In the five-plus years that I have been with Comic Con India, not only have I had the privilege to host my events across the country and interact with thousands of fans, I’ve also got to travel to quite a few international conventions. I have enjoyed each and every moment at all these conventions, and after a bit of back and forth I have been able to pin down 10 moments that are of real significance to me. As the journey of Comic Con India continues, I feel this list will be never-ending and I’ll never have a dull day in my life.
Birth of Comic Con India
It might be the easiest thing to include but as I look back, it certainly is one of the best decisions of my life. It not only changed my life professionally but also personally. I couldn’t imagine how quickly it would grow. And to think I started it off because I felt it would be a lot of fun!
Meeting a living god... Robert Crumb
During my first year in college, I was introduced to the works of Robert Crumb and it hit me like lightning. Ever since, I’ve been his die-hard fan and I really wanted to meet him. As luck would have it, in 2012 Robert Crumb agreed to come and be a guest of honour at our fledgling convention in Delhi. For him it might have been a trip to India but for me — and a lot of people — it was as good as meeting a living god. It’s something I’ll never forget. And I am very proud of my team that worked on getting him to India.
Stan Lee signing my comics... twice!
2012 was really big on such moments for me. After meeting Robert Crumb in Delhi, I was lucky enough to attend San Diego Comic-Con International and get in line to meet the one and only Stan Lee, and get him to sign my Fantastic Four (No. 44) not once but TWICE! Yes, I have the only Fantastic Four (No. 44) signed twice by Stan the Man! I wish I had splurged a bit more and got a picture of the moment. For now, the comic will do.
The Rick Geary treat
Over the years, I have built up my collection of comics and graphic novels… and my tastes are eclectic. In my collection are books by artist and writer Rick Geary, who has a very distinctive style of art. I collected his work from Heavy Metal to National Lampoon, and more importantly his solo non-fiction work chronicling 19th century crime and criminals. I got to meet him at SDCC and chat with him; it was quite a treat.
A signed copy of Death of Superman
I have been a Superman fan since I can remember and, over the years, I keep trying to collect as much memorabilia as possible. One of the best finds was in Dubai at the Middle East Film & Comic Con in 2013. I came across a certified signed copy of Death of Superman by Dan Jurgens, who was the artist on that iconic title. In the larger scheme of things, it’s not an exclusive find, but for me it was as good as finding gold!
Getting Mark Waid To Delhi
Bringing guests to India has never been easy, but once in a while we are able to bring in extraordinary names and one of them is Mark Waid. Meeting him in person, hosting him at our show... it was the highlight not just for the show but for me personally.
Comic Con India enters the NYCC family
Building Comic Con India was never easy and doing it alone was even tougher. However, in 2014, after months of conversations, we entered into a partnership with Reed Pop, organisers of some of the finest conventions across the world, including the New York Comic Con. It legitimised our efforts and helped us scale up and improve our shows for fans in India. It completely changed the way we run our business for the better.
Neil Gaiman says YES!
We have a long list of artists and writers who we would want to host but we know they are impossible to get! However, each year we keep reaching out to them with various options, one of them being a live Skype panel. In 2014 we attempted the same with Neil Gaiman. It was a shot in the dark and, as luck would have it, he said YES! So, the lucky few that stuck around on the first day of our Bangalore show in 2014, got to ask him questions, interact with him live (via Skype). The atmosphere that evening was electrifying.
Meeting the Skywalker twins
My joint venture partner organises some of the best pop-culture shows in the world, one of them happens to be Star Wars Celebration. In April 2015, I got myself invited to the show and had a ball. If you are a Star Wars fan like me, then this is the place to be. And right on the last day, I got in line to meet Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill; it was a long wait, but totally worth it. They must have been meeting thousands of fans that day, but they were still nice and I love the picture I got to take with them. I honestly never wanted the day or the event to end.
Having a soldout show
The Hyderabad edition of our show in 2015 ended up being one of the best shows we have ever hosted. While we were expecting a good turnout, we never thought it would be a deluge, so much so that we would even run out of tickets!
The writer grew up on a healthy diet of comics, movies and games... like any other kid. Though he likes Star Wars, deep down he knows he is a Trekkie for life. He is introverted and prefers reading books than talking to people. He has recently taken up collecting socks!
I want Comic Con India to come to Calcutta because.... Tell t2@abp.in
