The 8th edition of Mumbai Comic Con will be held on 22 and 23 December at Bombay Exhibition Center in Goregaon.
Mumbai Comic Con is a pop culture extravaganza featuring comics, merchandise, experience zones and cosplay. Like every year, you can expect a massive show floor with exhibitor’s stalls all around, peppered with experience zones. The arena stage is where all the non-stop action is, with launches, panel discussions, workshops and the cosplay contest. Jatin Varma, the founder of Comic Con India, says, “We assure to be grander this year, making it the best weekend of the year for the pop culture fans and geeks in the city. Like each year, we have hordes of awesome experiences, activities, and meet and greets with the best of talents from this industry lined up this time around as well.” It is a jam-packed two-day schedule and here is what you can look forward to.
A great place to be for comic book fans
Comic Books
The primary focus of the event is to celebrate comic book culture and promises to be an absolute treat for those who follow Indian comic books, which is surprisingly bigger than you may imagine if you have not been exposed to it. Vivek Goel, founder of Holy Cow is a guest, and he has received acclaim for the Ravanayan and Aghori series.
Vivek Goel (left); Aghori artwork
Other guests include Abhijit Kini of Angry Maushi fame, cartoonist Sumit Kumar, writer Shamik Dasgupta, graphic artist Acid Toad aka Gaurav Basu, “happiness illustrator” Alicia Souza, and comic book creator Rahil Mosin. Penguin Random House India will be launching Magic in Mussoorie, Mohsin will be launching blame it on Rahil, TBS planet is debuting The Pune Haunting, Kini will be launching a Rhyme Fighters collection, introducing new comics and The Epic Journey of Dara Singh will be launched by his son – all of this on day one. On day two, Holy Cow entertainment will be launching new issues of Caster, and The Age of Immortals, while ICBM comics will be previewing Vrica & Ground Zero.
Guests
On 22 December, get into the fest by 12:15 pm to catch the live performance by the Three Bare Bears from Cartoon Network. Will Conrad, artist for DC and Marvel will be interacting with fans and talking about his professional and personal life at 4:00 pm.
Will Conrad has worked for large American publishers such as Dynamite, Marvel, Dark Horse, Top Cow and DC.
Sahil Shah from East India Comedy will be performing a special set at 5:30 pm, followed by rap by Jizzy from TVF at 6:00 pm. Japan-based artist for fantasy series Monstress will be interacting with fans at 4:00 pm on 23 December, followed by a guest session at 4:30 pm with Yaya Han, US-based costume designer and pro cosplayer. Luke Kenny will get on stage at 5:00 pm, and yes, he will be talking about Sacred Games.
Experience Zones
Marvel has an experience zone this year as well, and we hope to see something related to Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame in it. Maruti Suzuki has an arena zone which is a challenge that tests speed, stamina and endurance. Amazon will be showcasing its originals, while AXN has an area where fans can play their favourite characters from shows. This is your chance to be Sherlock. Sony Pix has activation zones for The Mummy, Mad Max, and other properties. Hot Wheels fans have probably already picked up commemorative sets marking 50 years of its existence, but if not, this landmark will be celebrated in the Mattel Zone. The Doritos zone is giving out cosplay makeovers. Also, you can explore instant photography in the Fujifilm zone. To pick up all your geeky merch from bags, stickers, props, socks, t-shirts and action figures, there are a number of exhibitors. Planet Superheroes, Red Wolf, The Souled Store, The Entertainment Store, Teestory, Toyshop Japan Hobbyone and the Superhero Toystore will all have booths at the event.
Cosplay Contest
One of the highlights of the event is the cosplay contest. Fans dress up as characters from their favourite franchises, or just pick up a costume that they like.
Cosplay is one of the most interesting things about attending any Comic-Con event
Often, the cosplayers spend most of the year handcrafting their costumes and gear. The cosplayers will compete under five categories, which are comic books/graphic novels, film/tv series, manga/anime, speculative fiction and gaming. There will be a lucky draw among the winners of these categories, who will receive a Rs 50,000 cash prize on each day of the con. The winners will then be able to participate in the Indian Cosplay Championship 2019, and potentially go on to represent India at the Crown World Championship of Cosplay in Chicago.
You can check out our coverage of Mumbai Comic Con in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017.
There are two types of passes available, a two day Super Fan pass priced at Rs 1,299, which has already sold out. Those who opted for the pass get a bunch of goodies including a Thanos T-Shirt, a Friends Notebook and a very cool cape. There are one day passes still available though, priced at Rs 499, which can be purchased on the spot at the menu.
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Aditya Madanapalle
Aditya Madanapalle, has studied journalism, multimedia technologies and ancient runes, used to make the covermount DVDs when they were still a thing, but now focuses on the science stories and features. View Full Profile
