My Top 7 Reasons Why Comic Con Africa Rocked

I sit here in a surreal daze, reflecting on the awesomeness of the past weekend. As the curtains draw to a close on Comic Con Africa and the dust settles over Kyalami as the last of the die-hard fans make their long trek back home, I'm back in Cape Town and already feeling the post-Con blues setting in. I'm struggling to find the right words to put it all into context, given that I only spent a single day at the Con but to try to explain the sheer magnitude and force with which this event was planned, organized and executed was...well, to quote the good Doctor, Fantastic! 

Hats off to the organizers Reed Exhibitions Africa and ReedPOP who, in partnership with VS Gaming, brought Comic Con to our African Continent in a 3 day event showcasing the best in comic books, toys, video gaming, television, movies, sci-fi/ fantasy, anime and manga, tabletop gaming, cosplay and geek culture.

And more...so much, much, much more. I've listed my top 7 reasons why Comic Con Africa absolutely rocked. If you were there, I would love to hear from you. What made your Con? Voice your opinions in the comments section below. There aren't any prizes but you're all welcome for cup of tea (and yes, @Zaid, samosas as well).

1. The Journey

"Oh but it is witchcraft!"

Us South Africans with our braai wors and rugby know that with any road trip, the journey is just as important as the destination and so it was, from that very first announcement way back in February, we were more than ready for the road to Comic Con Africa. The news spread like veldfire and our inner geeks melted in anticipation. September was still far away but we are used to the 'lang pad' and of course, like any really good road trip, there's got to be 'padkos' - a few bites and snacks to add to the hype.
Our padkos of course came in the form of press release announcements from the official Comic Con Africa website that had us screaming with delight: Jason Momoa, Kevin Sussman, Travis Fimmel, Jenny Frison, Yaya Han and more. Then came the list of exhibitors which totally blew me away. An entire floor for tabletop and roleplaying games? It was like my dreams had come true: Comic Con plus Gen Con in one Con in South Africa? My inner geek exploded! It sounded too good to be true. Was this fake or real? Was this a con? Or was it a Con? Was this witchcraft?
Fueling the hype and keeping us going along the road was the creation of the Facebook group Friends of Africa Comic Con which, as I write this now, feels less like a group and more like a family. Here it was that we shared and voiced our excitement with posts, ticket-scam warnings, memes, pics and of course, sneak peeks of our cosplay as the anticipation mounted.

2. The Venue

"Nothing shocks me–I'm a scientist."

Okay so, despite what master Yoda says, size matters. Well, when it comes to Comic Book conventions that is. Cape Town had its own Fancon event earlier in May and, judging by the past decade, it has continuously evolved to be bigger and better each year. The lessons learnt from this evolution must have been passed on to the Comic Con Africa organizers because I really was not expecting it to be that big.
With 3 floors of indoor exhibition & artist areas, tournament and gaming arenas, cosplay areas, screening stages, larping and outdoor food truck venues I was totally blown away by the sheer magnitude and size of the event. Yet, despite the size, thousands and thousands of us geeks flew, swung, teleported and descended upon the Con in our hordes and thralls. Yeah, there was a lot of walking and I mean a loooot of walking. If you are one of those people that count their steps, you'd be in luck and hit the 10000k mark by day 2 easily. Yet, despite the masses and crowds, the venue was very well laid out with lots of entrances and exits and lots of open rest areas should your fear of crowds or zombies get the better of you. Also, I was really happy at the availability of lockers for us cosplayers who also had bags of loot to haul around.

3. The Cosplay

"With great power there must also come – great responsibility.

This being my first Con where I would be cosplaying as Spiderman for the entire day, I was, to be quite honest, a little overwhelmed and more than a bit anxious about whether or not I would actually be able to pull this off. Should I arrive in my Spidey suit or would there be changing facilities? And if I did choose to travel in my cosplay would I seem out of place on the Gautrain? Would it be prudent to ask peeps to take pics of me since these spidey-fingers make typing or operating a camera almost impossible? What if I needed to pee? Where would I store all my loot and stuff? Eep! Is my butt being stared at right now?

All anxiety aside, the cosplayers at Friends of Africa and Comic Con Africa Cosplay laid all my worries and fears to rest with useful advice, FAQs, tips and just such awesome helpfulness that left this Spidey with a sense of being in a really friendly neighborhood. And that was when I started to have loads of fun - like hanging around the Spiderman PS4 Gaming area and watching over player's shoulders as they swung through New York City, blissfully unaware of the 'real' Spiderman standing next to them.

As for the actual Cosplayers, it was without a doubt, jaw-dropping, mind-boggling, eye-popping levels of absolute greatness. Really head on over here to check out some of the amazing pics but even those don't really do justice to the actual feeling of rubbing shoulders with some of the greatest cosplayers in Africa. You guys really put a lot of hard work into your costumes and art and it shows. Pity we never got to do that Spiderverse photo but hey, there's always next year!

4. The Guests & Panels

"Well, I mean she didn't look through me with soul-sucking ball-shriveling hatred and contempt. I like that in a woman."

Yeah, so Mamoa unfortunately cancelled and Anthony Mackie's Falcon was grounded due to bad weather (isn't the Quinjet equipped to handle storms?) but hey, at least we got loads of other guests such as Travis Fimmel and Kevin Sussman. I wasn't around for a lot of the panels and screenings but I moved across through panels from some of the local guests and a really awesome discussion by Rishal Hurbens on Artifical Intelligence. From the hype on social media and from chatting to peeps in general, there were a LOT of panels happening throughout the course of the weekend.

5. The Zaid

"Yeah, well. The Dude abides."

This list would be incomplete without mentioning The Zaid. Zaid Hassen Motala, the spokesperson for the Friends of Africa Comic Con group and well, spokesperson for all things awesome in general, kept us on our feet with interviews, news and advice. From his early 'Cosplay is not consent' videos to his almost hourly roundup of the hot and happenings around the Con, with his signature Zaid-style camera panning and shout-outs, the dude is a hero is his own right. Zaid kept it cool and entertaining, despite his constant battle with his arch enemy: The Stairs and even finding time to take selfies with his friends and a certain Spiderman :-)
Heck, the dude even had someone cosplaying him. Now, how's that for awesomeness. And and and...he tried to introduce Kevin Sussman to samosas!!! If there's a samosa reference in the last season of the Big Bang Theory I'm 'a lose my mind.

6. The Exhibitors, Artists and Food Trucks

"Gimme some sugar, baby."

This was where I went, to quote another uniquely South African phrase, 'bos'. With so many places to see and thing to buy, I was in a rut with where and when to start. But my compulsive nature has its advantages and after a few minutes of strategic planning over a refreshing mocktail and some some amazing mini donuts, I had my buying planned out:
I started in the artist alley where I picked up some awesome local artwork and comic books (Tech Noir you guys just psyched my inner cyberpunk!) Then I ran through to the 2nd floor exhibition where all my boardgaming peeps were at, bumping into some familiar faces like my friends from Pandemonium Games. Next it was the 1st floor where all the big video game exhibits were taking place and then lastly down to the ground floor where every second stall just seemed to pull me in until I refused to leave without having bought something.

The Gamatek Funko Pop store was one of the busiest as their Comic Con exclusives flew off the shelves. I managed to secure a King Deadpool as well as a few others to add to my slowly growing collection. Then there were a few stores selling some really schweet t-shirts. I got my hands on a Back to the Future Delorean T for a really good price. I also ran by the Hot Wheels stall and got a James Bond Lotus Esperit for my Bond-fan Dad and also got my greedy paws on an actual Hot Wheels Back to the Future 2 Delorean! Yes, yes...I'm a bit of a BTTF fan I know. I also got some comics (heya Readers Den!), some more Funkos (I found the LAST Iron Spider muahahahaha), some more comics, some Lego and even some more comic books....including an Amazing Spiderman #600 variant cover!
Well, I did say 'bos'  didn't I?

My only real gripe around the Food trucks was the lack of halal foods. Apart from sweet treats (and these were great), there were no trucks catering halal and we had to Uber out and back to grab some lunch which was time I could have saved on attending some more panels.


7. The Fans

"Goonies never say die!"

If Toto could bless the rains down in Africa then they also blessed the geek, you wonderful, anthropomorphic force-wielding , time-bending, phaser-blasting, nun-chuck spinning, dice-throwing, comic-book consuming rag-tag bunch of brilliant humanoids. The Comic Con Africa would not have reached its level of success were it not for all of the fans. And aren't you all just the nicest group of people on this side of the 'verse. From the polite manner in which you ask to take a photo, to constantly apologizing for accidentally knocking into me with your coffee (don't worry, no spillage cos of my spidey-sense of course), to useful hints and answers and all just being so darn nice, we showed that South Africa can indeed host an international event like a Comic Con with respect, dignity and style. We're a diverse people of many nations and many cultures. But we're all one tribe. Wakanda (and Comic Con Africa) forever.