2017 kicked off with one of the largest comic market event in Indonesia. Held on Saturday (21/1) at the Integrity Convention Center Kemayoran, Jakarta, Comic Frontier (Comifuro) 8 managed to gather huge enthusiasm from fans and creators alike.
Content-wise, some improvements had been made by inviting several grassroots comic creators, not close with the industry’s mainstream, such as Ghosty Comics and Mukhlis Nur, who has been attending Comifuro for several times.
During the talkshow session on stage, Ghosty Comics’ creator Fajar (which is now available in Line Webtoon) shared his experience on creating a comic that caters to the anime fandom. One of which is how Fajar creates a situation where most anime fans would consider as highly related to them, creating a sense of engagement between the comics and its characters.
Meanwhile, Mukhlis Nur released the second volume of his comic Only Human in book format. The Only Human project serves as an example of connection between Indonesian comic creators and fandom events, considering Only Human is first sold through Comifuro, while gradually moving to official publication through Bentang Pustaka.
Service for visitors had also improved, especially in Utattemita stage. This free-for-all karaoke stage had been afforded a separate room. The room itself is spacious enough so that participants who would like to sing can take a short break and enjoy the performance of other participants.
Two of the biggest issues Comifuro 8 faced are disorganized queues and the absence of food court due to building regulations. As the Head Comifuro Indonesia Committee, Sudwi Karyadi, admits, he understands fully regarding complaints and didn’t expect the significant increase of visitors, despite the larger venue compared to Comifuro 7 in Smesco Pancoran. Issues regarding public transport access is going to be re-evaluated as well.
“We would like to apologize for the long queuing time”, said Sudwi.
The Indonesian Anime Times | Original report by Kevin W | Translation by Videtra Reynaldi
