Pune Comic Con

Films like Iron Man, Avengers, and Thor have gained tremendous success and have been made more famous than Batman, Spiderman, and Superman. Everyone plays video games. If a TV show actor/actress is shown playing a video game, the game, in turn, gains enormous popularity. This makes the general public want to play these games as well. In the TV show House of Cards, President Frank Underwood is shown playing Call of Duty! Well, enough about that, let’s talk about Pune Comic-con.

First in line for the event, I waited as the ticketing counter started. I'm eager to get my super fan tickets. I was told I would receive a goodie bag with a “Super Fan” cape and badge. I was not disappointed. After getting it, I immediately wore the cape. Near the entrance, there was a welcoming area and God, the volunteers were so enthusiastic! They all shouted at the top of their voices, “Welcome to ,” and high-fived everyone in sight! After that, the hall is where the “real” fun began.Comic-con As I entered, I saw numerous stalls, all selling merchandise from all my favourite shows and video games! I immediately went to the “Scholastic” stall and bought enough Star Wars merchandise for a year. There was a huge number of people cos-playing as their favourite characters, too. I clicked a pic with Ironman, Female-Kakashi, Bellatrix, Madara, and many others.

The best part about comic con, is meeting people in the business. I’ve been reading comic books all my life. Now, my interest has moved on to graphic novels. Ramayan 3392 A.D. By Shamik Dasgupta and Ravana: Roar of the Demon King by Abhimanyu Singh Sisodia are two of my most favorite graphic novels. So, when I saw all the stalls for graphic novels, I was super excited. I bought Sita Daughter of the Earth by Nagpal Saraswati among a few others. The next place where I literally got goosebumps was when I visited a manga stall. They had original Naruto manga volumes. Right from the first. Overpriced, yes but the manga fan inside me couldn’t resist. I bought a novel on Naruto’s adventures titled “Naruto: Tales of a Gutsy Ninja“. My inner fanboy is now satiated.

Next, I bought a few T-shirts, posters, badges and frames from various other stalls. I bought a few for my friends as well. A DOTA 2 poster for Gaurav Singh and a Tokyo Ghoul poster for Arun. Next I was really intrigued by a stall who were selling an Indian version of the popular card game called “Cards Against Humanity”. Mind you, the game is R rated and should be played at your own risk. *wink* *wink*.

I got signed posters by Peter Nguyen and Ivan Brandon. Peter Nguyen is the artist behind Batman: Arkham Unhinged #9. He has also worked on famous comics such as Secret Six, Gotham City Sirens, Return of Bruce Wayne, and Catwoman. Interacting with such a personality was truly a dream come true. He drew a batman sketch for me as well! Thanks a lot Peter!

Ivan Brandon on the other hand is the artist behind Wolverine Rot, Deadpool, Doc Savage, Secret Invasion, Batman, Nemesis and Final Crisis. He is also the co creator of Drifter, of which I got his signed poster! He couldn’t draw anything there cause of the huge crowd behind me. Anyway, thanks for the poster Ivan! Hope to see you again next year.

Lastly, it’s near to the end of the first day. I went to attend the cosplay competition. There was a huge turnout of cosplayers. Many had purchased full costumes while others had made everything from scratch. I loved the Ironman cosplay a lot. He had even done a mechanical workaround for the head piece and had glowing LEDs on his palms. A few others had stitched their own costumes and were much worthy of the appreciation. I was disappointed because there weren’t cosplays for generic superheroes like Superman, Green Lantern, etc. I guess Deadpool is to blame for that because there were at least 10 Deadpool cosplayers including a female deadpool! The Ironman cosplayer won the best cosplay award and he will be competing in the Middle East Comic Con as well this year. I envy him so much.

With a huge haul, I got out of the event with a big smile on my face. Did you attend the event as well? How did you like it? Let us know in the comments below.