Touted to be bigger and grander than ever this year, the festival features a host of interesting activities for comic lovers. The action-packed event showcases the best of comics, merchandise, toys, experiential zones, international guests, gaming tournaments and much more.
The event is also hosting comic-book creators such as Abhijeet Kini, Aniruddho Chakraborty, Sailesh Gopalan, Saumin Patel, Vivek Goel, Rajeev Tamhankar, and Sumit Kumar among others.
Jatin Varma, founder, Comic Con India, said, “And we are back home to end a very busy Comic Con season, with the biggest show of the year. Delhi Comic Con is our flagship show and each year we work hard to deliver a stellar show to our fans. This year we have gone all out with fan experiences along with an awesome line-up for guests and the geekiest shopping experience ever.”
Keeping up with the tradition, the DCC will host special international guests like Dan Parent, artist for Archie Comics; Ryan North, creator of popular webcomics series Dinosaur Comics; and Sonny Liew, Eisner award-winning artist and writer for The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye.
One of the major attractions of the Delhi event this year, just like its earlier editions, is Cosplay, a costume contest. Fans come dressed as their favourite comicbook superhero or gaming characters for the contest, and stand a chance to win Rs 50,000 each day. The three winners automatically enter the running to represent India at the Crown World Championship of Cosplay in Chicago.
Talking to Guardian 20, Verma expressed his views on how big the festival is this year. “It’s our biggest till date and this year we are quite heavy on fan experiences be it the various zones from Maruti Suzuki, One Plus, Star Wars, Vodafone, Marvel, Transformers, VR Dome, AXN to the gaming element from the ESL India final championships and the Mountain Dew Gaming Arena. There are a lot for fans to experience and as always we have a great line up of comic book and entertaining guests from India and around the world,” he said.
This year’s edition also witnesses the exclusive launch of 10 comic books and four webcomics. These include Rhyme Fighters: Odes to our Unsung Heroes, Age Of Immortals #3, The guide to hipsters, State Bank of comics, Oye Chhotu and others.
This year’s edition also witnesses the exclusive launch of 10 comic books and four webcomics. These include Rhyme Fighters: Odes to our Unsung Heroes, Age Of Immortals #3, The guide to hipsters, State Bank of comics, Oye Chhotu and others.
The organisers have launched a live stage hosted by VJ Zerxes Wadia. The stage captures all the action at Delhi Comic Con for the audiences to enjoy the show live in the comfort of their homes.
Verma also talked to us about how the event has evolved over the last few years. “When I started out seven years back, it was purely a personal vision or a wish to host India’s first ever Comic Con for me. Over the years, it has developed into a larger organisation with not just commercial goals but cultural as well. And now we are in it forever, we want to expand the definition of pop culture, expand the eco-system in India and host more shows.
“We are the only ones who talk about pop culture all year long and travel to different cities providing a platform for creators, IP owners, and brands to showcase themselves and even for fans to get together and express their love for comics and the larger pop culture eco-system. From supporting comic book creators to cosplayers, our organisation and shows go a long way in expanding the narrow definition of pop culture in India, which most of the time gets consumed by Bollywood,” he said.
This edition is dedicated to creating unique events and giving fans, exhibitors, and partners a platform to celebrate their undying love and passion for comics and pop culture. The event is dedicated to expanding India’s popular culture by creating high profile events that cater to fans of not only comics but also gaming, movies, television, merchandise, toys and much more.
Comic Con India is a part of the Reedpop family of events, which is dedicated to producing world-class celebrations of popular culture around the world, with events like New York Comic Con, Oz Comic Con, Shanghai Comic Con, Star Wars Celebration among many others on their resumé.