Gear up for the most awaited event of the year

Matt Melvin, author of Cyanide and Happiness and The Last Nerds; Miya Tomoko & Moe Tsurumi, Professional Japanese Cosplayers and Kevin Hamric, Director, VIZ Media are the major attractions this year

One of the most awaited events for comic books fans, ‘Hyderabad Comic Con (HCC)’, is back with its second edition. This year will have over 100 exhibitors, including artists, writers and creators from all over India and Hyderabad. HCC 2015 will take place on September 12 and 13, at Hitex Exhibition Centre.

Major attractions this year

Seven exclusive comic book launches will take centre stage during the ‘Cosplay Contest’ apart from day-long programmes and experiential zones. International personalities like Matt Melvin, author of ‘Cyanide and Happiness’ and ‘The Last Nerds’, Miya Tomoko and Moe Tsurumi, Professional Japanese Cosplayers and Kevin Hamric, Director, Viz Media will be attending.

New titles up for launch include ‘Shaitaan’ by Holy Cow Entertainment, ‘Item Dhamaka - Godsmack part 2’ by Aayumi Productions, ‘Tinkle & Tobi’ by Sai Animation, ‘Vrica’ by ICBM Comics, ‘Legends of Yuck Man’ by Smarak Swain.

Jatin Varma, Founder, Comic Con India, shared, “We are excited to come back to our favourite city, Hyderabad. The convention in its third year; is bigger and better than before. We hope to make it their best weekend of the year.”

What’s new this year?

Comic Con India is making a new addition to Hyderabad Comic Con this year called ‘YouTube Stage’. YouTube will be creating a fan experience zone at the show, which will feature popular YouTube stars and will give them an opportunity to interact with their favourite stars. The stage will also feature YouTube merchandise which the fans can buy at the event.

‘Artist Alley’, an exclusive zone featuring artists from all over India and Hyderabad will give fans an opportunity to interact with artists, illustrators, designers working for comics and related fields like Nikhil Gulati, Saumin Suresh Patel, Reshmi Chandrashekhar, Milan Preet, Manasa Madhuri, Garima Shukla and more. Well known creators like Vivek Goel from Holy Cow Entertainment, Aniruddho Chakraborty from Chariot comics and Prasad Bhatt from Graphicurry will be at the show as well.

Merchandise!

The event will also have a fan-made costumes and models booth called ‘Station Café’, where there will be customised Iron Man Suit, Captain America's Lemurian Star and Thor's Mjolnir on display. Fans can buy the best and most exclusive international merchandise at the convention from across the globe.

There will also be exclusive merchandise by Indian merchandisers, including Comic Con India Store, Wacom, Bewakoof Brands, Hysteria, Wear Your Opinion, Chulbul, Silver Carvings, Captain Kyso, Macmerise, Planet Superheroes, Being Hyderabadi, Lazy Ninja, Graphicurry, Hangout Store, Urbanzaa, Bushirt and Comic Gadget.

Other attractions

Cosplay (Costume Contest), one of the major attractions at Comic Con India, will continue to give assured prizes to everyone in costume. Gaming will choose one winner in each category each day. Also, one lucky winner will get a chance to win a golden ticket to Thailand.

The ‘Maruti Suzuki Alto K10 Experience Zone’ will have art installations and gaming. ‘Smaaash Virtual Reality Zone’ will be setting up a one-of-a-kind gaming experience for the fans, which will feature a mix of virtual reality and other interactive games. Other experiential zones include ‘Nodwin Gaming’s Comic Con India Live Zone’ and ‘Roboland Zone’.

The main participants for the Hyderabad Comic Con 2015 include Amar Chitra Katha, Orange Radius, Pop Culture Publishing, Campfire Graphic Novel, Holy Cow Entertainment, Harper Collins Publishers, Aayumi Productions, Raj Comics, Red Streak Publications, Scholastic India and others. Tickets can be bought online at ‘Book My Show’ and their venue.