Last month, author and illustrator Luke Molver (Shaka Rising) headed to Cape Town for FanCon, an annual comic and pop-culture festival. He shared his thoughts about the event (and some pretty great pictures) over at Durban Is Yours:
Organized by Readers’ Den Comic Shop and now in its third year, the annual comic and pop-culture festival was held in Cape Town from 28th – 29th April, to its largest attendance yet. Local and national comic creators, cosplayers, artists and fans engaged with international guests in a big ol’ pop-culture hootenanny of superheroic grandeur.
Even in the most affectionate way, I hesitate to use the words ‘geek’ or ‘nerd’ to describe such events nowadays. Pop culture being so ubiquitous in our media and daily lives, these interests can hardly be described as ‘niche’ any longer… and events like FanCon show that these interests are alive and passionate in South Africa, in bright comic book colours and punch-out- the-page costumes.
The cosplay cruisin’ around the con ranged from amateur to professional, and there were some insanely imaginative and creative outfits paraded about. You’d be amazed what can be constructed outta some glue, a shoebox, a few toilet rolls and a broomstick, and I’ve got a heckuva lot of respect for the home-made effort put into some of those costumes. I sold comics to a Jedi while chatting to the Guardians of the Galaxy, and borrowed a light from Daenerys Targaryan as she shared a gwaai with ol’ Jonny Snow. Workshops from international professionals such as Riki Lecotey and Chris Donio, who worked on props for the new Avengers Infinity War movie, gave cosplay enthusiasts and casual visitors the opportunity to literally learn the tricks of the trade.
Read the rest here!
