Posted in: Comics | Tagged: comicon, Comics, india

India Ink: Mumbai Comicon Express

Published Sun, 06 Nov 2011 13:00:24 -0600

Mayank Khurana attended the Mumbai Comic Con Express on the 22nd and 23rd October, at the World Trade Center, Mumbai. He writes for Bleeding Cool;

Over 12,000 people attended the 2 days event that was held for the first time in the city of Mumbai and boy oh boy, was it a resounding success or what? This event was only the second of it's kind in India, the first one being held in February earlier this year in New Delhi.

Cosplayers, Publishers, Illustrators, Writers and Merchandise Vendors – all under one roof. The entire "Who's Who" of the Indian Comic industry as well as fans were present there.

During these 2 action packed days visitors witnessed a lot of workshops, book launches, knowledge sharing sessions and talks by industry veterans such as Aabid Surti. The key highlights of the event were:

– The (re)launch of Indrajaal comics' Adventures of Timpa – "Operation Rescue"

– An interactive session with the Comic Addicts , the people behind India's biggest and only comic fan site

– Launch of Akshay Dhar's 'Retrograde' by VJs Juhi and Andy

– Sufi Comics launched their comic '40 Sufi Comics'

– The launch of 'Vimanika Comics' 'Shiva: The Legends of The Immortal' with an authentic looking Shiva model posing with the comic. They also launched 'The War of The Independents', their first international title

– Level 10, another publisher, launched a desi manga series called 'Batu Gaiden'

– Launch of 'Zombie Talkies', by Pop Culture Comics which is an off-shoot of the film Rock The Shaadi which is slated to be Bollywood's first zombie film

– Launch of 'Widhwa Ma – Andhi Behen!' by Adhiraj Singh and Harsho Mohan

Chattoraj

– Exclusive previews by Holy Cow Entertainment of their upcoming titles 'Serengeti Stripes' and 'The Skull Rosary' as well as launch of the double issue special of 'Ravanayan'

– There were also launches by Campfire Comics, who launched a graphic novel of Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book and

Muhammad Ali

– Mario de Miranda launched his new book '1951′

– Amar Chitra Katha screened a special preview of their upcoming feature-length film Sons of Ram which was about Luv and Kush

– Irrfan Khan, the actor, launched 'Munkeeman', a graphic novel by Abhishek Sharma, director of the movie Tere Bin Laden

– Exclusive preview of the Avenger's trailer by Marvel

– Cosplayers dressed as Jack Sparrow, Darth Vader, Fred Flinstone, Naruto, Tarzan, Joker, Spiderman, Superman and Nightcrawler

– Paper toys of our favorite superheroes by Kshiraj Telang

– Pop colture collectibles by Bombay Merch

On the whole, the event was a huge success and also a solid proof of the very fact that Comic Culture is rising in India. Kudos to the good folks behind Comic Con India.The next event will happen in Delhi in February 2012 and this time around it will be a 3 day affair and we, for one, can't wait. Will you be there?

Mayank Khurana is a comic enthusiast (total geek) and reads everything from western to Indian to Manga to Franco-Belgium comics, then regurgitates them at here. (www.comicaddicts.com)

Since he lives in India, sourcing comics has always been a problem but he still manages even it means taking part in an infinite civil war of crisis. His dream combines two of his biggest passions, Comics and Travel:-To go on a "Comic Trek" from one major comic publishing country to another and meet other comic fans out there and bask in all the geeky glory.

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