The first ever action packed annual edition of Hyderabad Comic Con organised by Comic Con India received a grand response from fans from all age groups. The 3 day fest took place at Hitex Exhibition Centre from 10-12 October 2014.
“It was great! Beyond what we initially expected, Hyderabad certainly is in for bigger and better conventions in the coming years. The footfall was more than last year and certainly a great start to our ticketing initiative,” said Comic Con India, founder Jatin Varma to AnimationXpress.com.
Hyderabad Comic Con 2014 hosted one of its kinds, interactive and experiential forty hours of programming through panels, launches, gaming and video hangouts.
Some of the best International Authors and Artists were called especially for this three day convention. Famous international personalities like Ron Marz, an American comic book writer who is well known for his writings for Silver Surfer, Green Lantern; Nathan Edmondson, an American writer best known for Image Comic’s espionage comic series Who Is Jake Ellis?; Vivek Tiwary, a New York Times Best Selling and Eisner award winning Author; were all seen attending and taking special sessions at Hyderabad Comic Con.
Overall the show witnessed a greater turnout as against last year in terms of the show floor. The comic con saw more than 100 exhibitors, few exclusive launches and one of the best and biggest Cosplay contests. Fans who were dressed as their favourite comic characters stole the show. Cosplayers also won tons of prizes under various categories.
The convention saw over five exclusive book launches. Garuda by Orange Radius, Item Dhamaka by Aayumi Productions, The Seven Beasts by Patridge Publications, Sarvasangraam and Dragon King by Raj Comics.
“This is our second year at Hyderabad comic con. We have launched free web comic, Garuda for our readers. The response was not that great as compared to last year. The sales at Bangalore comic con were much better. It was a bit disappointing, as people were more interested in merchandise and food courts. But we have lots of expectations from our fans, right now our motto is to spread our work both domestically and internationally,” said Orange Radius, founder Raveesh Mohan.
The characters of prestigious film Baahubali made their debut at Hyderabad Comic Con. For the first time ever, Comic Con India organised a Special short comedy play, SuperLosers – When superheroes go through mid-life crisis, for the fans and audiences present there. Nickelodeon organised the Character appearances of Power Rangers for fans as well.
Increased presence of International content was a highlight at this convention. Awesome Anime & Manga Merch was brought in by Japanese Merchandiser IINE Toys. Also, the best and most exclusive international books and merchandise from IDW Publishing, Oni Press, Image Comics & Tonyk Toys from across the globe was available exclusively at the stall, especially for Hyderabad.
The main participants of Hyderabad Comic Con 2014 were Amar Chitra Katha, Pop Culture Publishing, Random House, Campfire Graphic Novel, Holy Cow Entertainment, HarperCollins Publishers, Raj Comics, Mario Gallery, Westland Publishers, Pan MacMillan, ICBM comics and more!!
“We had fun but it was not upto the mark. Surprisingly last year was much better than this year’s comic con. Our sales went down by 20 per cent as compared to our sales at Banglaore comic con this year. But good part was that we met new people, got to see some interesting launches. One of my favourite was Who is Jake Ellis? by Nathan Edmondson. Zoombie volume one and two were sold the most at our booth,” revealed Chariot Comics, founder Aniruddho Chakraborty.
All three days, one lucky winner out of the chosen five won a ticket to Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo 2015. So, don’t miss the upcoming Mumbai and Delhi Comic Con as you can also be the lucky one. “It will be our 4th year in Mumbai, and it’s going to be very big! That’s all I can share right now,” Jatin smiles.