How Jatin Varma gives comics a new lease of life with Comic Con

Start a conversation with Jatin Varma and he will instantly talk about his love for comics. Part of his growing up days, Varma says his love for comics never diminished. After completing his graduation in Economics in the US, Varma returned to the country in early 2007 and managed to convince his father to give a small seed fund to start his own company.

His interest, however, was not on economics, but on the media and publishing industry. Varma's first tryst with entrepreneurship came when he started publishing magazines and comics. Started with a seed capital of about Rs. 5 lakh, Varma picked up other stuff on the side like doing some content writing for various publications to sustain his business.

A chance meeting with someone from Star India in 2009 paved way for Varma pitching various ideas for television shows on Channel V. Varma ended up producing shows like Dare to Date and Love Net. "At the end of the day we were creating shows, but we did not own it, Channel V owned it and we were merely a cog in the wheel. If not us, they could do it with any other vendor out there. Therefore, my aim was always to own whatever you do, which is fine with publishing, but it is tiny business which did not give us enough money to sustain," says Varma.

As Varma was publishing comic books, he was in touch with many writers, artists and people who were in this business. "Around the same time we were contemplating on the chances of doing a Comic Con in India. We had some basic experience of doing an event in the form of a spoof award called Golden Kela Awards," said Varma.

Varma and his team worked out the details and by the end of 2010 they had drawn up a budget on getting the show on the road. The first Comic Con was held in Delhi in 2011 as Varma was able to convince enough publishers to be a part of it. "The cost for the first show was about Rs. 8.5 lakh and was fairly successful in recouping it. We were not able to get enough profit, but it was good for me. Honestly, we did not start Comic Con thinking it will grow into a national event for us," says Varma.

Comic timing

Varma has always been a big fan of comics and the idea behind organizing one in India was based on some sound economics. "It is very expensive to go to a Comic Con in the US. If we go to San Diego for a Comic Con, the cost associated would be the same as organizing an event here," says Varma.

Varma was also enthused by the fact that no one in the country has thought of the concept and would have the first mover advantage if he could pull it off. "I wanted to seize the chance before anyone else could think about it. I knew for a fact that not everyone saw a great opportunity in it at that point of time. Even I did not imagine that five years later, this would be my core business," says Varma.

While he had an idea what a comic con should be, based on what he had seen or read, no one in his team had been to one. "We went about thinking who we want at the event, our expenses, how much to charge the exhibitors, how many people come and then structure ourselves around it," says Varma.

The idea was to keep it simple where writers and publishers get their space to sell their merchandise and promote. Interesting sessions and panel discussions were created to draw crowds. "It was not easy convincing people as nothing like that has been done earlier. They were not sure if people would come for it and we chose Delhi Haat as the venue so that regular visitors would also find their way to the venue," says Varma. About 25 exhibitors took part in the first year with a total gross area of not more than 10,000 sq ft.

Surprise reception

"We were pleasantly surprised by the number of people that showed up. The fact that not only there were visitors, but there were sales for the publishers and the exhibitionist. It went off so well that we soon started contemplating on making it an annual event. On the monetary front it was not a bad deal for us and the reception was good," says Varma. The same year Comic Con spread its wings to Mumbai.

"We kept improving ourselves with each show. I do not come from an exhibition background or an event management background. I was purely looking at the economics and that the content should be fun and we should be trying to introduce new elements," says Varma.

By second year Comic Con had spread to Bangalore and by the third year to Hyderabad. "This year we have not added a show because we need to consolidate ourselves," says Varma. By the third year the event also started charging entry tickets, which are at about Rs. 300 rupees a day.

With the ticketing, Comic Con sees on an average about 30 - 35 thousand visitors each show across three days. "I have a feeling like we are just like at the tip of an iceberg where 30,000- 40,000 people in a city like Delhi is nothing," says Varma. Depending on the city, there are now about 200 - 150 exhibitors for each event and size of the event has spread to about 60,000 square feet.

Comic Con now sees active participation from international giants like Disney. "Disney spends time with us and they are building a Star Wars zone in Comic Cons. It is not on the same level as the other international shows, but I think we are getting there. If you want to connect with the audience, introduce them to something new, Comic Con is the best place to be in," says Varma.