Superheroes in the house
The first ever Comic Con in the Capital was serious stuff, with superhero buffs turning up in thousands.
Superheroes flew into Dilli Haat as the 1st Annual Indian Comic Con got underway on Saturday. Wonder Woman was a volunteer, while Joker sat at the media information desk. Harry Potter was part of the production team, 20 Onwards Media, running around helping with glitches.
In the exhibition areas at the conference, there were over 35 stalls, featuring well-known graphic novel and comic book publishers such as Diamond Comics, Vimanika Comics, Amar Chitra Katha and upcoming ones such as Kshiraj Telang and Campfire publishers.
Besides the books, it was the memorabilia that flew off the shelves like hotcakes. From Wolverine and Star Wars T-shirts for Rs 1450 and a Starship Trooper dashboard toy for Rs 1,200, the Avenger Toys stall was thronged by buyers through the day. Delhi-based online portal Buzzingaa, that had posters from popular shows such South Park (for Rs 500) and wallets (Rs 1,400) among other things, were sold out by lunch time.
“The turnout has been amazing. The ticketing office of Dilli Haat places it in thousands, and most stalls were sold out and had to restock for the second day,” said Jatin Verma, the orgainser.
“I didn’t know there was so much going on in this scene,” said Gayatri Dutta, 26.
Grabbing maximum eyeballs, however, were the fans and volunteers, who came dressed as their fav comic superheroes. Naina Bhan, 18, a student of Miranda House, came dressed as Wonder Woman, “because she’s a cool and classy superhero,” while Vivek Singh, 21, came dressed as Popeye “in search of his Olive Oyl”.
Meet the heroes
21-year-old Delhi-boy Daanesh dressed as Aladdin’s nemesis Jafar. Currently working on projects for a music channel, Daanesh made his own costume using stuffs he found around the house. He says he chose Jafar as he hopes to find his Jasmine!
Helping out at the information desk, 18-year-old Trishna Wahengbam aka The Joker says her friend helped get that Chelsea grin. “Batman is Batman because of Joker. He’s a total psychopath,” says the Miranda House philosophy student.
A volunteer at the Comic Con, 21-year-old Sameer Bundela came dressed as Rorschach, the superhero from the Watchman comic series. A student of animation at a Delhi-institute, Sameer was flanked by enthusiasts wanting to be clicked with him.
Our pick
1 Delhi-based memorabilia portal Buzzingaa.com had their first showing at the ComicCon. Launching officially next week, the website has posters of comic book characters, wallets and caps. Our pick were the Superman, Batman and Green Lantern bob toys for R1,300 (see pic).
2 Dial-a-book, a web portal that allows you to order any book by SMS or phone and have it home delivered. They have all sorts of books from DC Comics originals to bestsellers such as The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.
3 Campfire Publishers: The life of Nelson Mandela, 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea or The Merchant of Venice, classics have been adapted into graphic novels to attract people who do not otherwise read books.
