The opening day of Kolkata Comics Karnival 2025 at Science City auditorium on 26 December buzzed with a shared excitement for pop culture. Amid the sea of merchandise stalls, like-minded individuals felt at ease — leafing through comics and hunting for figurines — proving that the sub-culture is no longer a niche. It is personal, alive and kicking in Kolkata.
Twenty-year-old Bismah Shafiq, who suffers from a rare genetic disorder causing poor quality bone formation, arrived at the festival on a wheelchair on Day 1. Accompanied by her mother Shaheen, Bismah wore the biggest smile on her face as she shared her love for Japanese culture, anime and gaming.
“Anime allowed me to make friends and meet like-minded people,” Bismah, a digital illustrator on Instagram, said. Explaining why events like this matter to her, she added, “Earlier, anime wasn’t this popular in India. Now it’s growing, and I wanted to be a part of that.”
Having attended Kolkata Comics Karnival in the past, Bismah noticed how the event has evolved over the years. “The collection has grown a lot,” she said, pointing out the wide variety of merchandise that made the event more tempting this time.
Bismah Shafiq, a 20-year-old digital illustrator, with her mother Shaheen Shafiq
At the same time, Bismah raised awareness about the rise of AI-generated art at pop culture events. “Comics carnival should be a celebration of creators,” she said. “AI art doesn’t feel like creation. I would rather buy from artists or draw something myself.”
Bismah’s mother Shaheen Shafiq beamed with joy as her daughter expressed her love for anime. Events like these have introduced her daughter to a world she might not have explored otherwise, Shaheen said.
Longtime attendees echoed a similar sentiment about the sense of community felt by pop culture enthusiasts at the event. Pratik Sarkar, a 36-year-old engineer who has been reading comics his entire life, said he has only missed one Kolkata Comics Karnival till date.
“I grew up reading comics by artists like Narayan Debnath and Mayukh Choudhury,” Sarkar said, adding that he came to the event with one of his colleagues. “Coming here feels like a dream come true,” he said.
For Sarkar, the recent surge in pop culture events in Kolkata — from this year’s debut edition of Comic Con in the city to the upcoming Anime India event in February — hints at an important change.
“I have seen that the Bengali intelligentsia or the Bengali intellectuals casually ignore comics and graphic novels,” Sarkar said. “Events like this create hype and bring in a new generation of pop culture enthusiasts.”
The sprawling event was a true haven for collectors with its wide variety of comic books, action figures and other merchandise. Debjyoti Biswas, 40, was drawn to the carnival for his passion for collecting vintage comic books.
When asked what brings him to the event every year, Biswas lifted his gaze from the comic book in his hand and gave a quick one-word answer: “Comics.” Vintage Bengali titles were his go-to reads while growing up.
Debjyoti Biswas
Harbouring a love for collecting first-edition comic books, Biswas mentioned that artwork, storytelling and creativity keep bringing him back.
Beyond the fans were the independent creators and sellers who found the perfect space to grow. Crochet artists like Disha Sen of Knot by Disha and Trina Saha of The Arachne Moonstore drew crowds with their handmade dolls inspired by anime and video games.
This was Sen’s first attempt at creating anime-themed crochet dolls. “Crochet is trending, but anime dolls felt new,” she said. Saha, on the other hand, started her business during the peak of the pandemic in 2020 after around eight years of crafting. She said platforms like Kolkata Comics Karnival allow small creators to reach out to an audience that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to.
Crochet dolls featuring the Hornet from 'Hollow Knight: Silksong', Zenitsu from 'Demon Slayer' and Pikachu
Two dedicated stalls for One Piece and Pokemon trading cards were brimming with collectors. Sellers and collectors like Soumyojyoti Das, Shakya Sengupta and his wife Shreya Sengupta teamed up for their Instagram pages at the event, speaking about years of collecting Pokemon and other cards — a hobby that is now finding a close-knit community in Kolkata.
“Not a lot of people are into TCG (trading card game) in Kolkata yet,” Soumyojyoti, who goes by the username meirlco on Instagram, said. Along with his friends, Soumyojyoti was present at the venue with two other TCG enthusiasts — Shakya Sengupta and his wife Shreya Sengupta.
A host of booster boxes, packs and graded slabs were showcased by the longtime collectors and sellers
Shakya, going by tcg.aezo on Instagram, has been collecting cards with his wife for around 15 years now. For the past eight years, he has been designing custom cards.
Shreya looked back on her hobby as a child. “Remember those Pokemon Diamond Cards? I still have my childhood collection,” she said enthusiastically. “I really love collecting as I get to explore artworks by so many different artists. This (hobby) is an unbreakable part of me now,” she signed off.