A Girl was Pressured to Commit Suicide. Pardon us for Banning these Bullies and Harrassers.

The following cosplayers are banned from attending Lanka Comic Con, and any of our other events. We also won’t work with any other body that has anything to do with them:

• Kasun Maddumage aka Stefan Skywalker

• Chamini Nisansala Aka Rachel Nyx

• Christina Rameshi

• Sanadi De Silva

• Dilan Nimsara

• Chamadhi Athapuththu

Evidence is in the link below. Be cautioned: it is very disturbing reading. It is hard to believe that there are people like this in the world. But, there are. And this is what they do.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1DUO7l1ElxuI6uUIOqrOGy8UYsRGVtt5c?usp=sharing

This wasn't friendly teasing or childish drama. They went out of their way to bully, shame, and isolate others.

Let us be perfectly clear. There is no gray area here. This was cruel, intentional abuse, and they knew exactly what they were doing.

We are keeping this post and Drive link of evidence up, to assist those gathering evidence for prosecution.

Additional Evidence:

https://web.facebook.com/100080067172099/posts/pfbid0WqtNStr3J27M9YNvFhHyrCaEyypdKfPjVJBSp7wvt9qNoLgYQj2XfrySrskPQkpGl/?app=fbl&_rdc=1&_rdr#

https://web.facebook.com/100080067172099/posts/pfbid02L8UpFj9MHCqMtKwmEovZnNLmJKoFsyAvkzrWmvGs6wVaeUnvPKATdZvf9Rgosp2Hl/?app=fbl&_rdc=1&_rdr#

https://web.facebook.com/100080067172099/posts/pfbid02ZqrhDksxbUR5vAKjyxVJaAgzAv4tBwKMo1nmXCVJXYSFbEE16xTijZbZs4A4zarnl/?app=fbl&_rdc=1&_rdr#

https://web.facebook.com/100080067172099/posts/pfbid02tfxZGSEEHpbLuHnbBiK76KnTijbQqAG5Bh4Mrrcer4R6PPXTwF44pJwpYgQp2UXjl/?_rdc=1&_rdr#

Lanka Comic Con’s Ethical Position in this Matter

Lanka Comic Con is a community built on inclusivity, creativity, and mutual respect. Over the years, we have worked tirelessly to nurture a safe, vibrant space for geeks of all forms and artists at various levels of expression. Harassment and toxic rhetoric—whether online or offline—are in direct opposition to everything we stand for.

We take a zero-tolerance stance on all forms of harassment. When individuals engage in behavior that endangers the mental health or physical safety, which destroys the dignity of self, they are not just violating community guidelines—they are breaking the fundamental unity that holds our space together.

The bans detailed in this article result from serious and substantiated behavior that has caused real harm. Even though it is a circumstance that has happened outside our spaces, we do not take such actions lightly. We would like to omit such influences from coming into our safe spaces.

Our goal is not just to protect the present well-being of our community but also to ensure that the next generation that inherits a space is kinder and more resilient.

We urge other brands and partners to join us in upholding these standards for the good of our collective future. We hope other events of parallel interest can also join this effort.

If you or someone you know has been affected by harassment in this space, please know that you are not alone. We stand with survivors, and we will always choose safety over silence.

Sinhala Version: Lanka Comic Con Statement on Harassment and Bullying in the Cosplay Community

Cosplay කාණ්ඩය අතරේ මේ දවස්වල සිද්ධ වෙන දේ ගැන ලංකා කොමික් කොන් අපිට තියෙන්නේ ඇත්තටම කණගාටුවක්.

කොහොම බැලුවත් Geeksලා වුන අපි ගොඩක් අවස්ථාවල පිරිසක් අතරේ තනිවුන කොටසක්. අපි කැමති, අගය කරපු දේවල් ගොඩක් (Comics, movies, TV Shows, Games, art, anime, collectors) ගැන අනිත් අය ගොඩක් වෙලාවට අපි දිහා බැලුවේ සමච්චල් විදියට.  

එහෙම අපිව සමච්චලයට ලක් කරපු අයව හැම වේලාවකම අපි අගය කරපු දේවල් ගැන හරියට හොයලා බලන්නේවත් නැන්තුව, ඒ ගැන කිසි විශ්වාසයක්වත් නැති, අළුත් විධියට දෙවල් දකින්න උත්සාහයක් දෙන්න අකමැති වුන අය.

ලංකා කොමික් කොන් එකේ අපිට තිබ්බ ලොකුම අභියෝගය තමයි අපි අගය කරන දේවල් අපි හිතුවාට වඩා ඉක්මනට සමාජය අතරට ගිය එක. එකෙන් වෙච්ච හොඳම දේ මේ සමූහය ගොඩාක් දුරට වර්ධනය වුන එක. ඒ වගේම අපි අගය කරපු දේ ගොඩක් අය අතරේ බෙදාගන්න ලැබිච්ච එක තුලින් අපිට ආදරෙන් ඉන්න අයට අපිව හරියට තෙරුම් ගන්න ලැබුනු එක ගැනත් ලංකා කොමික් කොන් එකේ අපිට තියෙන්නේ විශාල සතුටක්.  

ඒ වුනාට අවාසනාවට ඉන්න සමහර කරදරකාරයන්ට තමන්ගේ හැටි පෙන්නන්නත් මේක ලේසි තැනක් වෙන්න ගත්තා. ඒකෙන් වුනේ අපි මහන්සියෙන් ගොඩනගපු දේවල් අස්සටත් රිංගන්න පටන් අරන් හැමෝටටම වදයක් වෙන්න පටන් ගත්ත ඒක.

එහෙම අයට අපි ඉඩ දෙන්නෙ නෑ. එහෙම අයට අපිට ඉඩ දෙන්නත් බෑ. ඒකට එහෙම අයට ඉඩ දෙන්නත් එපා.  

එයාලගේ බහුබූතවලට මෙහේ ඉඩක් නෑ. එයාගෙ විකාර වැඩ අපි පිලිගන්න ලෑස්තිත් නෑ. එයාලට ඔච්චර ඔය වගේ පහත් විදියට හැසිරෙන්න ආසනම් තියෙන්නේ මෙතන ඇරෙන්න වෙන ඕන තැනක ගිහින් හොල්මන් කරන එක විතරයි. අපි අවුරුදු දහයක් තිස්සෙ මේක කරගෙන ආවේ එයාලට ඕන විදියට අනිත් අයට කරදර කරන්න බාර දෙන්න හිතාගෙන නෙවෙයි.

ඒක නිසා,

එහෙම අයට අපි ඉඩ දෙන්නෙ නෑ. එහෙම අයට අපිට ඉඩ දෙන්නත් බෑ. ඒකට එහෙම අයට ඉඩ දෙන්නත් එපා.

Lanka Comic Con Statement on Harassment and Bullying in the Cosplay Community

It is with sadness that the Lanka Comic Con Trust watches what is happening in the cosplay community.

Geeks have always been the people who feel most alone in a crowded room. Our passions have always drawn toxic ridicule. Those targeting us are the ignorant, the insecure, and the unimaginative.

The challenge our community faces is that our passions have become mainstream. This has greatly grown our numbers. It has allowed us to share what we care about with much larger audiences. It allows our parents to not cringe so much when they see us on TV at Comic Con.

However, it has also made it easy for the bullies to find us again. They have invaded the spaces we made for ourselves.

So tell them no.

Tell them their hate is not welcome. We refuse their toxic culture. We wish them well, but please be elsewhere...

This is our space. We have built it over ten years.

Why would we give it up to them again?

Tell them no.

Lanka Comic Con 2023 Will Take Place on the 19th August

No other news than that right now. More updates to follow.

Cheers!

Comics and Speculative Fiction Columnist, Gautham Shenoy, is Coming to Lanka Comic Con

Gautham Shenoy will be attending Lanka Comic Con this year, to talk with local science fiction writers Yudhanjaya Wijeratne and Navin Weeraratne (that’s me!) about science fiction in South Asia.

Gautham Shenoy has been reading comics for as long as he can remember. A bibliophile, an SF fan, and an advertising & marketing professional, he is a columnist currently writing for Bangalore Mirror. He has also written for The Curious Reader about comics & Eartha Mag in the past. His column for FactorDaily, New Worlds Weekly, on speculative fiction, comics, etc. currently holds the record for being the longest-running weekly s/f column in India.

The Science Fiction in South Asia panel will be at 4pm on Sunday the 8th.

Tickets WILL Be on Sale at the Gate

We’ve been seeing rumors that tickets are sold out, and seen a lot of confusion online with people uncertain where to get tickets from.

As such, we are not expecting to sell out, and tickets will be on sale at the gate. We are announcing this early to give this news time to percolate and dispel the rumors.

We are very thankful to the considerable number of people who bought tickets in advance. You’ve helped take some of the pressure off security at the gate, and have improved the experience, and reduced delay, for yourselves and other convention-goers.

Big Bad Wolf is Bringing Augmented Reality Books

BBW is bringing Augmented Reality (AR) books to their sale this week. Specifically, the Hippo Magic line of AR children's books. Here’s how they work:

So I tried it out. You first need to download the Hippo Magic app which is on Google Play. You turn it on, hover over the book, and it will prompt you to download said book (so the files are client-side). And that's it! Any pages that have AR content will have a little logo at the bottom of them.

Big Bad Wolf are the only retailer for hippo magic AR books, in Asia. They will be at the SLECC this weekend. If you know a kid who loves reading - or ought to get into reading - pick one up for them and see what happens.

Also, bring a friend. I know we will. See you there!

Navin Weeraratne

Lanka Comic Con Postponed to December

Due to the current situation in the country we have decided to postpone Lanka Comic Con 2019 to December 6th and 7th.

We apologize for the inconvenience this may cause. However, postponing allows us to bring in stronger security. It also gives us more time to assess the country’s situation and whether it poses a threat to the safety of the event.

For updates on Lanka Comic Con 2019, including when tickets go on sale (tickets will be limited this year for security reasons), please sign up for email updates. *

Thank you for your understanding.

Thilani Samarasinha, Principal Organizer

Lanka Comic Con respects your privacy. We will not sell your email address to a third party, for any reason.

Stan Lee Passes Away, at 95

Legendary comic book creator, writer, editor and the man behind many of Marvel Comics' staples, Stan Lee, has passed away at the age of 95.

A titan in the field of comics, Lee made his name in the early days of Marvel, co-creating characters like Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, Black Panther, the Incredible Hulk and more.

While Lee did work on his own, it was through his work with frequent collaborators like Steve Ditko, Jack Kirby and others that he was able to transform Marvel Comics from a small business, to one of the top two comic-books publishers in the world. and then later into a multimedia franchise.

Lee had a unique way of getting things done at Marvel: he would brainstorm a story with an artist, then write a synopsis. Once the artist drew the story panels, Lee would fill up the captions and word balloons and the process came to be known as the “The Marvel Method.”

Lee's fame and influence as the face and figurehead of Marvel, even in his 90's, remained considerable.

In recent years, he became this omnipresent pop culture icon, a smirking, charming, devil-may-care rogue, with a quip for every occasion and appearing in Marvel movies cameos, shown avoiding falling concrete, watering his lawn, delivering the mail, crashing a wedding, playing a security guard, etc.

It's hard to imagine Marvel without Stan Lee…but he will remain in our hearts, forever.

In fond remembrance…

Excelsior!

Lanka Comic Con presents, ‘A Geeky Hallow's Eve’

It’s finally here! The eve of Lanka Comic Con’s ‘A Geeky Hallows’ Eve’!

A fun, kid-friendly geeky celebration of Halloween from 3pm onwards at Geek HQ

Here’s a quick look at what’s happening:

3:00-6:00pm:

Board Games and Role-Playing Games (All Horror-themed)

6:00pm-7:00pm:

The Halloween Scavenger Hunt

A photographer will be present to capture your awesome, horror-themed costumes for the Red Dot Geek Halloween Costume Contest

8:00pm:

A special viewing of High School Junkies’ new horror short film, ‘The Summoning’, followed by a Q&A session with the cast and director.

Followed by a horror-classic…we’re keeping that one a surprise.

Come join us tomorrow at Geek HQ from 3pm onwards for a Geeky horror-fest that everyone can enjoy!