A couple of years back, to avoid the costly affair of travelling abroad to a comic convention, a group of relatively young people in Delhi decided to create one of their own in their home city. With that simple mission, Comic Con India was formed and has now grown to multiple events across states like Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Delhi. Their vision is to evolve and create new pop culture events and to engage with fans all across the country.
“Bangalore has always been a key event for us, so I am really looking forward to the fans. We have worked hard to create an excellent event for them and we hope that they enjoy it and we are hoping for more than 30,000 visitors this year,” said Comic Con India, founder, Jatin Varma.
If you are not attending the three day Comic Con Bangalore event this year, then you are going to miss the opportunity to interact with some of the most respected and famous people from the world of comics.
“It’s almost three times the size from last year, featuring some amazing talent, Indian and international as well as a huge line up of exhibitors and activities as well,” added Jatin.
David Lloyd, illustrator of the story ‘V’ for Vendetta, Sana Amanat, editor for Marvel Entertainment and Dan Parent, Artist, Archie Comics are few of the international artists who will be speaking about their work this time at Comic Con Bangalore.
Our very own folks from Indian comic industry will also showcase their work. From comics to merchandise you will get to witness and buy all.
“We will be conducting a live quiz. When uncle Pie was alive he used to conduct quizzes in various schools and colleges. He saw that children were more aware about western history than Indian, that was the time when he decided to educate children with his write-ups about Indian mythology and other history. So, basically we are just bringing back that era once again. We have tied up with Flipkart for Comic Con Bangalore and it’s going to be one of the biggest events there. It will be the largest single display by us: World of ACK. The area that we have been provided is huge, each wall is 640 sq. feet that is, 16 ft. tall and 14 ft. wide,” revealed ACK Media, CEO – publishing, Manas Mohan.
Manas Mohan has also invited Late Dr. Vishnuvardhan’s family and his wife Bharathi ji, from the Kannada industry for the prize distribution ceremony. “We will be displaying our new collections as well, along with hosting a few other activities.”
Comic Con India has expanded India’s popular culture by creating high profile events that cater to fans of not only comics, but also, gaming, movies, toys, merchandise, television etc.
Digikhel, founder, Joel M Johnson said: “This time around we are experimenting and trying out something new at Comic-Con Bangalore. A few indie gamers have come together and we will be showcasing our games at the booth for visitors to try out, and they can also buy them for a nominal price if they like the game. We want people to be made aware of how serious the gaming community is in India and this is one way of reaching out to passionate people.”
“We are launching new round neck T-shirts, with new designs. Not only apparels, we are also introducing Vishnu statues along with it. All the T-shirts will be given on special discounts to people with special VIP passes for all the three days at the Bangalore Comic Con. The price of the T-shirts will vary between Rs 749-1099; we will be giving 20 per cent off on Polo T-shirts, 5 per cent on round neck one and 10 per cent on our comic books that will range between Rs 120-175,” revealed Vimanika Comics, founder, Karanvir Arora.
One just can’t get bored at this three day event. Apart from buying things you can also participate in various contests. CosPlay gives one a chance to dress-up like his/her favourite character and win exciting goodies in the competition.
“The best thing about Comic Con India is the CosPlay contest. I just love participating in that. The best dressed person gets to win lots of prizes. Last year they had a ‘Game of Thrones’ quiz contest, it was like a live show and who ever managed to answer the question got T-shirts with printed ‘Game of Thrones’ characters. Every year I attend Comic Con and I make it a point to buy various stickers and posters of different super heroes. But at the same time I feel that it should be held at a wider scale, like Comic Con International. Even Comic Con India should invite actors who have played roles of superheroes or may be voice-over artists of animation movies,” exulted Third year student, Mishal Wanvari.
So, don’t wait, just book your tickets now before it’s too late. And catch all artists in action exclusively at the White Orchid Convention Center from 12-14 September 2014 in the garden city.
