Batman is coming to town: Kerala's first comic convention in Kochi
- 14 Sep 2016
- Noel Alex
- Features
When things go wrong in your city, and you feel weak and helpless and shadowed by the darkness of evil, children (sometimes even me) look up to the night sky, with a faint hope to see that familiar bat symbol in the sky. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a masked vigilante in Kochi, cleaning up the mess in the city (literally even). Our very own Batman. While some of you nuts are seriously considering this as a profession after reading this, to the rest of you Kochiites there is good news. Batman is coming to town!
Before that, here is some material for the before mentioned nuts
Pic source: http://ifcdn.com/, cdn.moviepilot.com, media.tumblr.com
The Bat has been immortalized ever since the Nolan trilogy. So much so that the world is celebrating September 17th as Batman Day and our friends from Kerala Comics Brotherhood (KCB) have organized a Batman day celebration. The Kerala Comics Brotherhood is a Facebook group that brings together comic fans from across Kerala, because why not? They have collaborated with Cosplay League India and Comic Collective to organize this event, the first of its kind in Kerala. While the team warns fans not to expect something like Comic Con, they have taken the first step to usher in the comic culture into our city, which should be applauded.
Keralites are big fans of the whole hero concept, which is evident as people always call the central character of any movie as a ‘hero’ and not as a lead actor or a protagonist. Until recently the Malayalam industry was flooded with movies where the 'hero' wins the girl’s heart, beats up bad guy and saves the day.So it seems like a surprise that the comic superhero fan base is very small in Kerala.
But the fact is that the fan base is not small, but in fact scattered and disorganized. It is the goal of associations like KCB to bring together true fans and start organizing events to build a strong base. Some people judge events like this as childish and a waste of time. Comic books are a treasure of nostalgia for some of us, and there is no shame in celebrating that. At Comic Con, you find most fans are adults, shedding their inhibitions and dressing up as their favorite childhood character. The San Diego Comic Convention (SDCC), otherwise known as Comic-Con, is widely considered to be the premier event of its kind, where tickets often sell out in minutes. According to Miro Copic, a marketing professor at San Diego State University who recently crunched the numbers, this year's SDCC is expected to have a whopping $150 million in economic impact on the region, representing an injection of at least $80 million in direct spending. I wouldnt call that a waste of time.
Pic Source: cdn.movieweb.com
So you think you are the ultimate Batman fan? Take part in the Batman Quiz, conducted by KBC, and prove it to the world, amazing prizes await you. Comic Collectives will also have a collection of bat comics, ranging from the latest to very old editions, while some are even available in malayalam. Cosplay League India will be conducting a special cosplay workshop, where among other activites, fans will get the chance to build their own 3D batman figure. On that note, did you hear about the man who got himself into the Guiness world records for making a bat suit with the most number of functional units. Take a look at this
So head on down to Chai Cofi on September 17th and don’t miss a chance to pay tribute to the Dark Knight. Who knows? I might be there in makeup and a pocket knife- just to put a smile on your face.
Words: Noel Alex
