Comic Con Bengaluru to host global, Indian comic illustrators

Bengaluru: Be it Warwick Johnson-Cadwell, the creator of Samurai Jack and Tank Girl, or Alicia Souza and Sailesh Gopalan, who draw relatable “desi” comic strips, the eighth edition of Bengaluru Comic-Con will have it all for comic lovers.

With a line-up of famous international and Indian comic book illustrators, authors, stand up performers and meet and greet sessions, the annual comic fans’ convention will be held at KTPO, Whitefield Industrial Area in Bengaluru from November 16.

Leading the list of artists will be Johnson-Cadwell, joined by webcomic creator Adam Ellis, whose tweets went viral recording the “supernatural” occurrences at his apartment, Bhagya Babu (“Awkwerrrd”), Abhijeet Kini (“Angry Maushi”), Rahil Mohsin, and Sumit Kumar (“Bakaramax”) among others.

Staying true to its spirit of cosplaying, the festival this year will host international award-winning Australian cosplayer and judge A K Wirru, also popularly known as Amenokitarou.

The event will also introduce new formats to participate in the cosplaying competition with two categories – Indian Championship of Cosplay Qualifier – Bengaluru, and the Bengaluru Comic Con 2019 – Cosplay Contest, with a total pool prizes worth Rs 4 lac.

Each day, participants of the Bengaluru qualifier will compete on three parameters – Needlework, FX and Armor. The winners will also qualify to participate in the Indian Championship of Cosplay 2020.

The second contest format will be “a celebration of all pop culture” as the participants will compete across five categories: Comic books/Graphic novels, Movies/TV/animation, Gaming, Anime/Manga and Sci-fi/Fantasy.

“Bengaluru is in for a grand version of our annual celebration of the best of pop-culture, from India and the world. There’s an exciting line-up of creators, artists, performances and exclusive launches, which will excite both Indie and mainstream fans alike,” Jatin Varma, founder, Comic Con India, said.

“I am also truly excited about our new cosplay format, aligned to International Comic Cons, which saw great success at our Hyderabad edition recently,” he added.

Also part of the line-up are performances by stand up comics Sundeep Rao and Sanjay Manaktala, mind reader Narpath Raman and music bands ‘Duality’ and ‘The Void’.

The Bengaluru event will be followed by the Mumbai edition, which will be held at the Bombay Convention & Exhibition Centre from December 7-8.

The 9th edition of the New Delhi show will be held on December 20-22 at NSIC Grounds, Okhla.

Finally, Ahmedabad will host its first edition of Comic Con at the Gujarat University Convention and Exhibition Centre on February 1-2, 2020.