The trending cult

Jatin Varma, the brains behind Comic Con India, is a geek. The 28-year-old believes that comics are a lifelong investment, recognises how large events help pump cash into the studios of small artists. Comic Con India arrived in February 2011 with great fanfare and under the banner of Varma’s Twenty Onwards Media. 

The inaugural event saw 50 exhibitors, 15,000 fans and almost US$50,000 in sales in just two days. Since then, the event has exploded with annual events now planned in four cities across this emerging market. Comic Con 2018 kick starts from the city of Hyderabad on October 13 and 14 and will move to Bengaluru (November 17 and 18), Delhi (December 7-9) and Mumbai (December 22-23) respectively.

Excerpts from an interview

What was the idea behind bringing CC to India?
I had grown up on comics and later in life, they became a much larger part of my life. By 2010, I was actively publishing comics and collaborating with local creators. It’s from there, the whole idea of doing a Comic Con India came about. 

How easy or difficult it was to bring it here?
It started off initially as a fun project, I did not expect it nor imagined for it to be the festival and brand that it has become today. It’s been a learning curve and certainly hasn’t been easy, but then nothing comes easy. 

Did you expect this kind of response from the country?
I expected a positive response, but it’s overwhelming to see how far it has come and how the interest in something like this keeps growing. It certainly helped that access to content and the overall market in India also grew at the same time. 

Tell us about the theme and activities for the 2018 edition.
Comic Con India is the amalgamation of all things pop culture. Each year via our participants and partners, we try and bring the latest content on to the platform and that’s the aim this year as well. There are tons of new fan experiences, some amazing new local comics and as always, the best merchandise. This year, we also have an exclusive tie-up with the International Comics Publisher- Image Comics to provide each attendee with an exclusive comic book. 

What kind of planning goes into it?
It is almost a year-long effort to bring the show together from exhibitors to partners to content. We start working on each season by February of each year with the first show usually in October.

Tell us about the increasing taste for pop culture in India.
It’s been growing at a rapid pace, especially with the over-the-top content (OTT) players now in the market, the ease with which you can access content is amazing. And the best part is the local content that’s being developed, not just comics, but television, gaming. 

What are your future plans?
Our goal is to grow the existing shows further, we hope to bring the Comic Con experience to other cities as well.