A Madcap Affair: Superheroes, Dugna Lagaan and Cosplay costumes at Delhi Comic Con 2016

The 2016 edition of the Delhi Comic Con was a pop explosion of comic characters, superheroes and super villains.

Comic Con India, the comic-based convention held in India, witnessed the 2016 edition in New Delhi this weekend. With the last leg of the three-day fest kick-started on Friday at NSIC Ground, enthusiast had a chance to rub shoulders with comic characters, superheroes and super villains. This year’s Comic-Con was not only restricted to panel discussions, launches, video hangouts, gaming, movies, television, merchandise or toys but included experimental and interactive zones as well, all whilst giving you an awesome ‘pop culture’ experience. With each corner of the annual Comic Con donning a colorful dimension, enthusiasts were seen brimming with a vibrant energy and participating in varied games and competitions based on famous television shows. (ALSO READ: Best Breakfast Places in Delhi for all budgets: Top 20 breakfast places around Delhi & NCR!)

Experience zones based on the cult movie Baahubali, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and the Star Wars Universe were the newest wrinkle this year where you could experience a faceoff with your favorite wrestler or with the storm troopers. Another feather in the cap that the Delhi edition of Comic Con had donned this year was a chance to interact with actor Paul Blackthorne, known for the role of detective Quentin Lance in the American TV show “Arrow”, who attended the Delhi Comic Con. Blackthorne, present on all three days of the event, is best known in India for essaying the role of Captain Andrew Russell in the 2001 Oscar nominated Bollywood film Lagaan. Other known personalities like Tom Richmond, a caricaturist, cartoonist, and a humorous illustrator for the American humor magazine, Mad, Cartoon Network and the National Geographic, Joe Harris, author of X-files Comics and Nicholas Wild, the French writer, illustrator, and author of the acclaimed novel Kabul Disco attended and participated in special sessions of DCC 2016. The official Walt Disney DJ, DJ Elliot and Indian actor and standup Comedian, Gaurav Gera were a part of this 3-day fest. Also, well-known creators like Akshay Dhar from Meta Desi Comics, Aniruddho Chakraborty from Chariot comics, Vivek Goel from Holy Cow Entertainment, Shamik Dasgupta from Yali Dreams and Saumin Patel were expected to grace the 3-day fiesta. (ALSO READ: Drink beer for Rs 29 in Delhi NCR: Here’s how you can treat yourself to discounted beer in Gurugram this weekend!)

Surprising fans with an “Artist Alley” this year at the DCC, which exclusively featured artists from all over India and Delhi, where fans interacted with awesome artists, illustrators, designers working in comics and related fields. The alley featured artists like Parmi Jethwani, Rajeev Tamahakar, Rohit Soni, Sumit Kumar, Rohan Bhatia, Reshmi Chandrashekhar, Nikita Das Gupta amongst others. Three new comic  books were launched on Day 1 and included Ved & The Puppet Master, Shivaay 2 by TBS Planet, Legend of Azad by Zaponga and Adhish Epiphany by Red Streak Publications. (ALSO READ: Top 20 Best Selling Books of 2016: Harry Potter and the cursed child is Amazon’s top selling book!)

The spirit of Comi-Con is synonymous with the spirit of Cosplay which is essentially the practice of donning the signature style of your favorite character from a film, book or video game. Cosplayers steal the thunder with their quirky take on their favorite characters. With 5 categories created for them to win awesome prizes namely, Comic book/graphic novel, Animated Series/Movie, Manga/Anime, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Gaming, enthusiasts were slated to vie for cash prized of Rs 50000 and a chance to enter the ‘Indian Championships of Cosplay’. To encourage enthusiast for their cool spirit, 5 Cosplayers were slated to win a voucher of Rs 2500 each. As official backers of the show, Maruti Suzuki Alto K10 hoped to excite enthusiast with tons of freebies too. (ALSO READ: Harry Potter Yule Ball comes to Delhi this Christmas Eve: Here’s all you need to know about it!)