I recently came back from my first time at WonderCon. Surrounded by the stimuli of elaborate cosplayers, autograph opportunities, panels, and exhibitors, it’s a sight that’s become particularly familiar for me in recent months. You see, it was my third convention I was present for in the past four months; the others being LA Comic Con and FanExpo San Francisco. I’ve been present at these conventions not as an attendee, but as an exhibitor.
This month marks six months since the release of my first graphic novel, Dasig. Previously covered here on The Nerds of Color, it follows a warrior-in-training in pre-colonial Philippines, where she’s trying to figure out the reason for why she’s pursuing the path she’s taking, when invaders from an unknown land threaten to take over.
Since its release during Filipino American History Month, together with fellow co-creator and project manager, Kristian Kabuay, we’ve been exhibiting it, both at Filipino American-centric events local to the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as mainstream conventions.
Had I been asked in 2022 when writing Dasig if I had ever imagined taking it to the likes of WonderCon, I guarantee you that that thought would have been nowhere close to the forefront of my mind. It was Kristian who had spear headed the idea of not just the graphic novel, but also of featuring it at such events, to capture the attention of a more mainstream audience. Yet here we are now, and it’s been quite a grueling, yet rewarding, learning experience of navigating them.
Exhibiting Dasig, as well as Kristian’s body of work in pre-colonial Philippine practices like Baybayin (Philippine script) and tattooing, has been a back-and-forth between the two sides of a sword (or rather, in context of the story of Dasig, bolo).
On one hand, because both the book and ourselves are a new presence to these spaces, we haven’t always had the biggest turnouts when not everyone there knows who we are. To be making these appearances in a time when mainstream audiences associate Filipinos with ube, Jollibee, and Jo Koy, it’s been tricky to get people to recognize that we too are from the same thread. It’s a far cry from Filipino American-centric events where not as much explanation is needed. As a result, we’ve learned to adapt; such as putting up the synopsis, readjusting the setup of our booths, and in the case of WonderCon, putting up the Philippine flag, just to make it very clear.
On the other hand, the timing of our entry into the convention circuit couldn’t be better, as we often find ourselves to not be the only Filipino American comics creators there. To be in the presence of others like Kid Heroes Comics, Diwata Komiks, and Kwento Comics had us in good company of working towards the same goal: to tell more Filipino and Filipino American-focused stories for comics and graphic novels. It’s been an exciting and unifying time; so much to where both Kristian and I had taken part in the most recent iterations of the Halo-Halo: A Scoop of Filipino American Voices in Comics panel. We are growing in numbers – to the point where the possibility of maybe doing a Filipino-centric convention is now in discussion.
Amidst both successes and hurdles, it’s been an overall thrilling experience. We’ve gotten to share conversations with so many people, whether Filipino or not, about the work we do, and my hope is that we’ve left an impression on them, just as much as they left impressions on us. As a geek, as a nerd, to be promoting my first book in seven years in an environment I already feel so at ease in feels all the more appropriate after these few times of doing them. Regardless of what kind of event we participate in next for Dasig, I look to it now as an opportunity to continue learning and adapting as we go.
For more information about Dasig, follow over on Instagram @dasig1521. Dasig is available for purchase from Struggle & Strength Publishing.
