Panel Summaries from STGCC ’10

Singapore Toy Games Comics Convention 2010 is over! Such a fun weekend that was. Nonetheless for those who didn’t get to make it or who were at the convention but were in other locations while panels were happening at the same time, I’m putting down the summaries or keypoints (plus my own speculations) that I took away from the ones I managed to attend since I couldn’t be there for all of them.

What’s new and upcoming at DC by Gail Simone & Ivan Brandon

–          New characters might be coming up in the future since Superman, Batman etc are rather “old” and even though they keep revamping, there needs to be new characters to update the scene too.

–          The new characters which will appear next year or so needs support so readers should check their titles out and give them a chance.

–          The new Batgirl might be having her own team. Very likely since there’s Proxy now and upcoming Death of Oracle storyline might have to do something about it.

–          Not much spoilers can be given out on what’s happening due to confidentiality but what’s definite is that the future “events” are definitely going to affect characters in a sense that it won’t be retconn-ed so easily.

–          To quote @IvanBrandon on twitter:  “mostly resisted making things up in the “what’s coming up in DC comics” panel. singapore fans: you are pretty great.”

Writing for and beyond comics by Gail Simone, Ivan Brandon, C.B. Cebulski & Matt Fraction

–          Don’t give up on writing if you want to do it. That goes for any other sort of media besides comic writing since they did cartoon episodes etc too.

–          Get an editor to look at your work so they can review it for you.

–          Even if you think it’s your best work, a few days later you might think it’s your worst. This is not an odd phenomenon as one might think.

–          Most of the writers in the panel started doing other work before becoming a comic writer full time so it takes perseverance to get to that stage to do it full time.

–          Be brave and take your criticisms so you can improve yourself in your writing. There’s no sense in being “afraid” to show your stuff so if you’ve got it and want it, just do it and eventually you might get spotted online, word of mouth etc.

–          You can always get better with time if you keep challenging yourself instead of just being complacent since there will be others who will want to write comics too and might take over your spot if you don’t hit the deadlines.

–          If you want to write, write as “yourself” and not be someone else for example Matt Fraction because there’s already Matt Fraction writing as… Matt Fraction. Be original since people want unique takes and not imitations.

Marvel: Asian talent in the US market by Leinil Yu & Harvey Tolibao

–          Artists should share and help each other out in showing their techniques to each other when asked.

–          They have unique artwork styles that make them stand out from the rest.

–          It helps to have an account at Deviantart.com or ConceptArt.org to get noticed. If you’re good people will definitely contact you no matter where you’re from.

–          Keep on practicing your skills!

Cosplay 101: How to make/source your costumes? By Ellya Chao, Reno Tan & Clive Lee

–          Ellya says that if you want to cosplay, be brave about it because even there will be detractors and people commenting about it, just go ahead and do what you want to do. It is up to you on what you want to wear and not others so be proud and firm about it.

–          Reno notes that on fogging problems with helmets, one tip is to have a layer of shampoo/detergent on the inner side of the lens. It will stop it from fogging.

–          Clive says Singapore is the only place in our region that has PVC sheets and that other countries want that while we want Japan’s craft foam. (This is very true by the way, I’ve seen a lot of forum threads and discussions of trying to get craft foam here.)

–          Cosplaying takes skill but everyone starts as a beginner at first. From there, you learn other techniques from others or just by experimenting with materials like cardboard and painting. Other techniques take more time to learn.

Traditional form of comic illustration by Phil Ortiz and Phil Yeh

–          Perspective drawing and still life are important basics to learn if one wants to be an aspiring illustrator.

–          Phil Ortiz doesn’t use the computer at all for his artwork.

–          Phil Yeh has toured many countries to get information for his Winged Tiger series!

–          Apu from the Simpsons is based on a real person and he’s still out there somewhere but doesn’t know that he was the basis of the character.

–          Network with people! You might never know if you’ll get a job through them after being known that you can illustrate well.

–          And as always keep on practicing and drawing!

And that’s it for the panels I’ve attended. The main point for all of them whether you are an artist, writer or cosplayer is to keep on doing what you do and improve yourself! Heh.