I stare in wonder and disbelief as Darth Vader passes me, followed by Captain Haddock. I almost expect to hear a “Blistering Barnacles” from him; instead I get a cheery grin.
Before I recover from this rather uncharacteristic grin, I get distracted by Batman and Superman walking together and laughing and flexing their muscles.
Wait, was that Barbie and Ken?
And… and… was that the Incredibles? The full Incredibles family?
No, I’m not joking or narrating a fantasy tale; I saw all of them at the Mumbai Film and Comic Convention a.k.a. ComicConMumbai last week. When I entered the venue (Bombay Exhibition Centre at Goregaon), it was like entering a parallel world - a world dominated by comic and cartoon characters, merchandise and people around this theme. I saw a group of college students pass me their faces painted like minions and talking in minion language or at least that’s what it sounded to me like.
Let me give you a quick glimpse of some highlights of my visit.
Books that I have not seen in a bookshop… 
T-Shirt Art. My favourite is that “Ramu Kaka ki Chai” (bottom left). Brilliant take off on Starbucks. 
Some magic with paper and scissors. 
A 3D pop-up book of the Game of Thrones. I didn’t like the book, but this pop-up art? Superb ?
Priyashakti, a comic inspired by the Nirbhaya rape in Delhi 
Some incredible local talent: Madhuvanti Mohan of Something Sketchy doodles on one of the notebooks I bought; (below) Sukriti Nigam’s designs 
The cute Smurfs 
Umm…wearing underwear over trousers, even if you are Mr. Incredible is not so happening ? 
This was my first time at a ComicCon event and I loved it. By the time I left the venue about 4 hours later it was with a pleasant buzz in the best possible way — and a lot of insights as well.
- That its okay to dress up like you’re going to a fancy dress competition and no one will bat an eyelid. In fact, people will stop and ask for a selfie to be taken with you.
- The the event has its own lingo like “merch” for merchandise and “cosplay” for costume play.
- That stuff usually available only online is actually on display and sale at the ComicCon, for eg. Star Wars and Harry Potter merch.
- That the largest number of comics and graphic novels under one roof can be seen here. In fact, I had never seen or even heard of some of the comics before.
- That It is perfectly normal for an 10-11 year old to walk into a store, ask for specific merch, pay Rs.10,000/- for it in cash and walk out in a matter of 5 minutes. Nobody seemed to be surprised that the boy was unaccompanied or that he had so much money with him. Except me.
- That most people visiting the ComicCon are hard-core fans. They know their DC comics from their Marvel comics and you can’t mess with them on this as a salesperson found to her dismay.
- That it is easy to spend money and lose track of it. See what all I bought.
The MFCC 2014 was Mumbai’s fourth and my first. I decided to after hearing so much about it from friends. And I’m so glad I did ! I’m already looking forward to the next year’s ComicConMumbai event.
Tell me, have you attended any of the comic con events in India or abroad? I would love to hear about your impressions of this iconic annual event. ?
