10 things you need to know about Comic Con

Cosplayers costumed as characters from the online video game

Cosplayers at Comic-con Bengaluru

Crowd at the Comic-con Colombia

Gaming, comic and movie fans take photos during Comic Con Colombia.

Famous for its Marvel, Star Wars and fantasy themes, this year’s edition of Comic-Con Bengaluru found itself in the news for all the wrong reasons. Visitors at the 7th Comic-Con held on November 17 and 18 at KTPO Trade Centre were shocked to find explicit pornographic content being handed out to children in the welcome bags. The issue took the city by storm with many parents of young children, who visited the event, expressing outrage on their social media accounts.

But what exactly is Comic-Con and when did it begin? DH brings you 10 things that you need to know about this entertainment city that is a huge hit the world over.

1. The first official Comic-Con took place in 1964 in New York City. Comicon 64 (which became The Comic Art Convention) took place on July 27th and hosted roughly 100 comic book fans.

2. Comic-Con is an annual pop culture convention held to celebrate the world of comics and graphic art.

3. Today, the event held in Southern California typically attracts crowds of around 130,000, many of whom take part in cosplay – a Japanese import that has become a signature of Comic-Con. Cosplay is dressing in a costume to recreate the appearance of any character from a work of fiction

4. The crowds look forward to the panels of A-list franchise stars and exclusive trailer premieres that are a regular feature of these comic-cons.

5. According to the Forbes magazine, the Comic-Con International: San Diego is the biggest event of its kind in the world.

6. Comic-Con India (CCI) began in the country in February of 2011 in Delhi. The turnout here was approx. 20,000 and sales of the merchandise on display touched 25 Lakhs in 2 days.

7. The CCI has expanded to 5 cities now -- Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune. It boasts of 2,00,000 visitors cumulatively with over 1200 exhibitors at the events.

8. According to comicsbeat.com, at the 1st ever annual “Bangalore Comic Con” that took place in Bangalore in June 2013, the turnout was approximately 62,000 and the sales touched 1.25 crore in 2 days.

9. In 2017, the CCI had dedicated Comic Cons across the cities to Archie Comic books.

10. The next event for the year is scheduled to be held in New Delhi between December 7 and 9. It will be followed by one in Goregaon, Mumbai, on December 22 and 23.

Have you attended a Comic-Con? Were you there at this year’s edition in Bengaluru? Do you have a story to share? You can leave a comment here or tweet at us @deccanherald with your experience.