Hyderabad Comic Con 2024 will deep dive into fun with retro games and Indian creators

Lilo and Rosh
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Comic Con India returns to Hyderabad bringing joy to its fans who look forward to all things fun related to anime, gaming, and pop culture. Students, artists and storytellers meet to learn, explore their craft, and exchange ideas during the three-day fest from November 15 to 17 at HITEX Exhibition Center. 

Expect performances, exhibits, experience zones, contests, cosplay, merchandise, gaming tournaments, invitational matches, speaker sessions, retro games and more.

Hyderabad’s Comic Con 20204 promises to bring in international and national artists, including Josh Baylock, who has published nearly 1000 comic books and is best known for founding Devil’s Due, and relaunching G.I. Joe. The Indian artists are Indusverse, Yali Dreams Creations, Graphicurry-Prasad Bhat, Lilorosh, Garbage Bin, Corporat Comics, Bullseye Press, Holy Cow International, Bakarmax, Art of Savio, Tadam Gyadu, Happy Fluff, Rajesh Nagulkonda, Saumin Patel, Abhikini, Halluboi.

Tadam Gyadu from Arunachal Pradesh, who sketches for Marvel comics from India, looks forward to sharing and exchanging ideas with those who want to pursue sketching as a career. Tadam, a fan of Spider-Man and Wolverine, says his break with Marvel is his biggest accomplishment and dream come true. Tadam says, “Getting into Marvel was not easy; I got my break in 2022 when I approached an art representative.” 

How can one recognise Tadam’s Marvel work? “Look for subtle Indian things, like Hindi on a wall graffiti, or an Indian character in the background.” 

Jatin Varma, Founder of Comic Con India is excited: “This year, we’re taking it up by a notch by extending the festival to three days. Fans’ passion has fueled us to expand the event, bringing more thrilling experiences with a wider range of activities for everyone to enjoy. This will be our biggest event in Hyderabad to date, showcasing a few of the best in Indian comics, fan activities, cosplay, gaming and geeky shopping.”

Comic Con India 2024 will also present sessions with Amar Chitra Katha, Raj Comics, Crunchyroll, and other leading Indian creators. Fans can look forward to special stand-up acts by popular comedians like Harsh Gujral, Azeem Banatwala, Ravi Gupta and Syed Bashaar. There will also be performances by Daisuki Cosplay Band, Geek Fruit and Hip Hop artist Karan Kanchan, to name a few. 

Faisal of Garbage Bin starts by clarifying that his brand name does not represent his art; it was the name of the folder in which he saved his nostalgia-related art pieces. Garbage Bin strips, in Hindi, made it big through Facebook. Faisal says, “My partner Shahnawaz and I started with mobile games. During the time of Anna Hazare’s protest we created a comic strip named Angry Anna. While that got very popular, I was frustrated that we weren’t meeting our goal of creating as many mobile games as we thought we could. That’s when I created two characters Guddu and Shaan, to relax through art. Designed as gags (four strips of comic), it was all nostalgia-related. I used to store these on my system, in a folder that I named Garbage Bin, probably inspired by MAD, the popular US comic brand. 

At the Hyderabad Comic Con, Faisal will launch a preview of their collaboration with Nikhil Pran of Pran comics of Chacha Chaudhary fame.

Hyderabad Comic Con 2024 will be held at HITEX Exhibition Centre from November 15 to November 17, 11am to 8pm. For passes, visit www.comiccon.in and BookMyShow.