The first Budapest Comic Con might be the start of something great – a place, where pop culture fanatics of all ages can have a great time together.
With the uprising of superhero movies, comic books gained extreme popularity not just in the US, but all around the globe. Hungarian comic book culture might not be that significant, but it’s definitely there, steadily growing. Therefore, the idea of a Comic Con in Budapest was welcomed by hardcore geeks and beginner comic enthusiast alike, and after two years of pandemic related postponing, the day(s) finally arrived – on June 11-12, HUNGEXPO opened his gates of pop culture heaven, with much to see and even more to do inside.
The event filled three buildings with several stages, exhibitions and vendor booths, that really came alive when the cosplayers and the visitors arrived. Budapest’s first Comic Con was much more versatile and eventful than an average Anime Con, even though Japanese culture still played a huge part in its success. The well-known gaming event PlayIT was held in the same location, and it really mixed great with films and anime culture. It was impossible to take a step without seeing an Imperial trooper, an anime character or an iconic videogame protagonist.
A whole building was dedicated to vendors, who sold countless souvenirs, figurines and other collectable items from popular movies, shows and games, from the usual Funko POP!s to expensive and rare statuettes. Comic book stands were full of books from Marvel, DC and other studios and publishers, and those who were lucky – or ready to take trivia quiz – could easily take home some free release of Spiderman, Batman and other heroes/villains.
Cosplay competitions and gaming shows made the halls loud, not to mention the many unmissable presentations, roundtables and star appearances. Tamás Boldizsár Tóth, translator of the Harry Potter series (both the books and movies) and cutting-edge DC films talked about the interesting job of a translator, comic book artist David Lloyd was asked about his works beside the legendary “V for Vendetta”, and DIGIC Pictures, the Hungarian 3D animation studio held an interesting and detailed presentation on how their Emmy-nominated episode of Netflix’s Love, Death + Robots, “Secret War” was made.
Among the featured guests starts, there was Jack Gleeson, who played Joffrey in “Game of Thrones”, John Rhys-Davies, actor of Gimli from the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, and Christopher Lambert, star of the Highlander movies, who recalled how difficult it was to prepare for the first film back in the 80’s, having to endure 9-hour training sessions, wielding steel swords.
Challenging quizzes, amazing workshops and diverse food varieties are just three more of those things that made the first Budapest Comic Con so great for everyone. Considering the organization, the event had to go through during the pandemic, it’s safe to say that we can expect something even bigger next year – we are surely excited to see what the organizers come up with.
