Trip to Comic Con Bangalore in 2019
I have recently been to Comic Con Bangalore, which happens to be my first ever Comic Con in my freaking life. It was way-back in 2017 when it seeded my mind going to convention one day 😃
After beginning streaming on Twitch, I kept asking about experiences of other streamers on their comic con visits, who were much advanced artist who themselves exhibited at Comic-Con San Diego & other places.They straight-up mentioned some do’s and don’t to artists over at convention, which were:
Cosplay is not consent (means ask for permission before taking pictures or anything related artists consent).
Ask for portfolio reviews only if they are free and respect their time.
Don’t spend too much on merch,rather show support to artists by buying artworks.
Be Polite.
Keeping that in mind, I went ahead booking arrangements for it. There was one core reason I was planning this trip, that is to go along with never-met-before, friend from another dimension. For which I was pretty excited, so we sorted out the schedules for the event.
To my surprise, Bangalore was ahead of what I imagined, being in a Tier 3 City myself. It was a much crowded, fast pace and traffic place to first appearance, but advance in terms of accessibility (metros, rent bikes etc.)
I stayed at place called Zostel (truly a backpackers den). It was pretty much dorm sharing system where people are free to cook anything they like in a shared kitchen. Here, a lot of people from different countries like Germany, Australia came for work, sharing dorms. Even to some, I smiled and greeted. I had fun playing some game of carrom with work-person from shilong (I did lose twice) & Tekken in PS4 with guy from Mumbai. Also had couple of Dosa at breakfast.
On the day of event, I made sure that we better not be late and reached before 11 am. Now there was way too many people in costumes, fan shirts. To embrace the Comic-Con spirit, I wore a Flash T-shirt 😃. Now while waiting for event to open its gates we saw bunch of volunteers going berserk to keep up the thrill and excitement in the arena.
Gate opened !
We received some goodies, Yay !
They gave us a poster of Wonder Woman and short Archie storybook with a carry bag. And went ahead for count down to opening of another main gate (what a fuss!).
But, But, BUTT... After entering, it was really a view to what an Otaku might call mesmerizing. So, it balanced it.
The exhibitions was lined up in counter fashion. Where Indian artists, Foreign Artist, Merchandise Stores, Book Stores, International Cosplayers, Art Institutes
and...
Sponsors had their counter waiting to be engaged. I did buy and interacted with some artists, restraining myself to over spend. My friend did helped me with the WiFi connectivity issue while paying up at the stores.
Here is the event exhibition store map:
So, we began marching to all counters and stumbled upon XP-pen counter, they had doodle competition going, in which I participated & chose to draw Atomic samurai. It was also first time using 22 inch Screentouch, which happens to be competition prize.
While many people spending time over participating at sports, i decided to wander around artists section and interacted with couple of them, also bought some artworks to support them. I did ask them about their journey and time they spent since they pursuing seriously. One of artist @navs.art mentioned that it took her 3 years to reach at a level of creating sell-able artwork. You can see some artwork from her I brought:
check more about navsart here: @navs.art
Another counter was of “Abstract art and life”, who were frankly allowing us to pay whatever price we can, which was generous of them. They had their abstract artwork of fine detail printed on the covers of sketchbooks and other products. I did brought some sketchbooks which I needed the most. Also I have allowed to mention that they allowed me to pay afterwards when i met with payment connectivity issue (really generous). here are some prints i brought from them:
Art by: @abstract_life_and_art
There were series of interviews, comic screening & competition giveaways happening on the main stage with artists, cosplayers and mascots. I could feel the goosebumps when people applauds at the screening of new or nostalgic comic
previews on stage screens. It was delightful to experience so many people with common interest at one place.
We roamed at lot, sometimes crossed same counter THRICE. There was range of comics available like toons, Indian stories, mythological, Childrens story book, mangas at book stores. Here are some Books, Mangas & Posters brought from there:
I stayed at Bangalore for two days, the first day was event. Next day I called up a batch-mate of mine Gaurav, living at the city. Its always quite assuring to hear his voice of care. We planned to visit the Samsung Opera House and Cubbon Park, visted via metro. Now it became quite used to metro up until now.
Since only I was the common friend to both of my friends, it was quite balanced conversations, but frankly it took less than a day for both both of them be in rhythm. We participated in couple of tech equipment's at the opera house like 4D VR, Boat Pedaling, and Cycle Race.
After finishing up lunch, it was time for me head back to catch my train. Gaurav being generous enough to company me to station, we had engaging conversations on living & future endeavours ahead of us.
To Summaries the experience, it was a creative pill went awestruck. I had never experienced the aura of creative people at one place that much. Viewing Interacting with artists have broadened my horizons to become humble as well as persevere to keep working as artists. We managed to be every place which made us tired at the end of our exit. Meanwhile on my way back, I completed the Manga brought at the store 😄
