TNL Radio joins as Official Radio Partner

We're happy to have TNL Radio onboard!

We've had a soft place in our hearts for TNL (who in this town doesn't?). Last year they invited us on to the morning show, where many people first heard about Lanka Comic Con. This year, they're partners. 

They have a lot planned. In the lead up, expect interviews, featured songs, and a TNL Radio cosplay competition. At the event itself, they'll promote local musicians whose music has been influenced by Geek culture. Musicians who will perform!  

It's going to be a blast :) . 

Running Low on Vendor Spaces...

Credit: Geek.com

“At Sri Lanka’s first ComicCon held in November last year, MadFan Clothing had completely sold out ... in three hours.They had stocked up for the event with a modest 150 t-shirts and the response they had received was overwhelming.”

— Sunday Times

If you're thinking about selling at Lanka Comic Con, you should hustle. We're starting to run low on spaces on the vendors' floor. 

Here's a Sunday Times article on how well MadFan T-shirts did, at last year's event:

http://www.sundaytimes.lk/160131/magazine/madfan-t-shirts-bringing-illustration-and-designs-to-comic-and-cartoon-fans-180836.html

At (if I recall correctly), about 1,000 LKR on average per shirt, and 150 shirts, well you can do the math. Divide by 3, and that's how much a single vendor table made, per hour. 

““We didn’t even get a chance to set up the table.””

— Nimesh Niyomal, MadFan Clothing

Vendor Spaces at Lanka Comicon 2016 are: 
- 10,000 / LKR for a table
- 50,000 / LKR for a booth

Tables are 6 ft x 3 ft
Booths are 10 ft by 10 ft

If you're interested, drop us a mail at lankacomiccon@gmail.com . 

She Climbed Everest. Now She's Speaking at Lanka Comic Con.

Jayanthi Kuru-Utumpala, the first Sri Lankan to climb Mt. Everest.

At just before 5:00am on the 21st May, 2016, Jayanthi Kuru-Utumpala summited the world’s highest mountain – Mt Everest (29,029ft). Johann Peries who was also attempting to summit that day made it to an outstanding elevation of 27,559ft. This makes Jayanthi and Johann the two Sri Lankans who have achieved the highest altitudes in mountaineering, and they did so as a team.

“As a woman I am extremely proud and honored to be the first Sri Lankan to reach the summit – woman and girls can do anything if they are given the opportunity”

— Jayanthi Kuru-Utumpala, Superhero

“It was a dream come true to finally be able to stand on top of the world and wave the Sri Lankan flag,”  said Jayanthi. Johann added “To dream an impossible dream is comforting, but to live the dream is an achievement. Faith and trust in God made it a reality. This sums up my whole experience.”

The duo have worked towards this goal for many years. They have summited many peaks together, both in Sri Lanka and abroad, and trained intensively in the lead up to their departure to give themselves every chance of success. The left for Nepal in late March and spent close to 2 months climbing and acclimatizing to the altitude. International Mountain Guides was the company that they chose to partner with on this successful expedition. 

Jayanthi and Johann wish to thank their families, friends, and fellow Sri Lankans for the overwhelming amount of support and positive wishes that have been sent their way over the course of the expedition.

Jayanthi will be speaking at Lanka Comic Con on Saturday, August 20th, at 4pm (don't be late). 

Jayanthi Kuru-Utumpala and Johann Peries

How Lanka Comic Con became a thing

Lanka Comic Con started when someone hit cc instead of bcc (seriously, that's how it started). There are more details though.  

Anim8 is the Official Printing Partner for Lanka Comic Con 2016!

The Official Printing Partner for Lanka Comic Con 2016

We are very pleased to be working with Anim8, who are taking care of all our printing needs for Lanka Comic Con. They're pretty hard core: how hard core? 

On the very day we closed the agreement with them, we asked if we could get 100 souvenir badges printed, within 24 hours.

Limited ed Lanka Comic Con badges, by Anim8

And they delivered. 

The owner, Dinesh Rajawasan, is a pretty cool guy, and a Geek himself. An engineer who built his own electric car (he is going to upgrade it to Hydrogen fuel cells), he also makes Sauerkraut for fun. I'm not kidding.

Thank you Anim8 for being a Geek-friendly business and for supporting Lanka Comic Con!

Acer: Predator is the Principal Sponsor for Lanka Comic Con, 2016!

We are very pleased to announce that Acer: Predator is our Principal Sponsor. Look for their booth at Lanka Comic Con, where you can try out their Predator range of gaming laptops! 

 

Being Themselves - Nipunika Fernando

Nipunika is an aspiring designer in her gap year before university. She’s a member of many fandoms and has a penchant for becoming too attached to fictional characters.

“I began cosplaying because I loved the idea of being able to become a character you admire, and costume wise bringing my own ideas into play whilst keeping the character’s story and personality intact. Getting into character is always a lot of fun as well.”

“I usually wait for a character to come along that sparks my interest, and personally I prefer cosplaying villains. The actual costume is also important as I generally like to play around with it and incorporate my own designs into it in addition to keeping iconic elements.

My favourite cosplay materials are rexin, cloth and wire, however this varies on what props and accessories I need to make. Hardware shops always seem to have a few useful materials as well. The making period of my cosplays depend on how complicated the cosplay is and the time I have to complete it as I’ve found I can get the same amount of work done in a week as I can in a month.  Close deadlines really motivate me, even if it means I’ll be working on my cosplay till the hour before an event.! 

Really getting into character and meeting people that have a love for the character is an amazing experience. Cosplaying has taught me to be patient, manage my time better, and to always carry around extra tape, superglue and thread for myself or any other cosplayer in need.

I’ve cosplayed Raven, a Sith Lord, Princess Azula,  and punk Harley Quinn. So far Azula has been my favourite because it was the first time I constructed rexin armour and ensured each piece was secure and stayed in place for the most part. Some parts of my previous cosplays hadn’t been put together well and broke or didn’t sit well so this was an achievement for me. “

Being Themselves - Chathurinda Sumithraarachchi

Chathurinda is a 22 year old Undergraduate at the Faculty of Science, University of Colombo. In his free time he likes to draw, make cosplay props and make Videos for his YouTube channel Chathurinda 711. He admits to being mostly influenced by Batman and his life but also likes heroes who don’t have extraordinary abilities like Captain America, Green Arrow, Daredevil, Iron man and Nightwing. He is also a huge fan of history & arts and also loves the Assassin’s Creed series. 

“I’ve always cosplayed since I was a kid because I wanted to become the heroes I admire. I first got the opportunity to cosplay in public as green arrow at Sri Lanka’s first ever comic con in 2015.“

“Before I select a cosplay I take the time to research the source materials and the small details and figure out how I’m going to make the costumes and then begin the crafting. Sometimes I want my cosplay to look exactly like the source and sometimes I want to redesign the character completely. I mostly use corrugated cardboard for my cosplays and it takes me about 3 months to make a single character from scratch.”

Chathurinda feels that the best thing about cosplaying is that he gets to be the heroes he admires plus he gets to meet the people who like those characters as much as he does.”It can be really satisfying when months of hard work finally becomes a complete costume and I can say that I made everything by myself from scratch”.  

He’s cosplayed  as the Green Arrow, a Jedi, the Daredevil and Batman (Arkham Knight Version) at public events “out of them my Favorite is Batman because for me the best batman was in the game Batman Arkham Knight and I made everything to be accurate to the game as much as possible”.

Being Themselves - Sunera Thejan Senadheera

Sunera is a 25 year old graphic and 3D designerfrom Kiribathgoda. He’s a huge fan of Batman, Ironman, Wolverine and Daredevil.

“For me Cosplaying is all about getting to dress/be the characters I’ve always deamed of becoming- at least in appearance. Being able to pull off a good cosplay makes me feel proud and badass!”

"I decide on who to cosplay depending on the characters I love and whether they match my general appearance – since I’m trying to be as faithful as possible to the character.

"Sometimes it can take months to put together a cosplay outfit- since finding and sourcing/crafting the stuff can be difficult. At times I use stuff from the junkyard. Sometimes I order things online." 

"The best thing about cosplaying is that I actually get a chance to be the characters I love and also please others who love the same characters. Cosplay has taught me how to communicate better, how to develop my patience and how to work on time!

 "I’ve cosplayed 3 characters so far. Wolverine, Agent 47, and a Blade+Punisher mash-up. Of those I liked Agent 47 the best since that’s not only my favourite but it was also the cosplay by which most people got to know me. “

Here's the Lanka Comic Con 2016 Logo!

Created by Akila Weerasinghe. Akila is a 21 year old business studies graduate. His inspiration was to combine both Sri Lankan and Geek pop culture.