The first ever Metro Comic Con was held last 8th and 9th August 2009 at the SM Megamall Megatrade Halls 1 & 2. The event was organized by Hobbylink Productions, Inc. in partnership with COSPLAY.PH, and featured comics, indies, toys, and cosplay.

The cosplay competition held in cooperation with ANIMAX was, as always, well-attended and well-represented — with costumes from THE X-MEN and THE WATCHMEN all the way to DARNA and KUBORI KIKIAM. A partial, unoffical list of the winners from each cosplay category are: Eva 02 (Anime), Takeba Yukari – Isis (Game), War Machine (Western), Mecha-Godzilla (Mecha), Darna (Komiks), Bumblebee (Kids), and Mortal Kombat (Group).

The dealers floor was larger and had better circulation compared to the more packed events like TOYCON. However the quality of the merchandise unfortunately was not up to snuff (to say the least). For a comic convention, there really were very few comics dealers — collectible toy merchandisers and even specialty fashion houses seemed to outnumber them three-to-one.

It’s a bit disconcerting of course since the MCC was a comic con — it says so right there on the event name, but the comics and the comic book geekery going on at the floor seemed few and far between.

As for their controversial indies market (controversial due to the severely limited number of selling slots, and the alleged nepotism involved in assigning said slots), it left so, so much to be desired. The artists were squeezed into a spot a mere fraction of the event hall’s cavernous interior, practically shoving their elbows into each others faces when making a sale.

Granted — the same thing happens at say, COMIKET; but COMIKET has the excuse of having thousands of artists and doujinshi circles populating their floor, which is sadly not the case with MCC. Even KOMIKON — the little indie convention that could, featured more artists in their cramped, sweltering Bahay ng Alumni aisles.

It’s rather disheartening to see that despite the organizers best efforts, the comics that were supposed to be at the very heart of the Metro Comic Con were shoved to one side to make way for corporate sponsorship and crowd entertainment. It was a valiant effort for Hobbylink, but I feel that they have a lot of work to put in before they can truly call themselves a comic book convention.

For more views on the recently-concluded MCC, read: Local Conventions Aren’t for Otakus by PROJECT OTAKING.