It’s was our first meeting for the year.

A bit of a backgrounder for those not familiar with The Komikero, we’re basically a loose coalition of artists (writers, comic creators, painters, installation artists, etc.). We were the group formerly known as the Laguna Artists Group (parang si Prince, ah!) but after we started getting members from as far as Mindanao (locally) and France (internationally) the collective decided to rename the group.

Gerry Alanguilan, arguably the group’s godfather (or our Obi Wan Kenobi…because the visual image of Gerry as Yoda is too horrible to comprehend), has a website called www.komikero.com. We basically took the name without his permission and started referring to ourselves as Komikeros.

After a while the name stuck and the rest is history.

Anyways, it was a relatively small group that turned out for today’s meeting in San Pablo, Laguna (the meeting always has to be in San Pablo, Laguna). Surprisingly, early birds included Ryan Orosco (Culture Crash, Darna) and Edgar Tadeo (Wolverine, Spawn). We we’re later joined by Zara and Lars (a new member).

As tradition dictates, we took a walk around the scenic Sampalok Lake and took pictures.

There’s a running joke that The Komikeros has long ceased to be an artists’ group and instead has become a photography club since we discovered digital cameras.

I, myself, has been known to spend more time taking pictures than doing sketches during these meetings. I usually bring my Canon Powershot A530 but I use my Motoming A1200 (which I used to take these pics, BTW) when I’m feeling too lazy to lug around my main camera.

If you’ve ever been to Sampalok Lake, where we usually hold our meetings, you’ll know that you’ll be hard put not to snap a few because of the sheer beauty of the place.

Anyway, whether you’re a writer, artist, photographer, or just someone who appreciates the arts we’d be happy to have you along on one of our meetings. The only requirement for one to become a member of the group is that s/he must be willing to travel all the way to San Pablo, Laguna to attend one of our once-a-month gathering (which is usually the last Sunday of the month).

Just drop us a note and we’ll let you know when the next one will be. Hope to see you guys there.