Trinity Con Thoughts
So Trinity Con has come and gone and I have to lay down my thoughts on the event. The tl;dr version of this post? I loved it and I want it to come back next year hopefully bigger and better than ever.
OK, first up, what’s a Trinity Con? You can check that particular answer HERE. The shorter answer is that its a convention organized by groups of DC’s “Trinity” composed of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman.
These groups are The Reign of the Supermen Philippines, Wonder Woman Collectors Philippines and everybody’s favorite, The Dark Knight Philippines.
So what were the sights?
Trinity Con 2018, considering it’s the first of its kind here in the Philippines and Asia, had EVERYTHING Trinity. We’ve got the usual exhibitors and brands like Big Boys Toy Store and their amazing inventory of Funko Pop Vinyl figures featuring the villains and the good guys.
It really helps that the owners of these shops are either fans of either of the three heroes or they just love toys. Really helpful.
I loved that the admins of the aforementioned groups were very hands on with whatever’s happening on stage. During the few hours that I hung out in the venue, they not only thanked the crowds who braved the weekend traffic, they also actually gave away a lot of stuff.
The Dark Knight PH’s main man Paolo Ollero opening the panel discussion and being the generally all-around cool guy
I think they were giving away discount cards to *ugh* DC Cafe
More importantly they actually let the ladies shine, with their panel called “WE: Women Empowerment” which featured Karen Mae De Vera (host and writer for various publications), one of the women in local komiks who I respect tremendously Tepai Pascual and lady boss of Funko, Rheia Ramos of Geek PH.
If you need a host for your events, go get Karen. Highly recommended. And for Funko Pop fixes, go check out Rheia’s page and store somewhere in Mandaluyong.
I actually liked that panel they did. It definitely shows how women have shaped up the comic community and the fandom in general. They have this unique outlook about heroes and dealing with all the problems in the community. More importantly, they were able to talk about all the negative stuff that comes their way because of the gender and how they managed to fight back or at the very least, call it out and address the situation. Bravo.
Another staple that I consider a good call in adding in Trinity Con was the “artist alley” where local AND talented (I cannot stress that enough) artists showcase their work, sell their prints and accept commissions for art on blanks.
jeff Benitez posing for us before handing over this cool Thanos print he had. #Shoutout tol, I pay you with a #shoutout 😛
Prints sold by Aaron Felizmenio
Some shops also had cool stuff that’s not really related to the DC Trinity but were cool nonetheless like these guys.
Too bad I gave away that Johnny Sinns button pin. Would have been awesome if I had gotten another one.
And syempre, we’ve got a lot of cosplayers who were present during the convention. My good friend Sely Kyle was supposed to host for the video output of the con but we decided to just hang around. She still did her Catwoman (Julie Newmar version) cosplay and walked around Elements very confidently.
The convention was very inclusive. No matter how or who you cosplay, you felt at home and welcome. No idiot or asshole would go “hey your cosplay sucks”. Nothing of that vibe here. It was such a great event that kids can just playfully stroll around the venue in their favorite DC Comics character.
So what’s the verdict for Trinity Con?
I loved it. I loved the event. I want to see it grow bigger next year. Hopefully we get a better venue (because I wasn’t aware you had to walk for around 5 minutes from MRT Quezon Avenue station all the way to Centris Elements) and we get bigger crowds. I’m totally down for supporting Trinity Con 2019 if it ever happens next year.
Kudos to these men and women who made the event possible; to the exhibitors and volunteers and everybod involved, job well done.
