Comic Con takes place twice a year, so what do comic enthusiasts and cosplayers do for the other 333 days? Well, if you had braved the rain and made your way to Banjara Hills on Saturday, you would have soon found out.
From Joker in a nurse’s uniform to Arrow, the place was filled with cosplayers making best use of the opportunity to be somebody else.
Superhero talk
The event started with a session by writer and graphic artist Jai Undurti, who also founded the Hyderabad Graphic Novel. “For a layman, comic books are about characters who wear their underwear inside out. I am here to make people more conscious about what they are reading,” says Jai.
To make the session more interesting and relatable, he chose the topic of superheroes. “Superhero is one category that everybody could relate to and is aware of. Hence, I chose to focus on that,” says Jai. And the topic sure did strike a chord with people present, as some of them came up with their own version of superheroes. There was one superhero based on the recent Nestle controversy titled ‘Maggi Man’, who fights nuclear emissions around Charminar by acting as a shield using the lead present in the noodles.
Batman got scared?
In a crowd of over 30 cosplayers, it was indeed surprising to find no one dressed as Batman, one of the most common characters at such events. “I am so tired of seeing people dressed as Batman, if I see a Batman here, I am going to punch him in the face,” jokes Harshit Madan, who came dressed as Arrow. A businessman by profession, Harshit is an avid cosplayer and was dressed as the same character for the previous Comic Con too. “As a child, I used to dress up as a bunny for fancy dress competitions. Now, my parents are happy about the dedication that I have their full support,” he says.
Apporva M., who came dressed as the Riddler, works for the Chota Bheem Productions and is also a writer and partial character designer. “Cosplay is just like fancy dress, but even more fun,” she says.
Serious cosplayers
Ronit Roy, who came dressed as the anime character Sogeking, is just 20 years old. But he and his friend Sai Prakash, also 20, not only love anime, but also take orders to make props. They had previously made a wooden katana, a traditional Japanese sword, and lately they made another prop for a fellow cosplayer. Sunil Choppala, a working professional, turned up as Darth Vader in a costume that was made out of EVA foam.
While it was pouring outside, it was quite a unique sight to watch all the comic and anime characters as they head-banged, danced, and even sang to the music. Now, where would you find such a happening event? You know the answer this time.
