Comic Con Is No Longer Just A Pilgrimage For Fans

It is a marketplace of attention, where legacy publishers, global franchises, and consumer brands meet to make the most of India's expanding fandom economy.

IMAGE: People dressed as Mario and Luigi at Delhi Comic Con 2025. All photographs: ANI Photo

A thin winter sun settled over the NSIC exhibition ground as the first wave of visitors drifted into Delhi Comic Con, which was on from December 5 to 7.

Amidst cosplayers stopping for photos and teenagers hauling oversized merch (merchandise, if you please) bags past comic stalls were branded pavilions, hoping to pull steady early queues.

Crunchyroll's bright orange arch sat opposite Maruti Suzuki's slick blue Arena pavilion, where around 15 to 20 people lingered at any point to pose with the showcase vehicle, the Victoris, or try the VR display.

Android's 'Panfest' zone saw similar footfall, while a gaming bay drew clusters of 10 to 12 players at a time.

The busiest corner was the PlayStation experience run by DT Zone, with close to 30 visitors gathered almost constantly.

Kinder Joy, a festival partner this year, set up a Gotham City-themed zone. Together, the installations made the floor look less like a traditional comic convention and more like a consumer-brand showcase built around fandom.

IMAGE: People dressed as comic characters at Delhi Comic Con 2025, here and below.

Launched in 2011 as a niche gathering for comic lovers, Comic Con India has grown into one of the country's largest pop-culture festivals.

Its rise mirrors global trends: The broader Comic Con pop-culture convention and fandom market -- spanning cosplay, merchandise, live events, and licensing -- was estimated at around $799 million in 2024, with analysts projecting that it could more than double over the next decade.

The global cosplay merchandise market alone runs into the low billions, underscoring how fandom has shifted from subculture to a mainstream consumer economy.

For brands across technology, fast-moving consumer goods, auto and entertainment, events like Comic Con now offer direct access to a high-intent youth demographic.

The evolution in Delhi also reflects how fan conventions worldwide are transforming into consumer ecosystems.

As fandom becomes a cultural currency for Gen Z (born between 1996 and 2010) and Gen Alpha (born after 2010), influencing what they buy, wear and identify with, Comic Con has become a marketplace where brands compete for relevance as much as creators compete for attention.

Visitors drift fluidly between comic stalls, gaming trials, merch aisles, and immersive brand worlds. In many ways, this is where the business of fandom now plays out most visibly.

It is also where entertainment companies are recalibrating how they participate. Even broadcasters who helped introduce anime to younger Indian audiences are shifting strategies.

Sony YAY! -- a major linear TV platform for anime -- did not take a booth this year, said Ambesh Tiwari, business head at the channel, who leads its larger anime strategy, noting that the brand has "sharpened focus" after years of building physical visibility. "We've reached a stage where visibility isn’t the goal -- impact is," Tiwari said.

For broadcasters like Sony YAY!, Comic Con now functions less as a promotional stop and more as a cultural barometer -- a place to track audience depth, demographic spread and how far Comic Con content travels online.

"It's not only the people inside the hall -- hundreds of thousands watch Comic Con content online," Tiwari said. "That's where its real influence lies."

A few rows from the large pavilions, Raj Comics -- a dominant name in India's homegrown superhero space -- sat noticeably quiet.

Its shelves were neatly arranged, staff ready, but only a handful of visitors stopped by. Yet for legacy publishers, the swelling presence of large corporate brands is not competition -- it is a lifeline.

"The Indian comic industry is not very large, and many publishers and creators still need a platform. Comic Con gives us that opportunity," said Sanjay Gupta, co-founder and studio head at Raj Comics.

He stressed that the participation of major brands actually boosts the comics ecosystem.

"If these big brands weren't here, the crowd wouldn't be here either. A purely comic-led event wouldn't draw this many people. The mix of interests is what pulls audiences in -- and that helps us reach new readers."

Gupta has also watched the creator base grow alongside the event.

"When Comic Con started, there were only a limited number of publishers. Today, there are many more," he said. And for creators, meeting readers in person remains irreplaceable: "When they meet readers and receive appreciation, their motivation increases manifold."

Mainstream brands see a different opportunity. At the Maruti showcase, staff described Comic Con as part of a push to reshape how younger audiences perceive the brand.

"Events like Comic Con are where Gen Z shows up," said Vikrant, who managed the pavilion (he gave only his first name). "If we want to change perceptions, we have to be present where Gen Z is."

FMCG brands echoed that logic. Zoher Kapuswala, marketing head at Ferrero India Subcontinent, said Kinder Joy was sharpening its focus on "older kids" who are drawn to global fandoms like Harry Potter, DC, and Marvel.

"As children grow older, the regular toys stop being relevant. We realised we could tap into that fandom with toys designed for them," Kapuswala said.

The Gotham City installation was built with digital spillover in mind. "The on-ground experience sparks the online buzz."

Gaming brands stressed the value of physical interaction. "Comic Con has the perfect target audience for us -- students and young people already into gaming," said Karan Oberoi, head of esports at Aftermath Ventures.

Digital ads, he said, cannot replicate hands-on trials. "Here they can immediately figure out whether a device suits their needs."

Broadcasters see another facet: advertiser education. "Many advertisers don't realise the intensity of anime fandom until they see it firsthand," Tiwari said. "Events like this help them understand the emotion behind it.'

He also noted that while streaming platforms have expanded anime access, linear TV viewership for anime has grown among 15 to 35 year olds.

"The idea that anime lives only on streaming is a myth," he said, calling Sony YAY! the "first touchpoint" for many young anime viewers before they explore other platforms.

Visitors, meanwhile, arrived with different motivations. "We're really into comics and anime... there are so many figures and cosplay props," said Tanisha.

Prachi came for vintage Indian comics; Divya picked up classics for her husband; and Medhavi browsed anime merch (they all gave only their first names).

Taken together, the patterns point to a wider shift. Comic Con is no longer just a pilgrimage for fans.

It is a marketplace of attention, where legacy publishers, global franchises, and consumer brands meet to make the most of India's expanding fandom economy. And for broadcasters like Sony YAY!, it is less an arena for booth-based promotions and more a lens into youth culture -- a way to track online spillover, understand fandom intensity and decide where differentiation, not duplication, makes strategic sense.

"There's no point copying what already exists," Tiwari said. "Comic Con already has scale."