I don’t believe I’ve ever been completely starstruck until I went to Comicx Hub’s signing event a couple of days ago. Mico Suayan and Gerry Alanguilan were there. As much as I admire Suayan’s work, it was Mr. Alanguilan who almost made me cream my pants. He’s a living legend in both American and Filipino comics so it’s an honor to finally meet him even I was too awestruck to actually talk to the guy.

My Comicx Hub signing event haul: Superman: Birthright and Where Bold Stars Go to Die (both signed by Gerry Alanguilan) and an Ultimate Fallout #4 freebie.

It wasn’t just the legendary comics creator that made the visit special, though. Aside from the two comics superstars present, some cosplayers dressed as the X-Men were also there. For someone who has an almost unhealthy X-Men obsession, it was awesome to see Jean Grey dicking around with Namor right in front of me. Seeing Mr. Alanguilan sign Superman: Birthright for me, Mr. Suayan sketching some cool stuff for other people and members of the Philippine X-Men Team running around — all in an office/warehouse full of comics, action figures and all kinds of collectibles — was something special. On top of it all, it was my first comics-related shared experience with Maggie. All in all, it was a very good day.

Here are a few photos from the event taken by Lawrence Cruz of Comicx Hub (you can see the rest of the photos at Comicx Hub’s Facebook page):

This is me hovering over Mr. Alanguilan as he signs my copy of Superman: Birthright:

This is me with Maggie and Mr. Alanguilan who can’t finish signing my copy of Superman: Birthright because we keep taking pictures with him:

This is Maggie towering over Jean Grey:

This is me realizing that the guy next to me is actually NOT Namor the Sub-Mariner, King of Atlantis (those Spock ears almost fooled me, bro):

That’s me and Maggie at the back probably talking about how we could get past those X-Men blocking our way out:

That’s Jean Grey giving the peace sign, Wolverine just chillin’ over the back issue boxes and me walking out with my haul in a blur:

You can expect a similar geeky atmosphere on November 12 at Comicx Hub’s second signing event. This time, they’ll have Stephen Segovia, Heubert Khan Michael and Carlo Pagulayan signing and sketching stuff. I bet it’ll be fun but it won’t be as mind-blowing for me as the first event. Nothing beats meeting a sequential art icon and the frickin’ X-Men at the same time while you’re with your very supportive girlfriend. I would also like to point out that this is the first time that I’ve been photographed wearing that stupid Shrek shirt. Truly a milestone in my life.