Bengaluru Comic Con: Meet the creators of War and Peas, Brown Paperbag Comics, Bakarmax and more

The creators of War and Peas, Brown Paperbag Comics, Bakarmax and more talk about the growth of the Indian webcomics scene as the stage is set for Bengaluru Comic Con

Akshara Ashok is excited. It has been over five years since she started Happy Fluff Comics, which talks about body positivity, sexual and mental health, among other serious and non-serious topics through an adorably goofy character. What began as an antidote to boredom in college has over 220 thousand followers on Instagram now. The page’s success has allowed Akshara to practise her passion. Her followers do not merely like, share, and comment on her Instagram posts, they also give her commissioned works and buy her merchandise. They mean a lot to her. She, hence, regularly interacts with them on her page. And for the first time, she is going to meet them in person at Bengaluru Comic Con. 

“I have never done this before. So, I am a little nervous,” she says.

Akshara apart, Bengaluru Comic Con, which is returning after a two-year pandemic-induced hiatus, will see artists such as Jonathan Kunz (co-creator of  War and Peas webcomic), Sailesh Gopalan (creator of Brown Paperbag webcomic), Sumit Kumar (creator of Bakarmax, an animation and comics studio), and publishers including Amar Chitra Katha, Raj Comics, River Comics, and more. The two-day event also includes an 80,000 square-foot gaming arena which will host multiple tournaments and interactions with celebrity gaming content creators. There are events for cosplayers. Attendees can also experience panels, workshops, and several performances over the two days.

The stars of the event, however, are comics. “We have a dedicated section at each show, where we invite creators and indie publishers each year as guests. We curate it each season to showcase upcoming talent. We aim to support the comic book community as much as possible and leverage our platform for fans to discover their work,” says Jatin Varma, the founder of Comic Con India.

The enthusiasm and engagement for comic-related things in Bengaluru, he adds, is arguably unmatched by any other Indian city. “There is a lot of curiosity for all things creative and a willingness to try something new, that I do not see anywhere else.”

Ever since the first Comic Con India 10 years ago, the comics scene has changed tremendously. The growth of social media platforms spawned a new breed of webcomic artists, who were largely absent around a decade ago.

Sumit, the creator of Bakarmax, was a part of the first Comic Con India. Comics in India, he reckons, were largely restricted to the print medium. “That is not the case anymore,” he says. “We see more and more webcomic artists these days. The growth has been gradual; not explosive.” Sumit, interestingly, began his career in print — interning with cartoonist Pran Kumar Sharma, the creator of the popular Chacha Chaudhary comics — before moving online with his webcomics.