First Visakhapatnam Comic Con draws over 12,000 visitors

The first Comic Con in Visakhapatnam concluded on October 11. Organisers estimated attendance at more than 12,000 across the two-day festival.

The event took place at Kalam Convention Centre on the Andhra Pradesh MedTech Zone campus. Its programme brought together comics, anime, video games and cosplay, with an artists' area, creator sessions, virtual reality and a main stage.

Performers included Telugu rapper Roll Rida and the groups C-SHOR, The 9TEEN and Fluteboxers. Gokul Kumar, Kumar Varun and Vivek Muralidharan featured in the comedy programme.

Comic Con India chief executive Shefali Johnson told The Hindu that repeated requests from visitors to Hyderabad events helped prompt the move into Andhra Pradesh. She said the Visakhapatnam response encouraged the company to begin planning a presence in the state over the next five years. That is an organisers' intention rather than an announced calendar of future events.

Cosplay was a prominent attraction. Sai Krishna appeared as HUNK from Resident Evil. Kundhan Kondempudi, from Nuzvid, presented a Spider-Man costume he said he had spent three years making by hand.

Local resident Sumanth Behara attended as John Constantine with his sister Sucharita. Organisers also included local performers to reflect the region's culture.