From suits to superheroes: Comic Con 2024 kicks off in Hyderabad with diverse crowd

Comic Con Hyderabad 2024 featured new comic book releases, cosplay, stand-up comedy, and esports competitions for fans.

The eighth edition of the pop culture extravaganza Comic Con started with Hyderabad in 2024 as a three-day fest from November 15 to 17 at HITEX Exhibition Center.

Fans flocked to The Creator’s Cut, which featured exciting comic book debuts by Holy Cow Entertainment, Bullseye Press, and Savio Mascarenhas, alongside the launch of The Adventures of Kikiboo. Enthusiasts were treated to a day packed with exclusive experience zones such as The Yamaha Zone, Maruti Suzuki Arena and Ultimate Gaming Experience by Dreamhack.

As the gates opened at 11 a.m., the place was soon crawling with colourful pop culture characters with a surprising number of adult cosplayers outnumbering the younger attendees.

Pavan Kumar Reddy, 42, a corporate lawyer and businessman from Hyderabad, was unrecognisable as an extraterrestrial predator from the movie The Predator. “I have been cosplaying for half a decade and the craze is so much that we started a store which rents out costumes,” he said.

Pavan was among many individuals who otherwise work in serious IT jobs and handling ventures but trade their coats for capes during the one weekend of Comic Con every year.

A model from Bengaluru cosplaying Misty from Pokemon, Kanak said that though she was here at work and was unaware of many pop culture figures, it was fun to see the characters walking in real life and just guessing their names.

Aravind, 32, who claimed he is more popularly known as ‘cosdemon’, cosplays yearly. “I love portraying new characters. It’s just the fun of making costumes yourself and dressing up for the fans,” he said. He cosplayed as Strife, a game character.