STGCC 2012 Day 2: It’s over!

Wow. Been taking the night to recover from STGCC (and watching Doctor Who), but we’re back with our review of Day 2 in STGCC. We’ve already uploaded our pictures onto Facebook last night, but stick around for a more in-depth blow by blow.

First up: Highlights from the Epigram panel, How To Maximise Wealth, Ace Your Exams And Be A Winning Winner By Drawing Comics, featuring Sonny Liew, Dave Chua, Xiao Yan, Drewscape (Andrew Tan), Koh Hong Teng, Miel and Oh Yong Hwee, and hosted by Singapore’s own comicman (comic-man?), Adan Jimenez.

It was an interesting panel especially with Epigram Books CEO Edmund Wee in the crowd very proudly giving out the previews. The myriad styles on show on the previews, the enthusiasm and passion on show – it was really heartening and a great, great way to start day 2 of the convention. The books will be launched in November (except Sonny’s next year), so keep an eye out for them! Anyway, here are some choice quotes from the panel:

Xiao Yan: I like playing God. Helps me to escape from the real world. #STGCC This girl is awesome. Go #ADM! Go #NTU!

— Here Be Geeks (@HereBeGeeks) September 2, 2012

Dave: Comics are another realm. It’s gives me lots of satisfaction to see my writings portrayed so visually. #STGCC @davechua

— Here Be Geeks (@HereBeGeeks) September 2, 2012

Yong Hwee: Always write for yourself first. Then for Singaporeans. #STGCC

— Here Be Geeks (@HereBeGeeks) September 2, 2012

Drew: Self-publishing is more relaxing, but sometimes it’s so relaxing you don’t get anything done! #STGCC

— Here Be Geeks (@HereBeGeeks) September 2, 2012

Xiao Yan: The writing wasn’t complete when I started drawing, so I got a bit worried at first. But Dave gave me an outline so that helped.

— Here Be Geeks (@HereBeGeeks) September 2, 2012

Yong Hwee: Hawkers are a subject close to my heart. Growing up, you would probably know or be related to a hawker. Lots of stories there.

— Here Be Geeks (@HereBeGeeks) September 2, 2012

Teng: We wanted to create stories about people who mattered to us, stories that were familiar. #STGCC

— Here Be Geeks (@HereBeGeeks) September 2, 2012

Sonny: The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye is a book I’ve wanted to do for a long time. It has been, and continues to be a lot of work. #STGCC

— Here Be Geeks (@HereBeGeeks) September 2, 2012

Xiao Yan: I tried to capture familiar scenes, like an uncle sleeping in the library, which would be familiar to Singaporeans. #STGCC

— Here Be Geeks (@HereBeGeeks) September 2, 2012

Teng: It depends on how long you’re willing to wait for good work. Don’t rush good work, but don’t take too long either. #STGCC

— Here Be Geeks (@HereBeGeeks) September 2, 2012

Yong Hwee’s final word: Although some have jobs, making comics is not a hobby. I believe we need to move beyond being service providers.

— Here Be Geeks (@HereBeGeeks) September 2, 2012

We also stuck around for the panel Evolution Of Heroes And Villains featuring Andy Diggle, Mark Brooks, Andie Tong, Leinil Yu, Gerry Alanguilan and Mark Torres (2 Andy/ies and 2 Marks) and moderated by Nicholas Yong. Perhaps one of the best panels yet – mostly because there was lots to talk about and the best parts came when there wasn’t any true moderation – the guests really just let loose on whether they thought Kick-Ass was a hero for the modern times (summation seems to be a modern character that might be born of our age, but not truly a hero by strict definition – don’t quote me on this), and why The Dark Knight Rises is a bad movie. And for the best moment of the day Andy Diggle puts it:

It was worth coming to Singapore just to do that Bane impersonation on stage.

— Andy Diggle (@andydiggle) September 2, 2012

And we agree. Another great moment was during the Q&A when someone asked about Doctor Who and teenagers – Gerry Alanguilan’s anecdote stood out, as he mentioned that the kids in his household all love Doctor Who but don’t speak English, so their first English word is actually “Exterminate”. What better way to learn English than from the Doctor? Here are some more choice quotes:

Leinil: A hero should be someone who reduces our suffering. Not just about morality or rights. #STGCC @leinilyu

— Here Be Geeks (@HereBeGeeks) September 2, 2012

Andy: Villains are heroes of their own story. #STGCC @andydiggle

— Here Be Geeks (@HereBeGeeks) September 2, 2012

Brooks: We live in a world where we iconise the fantastic. Instead of real-life heroes, we look up to football stars, many are pretty flawed

— Here Be Geeks (@HereBeGeeks) September 2, 2012

Who best represents heroism? Batman, according to Mark Torres. “But I’m biased.”

— Here Be Geeks (@HereBeGeeks) September 2, 2012

Andy: We’re no longer in an age of the pulp hero, where people solve problems by hitting them. #STGCC @andydiggle

— Here Be Geeks (@HereBeGeeks) September 2, 2012

Brooks: Kick-Ass, is the perfect modern superhero because he wanted to be a hero for the sake of notoriety. In age of reality TV! #STGCC

— Here Be Geeks (@HereBeGeeks) September 2, 2012

Andy: You’d think #DarkKnightReturns would be the smarter film, but I kept on imagining Bane going “What the hell am I doing?” [/banevoice]

— Here Be Geeks (@HereBeGeeks) September 2, 2012

Leinil: if you’ve seen #CabinintheWoods, those are villains who are trying to save the world! #STGCC

— Here Be Geeks (@HereBeGeeks) September 2, 2012

Leinil: Alan Moore is the best writer of all! Mark Brooks: OOOoooooh.

— Here Be Geeks (@HereBeGeeks) September 2, 2012

In defense of creator owned, @komikero says, “I had people sleeping with chickens! You can’t do that at Marvel or DC.” “Except Preacher.”

— Here Be Geeks (@HereBeGeeks) September 2, 2012

On hero vs hero storylines: Andy: it’s overused. Leinil: it’s never going away. Torres: it’s a challenge to do it differently.

— Here Be Geeks (@HereBeGeeks) September 2, 2012

Mark Brooks: My favourite female hero is the Rogue of the 80s that real women can look up too. She could take on Juggernaut by herself

— Here Be Geeks (@HereBeGeeks) September 2, 2012

Andy Diggle: My favourite is Tara Chase from Queen & Country

— Here Be Geeks (@HereBeGeeks) September 2, 2012

Mark Torres: My favourite female is the Cassandra Cain Batwoman

— Here Be Geeks (@HereBeGeeks) September 2, 2012

Gerry: Elektra as written by Frank Miller. One of the best representations of females as heroes

— Here Be Geeks (@HereBeGeeks) September 2, 2012

Andy: People might like reading the golden age old stuff for a little bit, but doing it now might be a hard sell

— Here Be Geeks (@HereBeGeeks) September 2, 2012

Gerry: Leinil’s work in golden age style for Avenging Spider-Man is some of his best work yet

— Here Be Geeks (@HereBeGeeks) September 2, 2012

We also had more time on the floor – and two things were obvious: The cosplays were taking it up a notch, and the show floor was just amazing. I kept walking back and forth between the booths (also queuing for sketches at the Walk Of Fame) because there was so much to see and get done, and so, many, awesome, cosplays. What really wowed me were the western cosplays – from The Wiccan and Jubilee to Thor battling Loki to tons of Lokis to Adventure Time to Doctor Who to Community – it was really a sight to behold. Kudos to each and every one of you for putting in the effort. We have lots of pics of them in the Facebook and below, so do check them out.

We spent almost the whole day at STGCC again, but with about an hour left our legs gave way and we made the long trudge back home. It’s sad that STGCC is over once again – with the great guests, fantastic floor, fervent fans and the creative cosplays it was truly an STGCC to remember. Leaving felt like a pain in the hearts – it’s as if we could have just spent that extra hour squeezing the marrow out of the con. Kudos to Rita and the REEDpop crew for pulling it off and making it even better even without the REED guys from the US (that being said, dear Peter Tatara and Mike Armstrong, you are always welcome! Missed you this year). Hopefully the growth of the STGCC brand continues – and it just keeps getting better.

And finally – it was great to have Pete and Melvin there, together with the very, very tired Kakita. STGCC wouldn’t have been complete without you guys. Also to Tina and Ryan for hanging out with us, and Vivien for lunch! And truly, everybody else that I haven’t listed – you guys made the con complete. That’s pretty much it for us for this year’s STGCC – but hey, keep the geek growing in Singapore.