COMIC CON: DEFINITELY NOT A ‘LOKI’ EVENT

Puns aside, Comic Con is its own blockbuster. It’s a bat signal of sorts. Relax! You don’t need to save Gotham or fight Joker. You can ‘Bale’ out of this one (there goes another pun). But if you’re a die-hard comic fan, you need to get your crazy on, your game on and your butt moving. So, fuel up your Batmobile, put on your cape, straddle your dragon and mount your spaceship, or whatever else it takes and head to the helm of fandom – The Comic Con. Tickets bought. Wristband strapped. And slinging high hopes, we made our way to the entrance. We were greeted by a staff that was as excited as us to be there. After a few rounds of hurrahing ‘Comic Con’, we fist-bumped our way through the gates, towards the main event. Now for those who don’t know, Comic Con is that special kind of crazy, where if you can imagine it, you can be it. You can be the hero, you can be the villain or you can just be yourself. All you need is tons of enthusiasm for this bizarre world that is in fact, mighty awesome. We would know because we spent a good half of our Saturday at Comic Con. And we were impressed. This year, it was bigger and better. There were rows and rows of stalls, each selling kickass merchandise, anime art, super-cool t-shirts, brilliant video-games, and some really awesome books. We even spotted the Tinkle stall and we were so delighted. Right from Suppandi to Shikari Shambu, it was childhood come alive. And as far as hardcore comic book fans go, their fan moment was just a few stalls away. Sitting inside were the illustrators of these gems – Abhijit Kini (Tinkle), Yishan Li (Buffy) and David Lloyd (V For Vendetta), available for a meet and greet. And that’s not all. We also saw the likes of Nick Seluk (creator of The Awkward Yeti) and Andrew Griffith (illustrator of Transformers) gracing the event. Now it doesn’t end there. This year, Comic Con went all out and put up a fabulous act with their larger-than-life installations, experiential gaming zones, live performances, live talk shows, quirky photo-ops, and tons of cosplayers, each outdoing the other. But the ones that got fans going crazy was Nicole Marie Jean, an international level professional cosplayer. The place was buzzing with energy, passion, madness and spandex. Yes, lots of it. Donned in capes, chains, masks and wigs, everyone was a superhero waiting to be discovered. Or a super-villain waiting to unleash doom. And then there were the non-cosplayers (like us) who mingled happily with this mad, mad crowd. The best part about Comic Con is that it draws people from all walks of life and this year was testimony to that. Almost like Comic Con has taken it upon itself to turn your frown upside down. Almost like they're the Joker telling you, “Let’s put a smile on that face”.