Why the recently concluded Comic-Con was every geek's dream

As any true comic book fan will tell you, to visit a Comic-Con where everyone thinks alike is a dream come true. It is with this mindset that comic fans and ‘comicstorians’ approach any Comic Con. The traveling festival made its way to Bengaluru, last weekend and fans headed to the KTPO Convention Centre in Whitefield to soak up all the action.

As we entered the main gate, the first thing we saw was the crowd. At the entrance, the confusion caused by the sheer scale of the event caused a big holdup.As we waited to get in, a group of volunteers with nothing to do staged an impromptu dance session which included some of the Wakandan warrior chants which defused any tension that the fans may have been feeling.

Upon entering the main area, we were bombarded with announcements from several announcers promoting the events at their respective stalls and exclamations from the ‘citizens of geekdom’, not to mention a Swift, fixed to a wall, promoting the #belimitless challenge- a series of challenges to be undertaken by willing contestants. The most important stalls were the Sony experience stall and the A.X.N.  R.E.D. stall, although some would argue that the most important stall was the Rockstar gaming zone where you could play demo versions of the games Red Dead Redemption 2 and Grand Theft Auto. As expected, the line was long, but the hardcore fans were actually willing to wait! At the Sony experience zone, there were two games to play - one themed around the new Mummy movie where you were required to find four ‘mummies’ in a room without letting the ‘snake’ catch you and the other one based on Fate of the Furious, where you had to change a tire in under 30 seconds. At the AXN stall, there were several quizzes, and also a photo zone where you could wear Sherlock's tweed suit and take a picture or get your picture taken while lying in a bathtub filled with money.

Apart from these were Image Comics, the company behind the comic book series Kingsman (which also is a film series), and a stall by TVS promoting the TVS Ntorq 125, their new maxi-scooter. In this stall with the miracle of VR technology, you could customise your own Ntorq for free. There was also a Marvel Studio’s stall and an Aquaman stall was there were life-size statues of the Avengers and Aquaman respectively. Also present was a Penguin Random House stall, a Scholastic stall and a Crossword stall that had not just comic books for sale but also action figures and t-shirts. In addition, a Cosplay contest was held on both days with a cash prize of Rs.50,000 for the winners.

After visiting the stalls, we visited The Arena where several artists and writers such as Glenn Rane, Ron Marz, Roy O Sullivan, and Abhijeet Kini were interviewed. The area also held dance competitions,  quizzes and several panel discussions including one in memory of Stan Lee and a preview of ‘Mysore Masala: The UFO Incident’. At the Arena, you can also view trailers and other videos when you get bored.

Apart from all this, there were several other stalls that sold art like posters but also keychains, pendants talismans, clothes and in one case phone covers.

Overall, while Comic-Con may not be the best weekend of the year, it did prove to be fun and enjoyable.