Comics in India are a community rather than just an industry: Jatin Varma, Founder, Comic Con India
In this photo essay from Comic Con Bengaluru, we showcase creative highlights along with founder insights.
Launched in 2014, PhotoSparks is a weekly feature from YourStory, with photographs that celebrate the spirit of creativity and innovation. In the earlier 840 posts, we featured an art festival, cartoon gallery. world music festival, telecom expo, millets fair, climate change expo, wildlife conference, startup festival, Diwali rangoli, and jazz festival.
The pop-culture event series Comic Con India reportedly had over 50,000 visitors during its recent Bengaluru edition, with 150 exhibitors and partners. The next editions are in February (Kolkata), March (Pune, Ahmedabad), and April (Mumbai), with Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai editions already completed this season.
“With respect to new highlights this season, we have the Nodwin Gaming Arena at each of our events, showcasing the best of gaming in the country. It includes everything from tournaments to experience zones,” Comic Con India Founder Jatin Verma tells YourStory.
Exhibitors include Yamaha, One Plus, Android, Bingo, Lenovo, Windows, and Sony PlayStation. “Our anchor partners are Maruti Suzuki Arena and Crunchyroll,” he adds. See our coverage of the 2015 edition of Comic Con Bengaluru here, and the earlier interview with Varma.
“Comics in India are a community rather than just an industry,” he describes. Other than a few older publishers such as Amar Chitra Katha and Raj Comics, most are small businesses or creator-owned publishing labels.
“Comics are NOT only a children’s medium, it has not been for over a decade. That is a very wrong Indian misconception,” Varma clarifies.
Most comics are read not just by children but by teenagers and young adults as well. “Readers are willing to pay a premium for quality content,” he adds.
“But there is an unfortunate bias where Indian content is assumed to be lower in quality than its international counterparts, and therefore expected to be priced lower. But I do not support such a belief and I feel our local content is often undervalued,” he explains.
Comic Con India seems to have completely recovered from the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic. “As with any other events business, we came to a standstill and had to stay in hibernation for over two years,” he recalls.
“However, the return was euphoric. The phenomenon of revenge outings was real, and it allowed us and the rest of the events industry at large to sustain and grow,” Varma enthuses.
The revenge outing rush has subsided and things are now back to normal. “However, that gap in between meant a whole new generation of fans came into the picture, for whom attending quality live events is important,” he affirms.
“You see this in the blockbuster response to many live events in the recent months,” he adds. New content trends have also come in, with anime and manga now booming in the Indian comics market.
The comics community overall is certainly growing. “Each year we see newer creators or small publishers enter. Many of the creators understand it is not a pure book sales play,” he describes.
“They have to take their IP to multiple formats to survive and grow. And we are starting to see some success in this as well,” he observes.
Varma also offers tips for aspiring creators who want to enter the comics space. “It is not an easy space to be in, please ensure you have an active web presence and create a digital community around your work,” he advises.
“Books are part of the plan, but your stories and characters have to translate into other formats for them to reach a larger audience and for your attempt to be financially viable. There is a long gestation period for such projects,” Varma signs off.
Now what have you done today to pause in your busy schedule and harness your creative side for a better world?
(All photographs were taken by Madanmohan Rao on location at Comic Con Bengaluru.)
Edited by Kanishk Singh