The 5th Mumbai Comic Con: A big fat fantasy party

They are here again The Darth Vader masks the living Stormtroopers Princess Leia and facepainted Jokers roaming the city It is after all the time for the return of the Comic Con Though this connection would not necessarily be as simple for many people even in Mumbai enthusiasts and participants say times are changing and fastAlso read The Mumbai Film amp Comic Con had organised a board and card gaming session in NovemberCosplayers dressed as band members of KISS pose at New York Comic Con 2015 in October PicAFPJatin Varma founder Comic Con India informs that this is only the fifth year of the event in India and every year it sees a growth in size and participation After the success in Delhi Mumbai and Bengluru it reached Hyderabad this year ldquoThe Mumbai Film and Comic Con 2015 will be the biggest in India till now with international stars like Sylvester Mccoy who has acted in Doctor Who and The Hobbit Rob Denbleyker author of Cyanide amp Happines and Gavin Aung Thang cartoonist and creator of Zen Pencils The winner of the Cosplay event where participants dress up like fictional characters and comic strip heroes will be sent to the Beijing Comic Conrdquo he revealsAlso read Nicolas Wild the graphic novelist of Kabul Disco chatted with midday before his first appearance at the Mumbai Film and Comic Con 2014Japanese cosplayers at last yearrsquos Mumbai Film and Comic ConBigger and betterThis event has a total of 150 participants including publishers artists writers television channels and a lot of comic merchandise There are limited artistrsquos spaces for 12000 each The stalls can be rented for anything between 30000 to 50000 he sharesA page from the comic series Angry Maushi Vivek Goel publisher and founder Holy Cow Entertainment says that Comic Cons are a great platform for Indian writers and publishers who deal with the graphic world ldquoWe get to meet our readers and our peers Apart from getting invaluable feedback we also get to know our readers which is fantastic At least 30 per cent of our books are sold at Comic Cons A lot of readers buy books only at Comic Cons after interacting with us This is the 15th Comic Con for Holy Cow in a way we have grown with Comic Con in Indiardquo he explainsAstra Force a new comic will be launched this seasonHoly Cow Entertainment will launch their latest one short Ganga amp Bhishma which is the seventh book in series about lesserknown but pivotal characters of Mahabharata and Ramayana His opinion finds echo in Kshounish Palit who will be launching his debut graphic novel The Missman ldquoI am launching it hoping for readers and a dedicated audience Last year when I attended the Comic Con for the first time I was surprised to see the crowd I thought it would only be a few hundred people but it was way beyond a thousandrdquo he recountsGanga amp Bhishma will be launched by Holy Cow Entertainment Jaineel Aga cofounder and CEO Planet Superheroes points out that though books do sell the popularity of Comic Con in India is still for the merchandise ldquoThis is typically our space We will have three stalls right at the entrance This year we will also have Johnny Bravo and Dexter actors roaming the venuerdquoAll are invitedAs we wondered if it is only a niche metrospecific phenomenon Aga says that though smaller cities are yet to join the bandwagon there is a growing demand ldquoEven though most of our customer base is from the metros there is an increase in demand from smaller towns We have broken the myth that adults donrsquot like to engage with comics People want to wear Tshirts showing cartoons they grew up watching That demand exists in the smaller cities toordquo reveals AgaSharad DevarajanHe however says it is not yet a great venture financially yet ldquoIt is mostly a below break even situation because of the sheer cost of logistics if you are not from the same cityrdquo says an optimistic Aga Mumbaibased creator of the comic Angry Maushi Abhijeet Kini however asserts that though merchandise rules the event it has created a new reader base for comics in India ldquoAll these years comics have been seen as something that is exclusively for kids Click here to read about Angry Maushi and moreSumit KumarWe as writers and illustrators of comics are now getting a chance to provide people with new material to read and to show that comics are not just your Superman and Batman issues We have tons of concepts and characters here in our own countryrdquo he explains ldquoSince Indiarsquos comics culture has got a sudden boost with general curiosity about the medium on the rise people want to pick your work up So when I self publish my Angry Maushi comics my aim is to get people to see what independent comics and genres like social satires and political satires arerdquo he addsMany like Hong Kongbased web zine creator Gavin Aung Than will be attending the fest for the first time Than cannot contain his excitement about this annual event ldquoIrsquom thrilled because it will be my first visit to India I look forward to meeting the local Zen Pencils his web zine fansrdquo he admitsSharad Devarajan cofounder Graphic India publisher of several new comic artists is optimistic about the future of Comic Con in India He maintains that it is important to have new indigenous characters ldquoOur mission is to build characters heroes and stories that tap into the creativity and culture of India but appeal to audiences worldwiderdquo he signs offLog on to wwwcomicconmumbaicom