quark Henares, Gary V's son, the chef of CYMA, and another guy. So, yours truly will be the one covering the political side of things. Whoopdeedoo...

What I'm thrilled about is that my comic book heroes are now my friends!

The guys in the states have added me on Facebook. How sweet is that?

Getting to chat with these people is already such a great blessing. I'm just happy.

My only fear now is that I hope the book sells...

Oh well...

We'll have to wait and see

Thoughts on The Umbrella Academy

There were a few comics in recent months that got me hooked so bad.

There's The Immortal Iron Fist (But sadly, Brubaker and Fraction aren't writing anymore)

and then there's Dark Horse Comics' The Umbrella Academy.

I've recommended it to a few people already but they just can't seem to dig it. It's The X-Men meets The Royal Tenenbaums. It's just frakking awesome! Gerard Way wrote as if there's already a back story to it but there actually is none. It took him 6 issues. Just 6. He's already got an Eisner for Best Limited Series. Yes, IT'S THAT DAMN GOOD.

I've bought a 9.8 CGC of The Retailer Variant. I cannot wait for it to arrive.

Anyway, today, I got this MySpace Dark Horse Collection. There's a story on TUA. I'll read it tonight. Then there's the Umbrella Academy Umbrellas! SO F'N COOL... I want to get one!

Oh well... That's it for today. I had a rough day.

Being a Merchandiser for a Supermarket

Today was the start of my 3 day Merchandising Stint in Robinsons Supermarket in Metro East.

It's not an easy job. I salute all the men and women working in the supermarkets, groceries, hypermarkets, etc. It's a friggin hard job man. My legs are killing me right now. I don't know how those guys find the energy to work like that. It's physically challenging!

Today made me appreciate the merchandisers more. A lot more!

I really gotta give it to them. They do suggestive selling and they get to interact with consumers every single day. Our company owes a lot to the hardworking men and women of ACE and SPARK.

I was in the 10-7pm Shift today. Tomorrow, I'll be at the 6-3pm. On Friday, 1-10pm.

3 day sale pa naman sa Robinsons Metro East sa Friday... Uh-oh.

In other news, the remaining books of Ninoy: Art and Essays arrived! 600 pieces.

The con of launching a book, you gotta sign a lot of them when people request. It's the least you can do for the support they give.

It's kinda weird doing autographs. I'm not worthy!!! But hey, it's pretty cool!

Looking back at the project...

(Standing L-R: Brian Barretto, Andrew Drilon, JPaul Marasigan, Harvey Tolibao, Jason Paz, Carlo Pagulayan, Leinil Yu, Gerry Alanguilan, Carlo Montano, Jofred Villaruz)
(Kneeling down L-R: Jed Segovia, Jiggy Cruz, Stephen Segovia, Noah Salonga, Felix Cua, Andrew Agoncillo, Jonty Cruz)

The highlight of the whole project was probably meeting the artists. I threw a dinner for them last month and they were all such wonderful people.

You see, the comic book industry here in the Philippines isn't like the one in the U.S. or in Japan. I was talking to Gerry Alanguilan and he said that distribution is the hard part. Getting your work out there is difficult and most of the readers are in Metro Manila.

But nonetheless, what's important is that you have the love and passion for the craft. It's not to get famous or to get rich but you do it because you love everything about it.

Compiling the book was difficult since I was juggling two jobs.

By day, I was a guy working for the corporate world. By night, I was trying to be an editor-in-chief. I barely made it. But hey, I thought that it was a big accomplishment for me.

I AM NINOY Campaign

I'm really thrilled about the I AM NINOY Campaign. I really feel that most of the youth of today don't know who my grandfather was or what he stood for.

The whole glasses thing was genius. If we were to wear his glasses, what would we see? How would we react today?

There are a lot of things happening in the Philippines today and there really is a need for young people to step forward and take the challenge.

There is a Ninoy in all of us.

We can be heroes in a big way or in a small way.

We have to remember that evil will triumph when good people do nothing...

I like this campaign. It gives us a challenge.

Check the website out. http://www.iamninoy.com

25 years

My first entry in Blogspot. I decided to have a public blog. :)

August 21, 2008

25 Years passed since my grandfather's death. People have been asking if he died in vain. He didn't.

In my opinion, his death sparked a revolution without violence and it showed what Filipinos are capable of.

Right now, we, as a nation maybe confused and tired. But nonetheless, the potential is still there.

For his death anniversary, I published a book.

Ninoy: Art and Essays.

25 Defining Moments of my Lolo Ninoy's life drawn by 25 Filipino Artists accompanied by 25 essays.

What's special about it is that proceeds of this book will go to the Ninoy Aquino Foundation. :)

It was done with a lot of love and hard work.

Being the comic book geek that I am, I wanted to do a graphic novel about him. But due to my work in Nestle and time constraints, I had to think of something else. I got Pinoy Comic Book artists like Leinil Yu, Gerry Alanguilan, Harvey Tolibao, Carlo Pagulayan, Lan Medina, and Whilce Portacio to name a few.

It was a fanboy's dream to communicate with them, even if it was through email.

They were all very cool and awesome people!

So I finally got the book done and it will be out in the market soon. Right now, I'm selling through book inquiries.

But the book will be out in bookstores soon :)



Top L-R: Jed Segovia, Me, Lola Cory, Brian Barretto
Bottom L-R: Leinil Yu, Harvey Tolibao, Gerry Alanguilan, Jason Paz, Carlo Pagulayan