Some of Nairobi’s most dedicated sci-fi aficionados, comic book readers, and anime fans showed up and showed out this weekend for Naiccon, the city’s answer to the hugely popular San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC), which took place July 20-23.
“We couldn’t make it to SDCC, but we thought: Let’s try to build our own and push our own content, and have fun while we do it,” he said.
Imboywa also wanted to create a platform to celebrate and promote stories from the continent. He said that people from Egypt, Ethiopia, Uganda, South Africa, and Rwanda traveled to Kenya to promote their graphic novels and artwork at Naiccon this year, and that others from Nigeria, Zambia, and Zimbabwe also showed a keen interest in attending.
“Black Panther is coming out in February, and there’s a lot of interest in it because it’s different,” he said, referring to the upcoming addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and its almost all-black cast. “How much more interest would there be if it was homegrown stuff?”
“How many African mythological stories have you heard of, or folklore?” he added. “We have so much content in terms of Africa that we can dish out.”
Rebecca Kiarie, who’s on her third time at Naiccon, told BuzzFeed News that the convention provided creatives and gamers on the continent a unique space to express themselves.
“We’ve been TV watchers, we’ve seen other conventions, but we’ve never had one for ourselves,” she said. “And it’s been fun as hell.”
1. This stylish of interpretation of Scooby-Doo‘s Velma.
2. This adorable Minion.
Tamerra Griffin / BuzzFeed News
(Bob, specifically.)
3. This dynamic Daredevil and Tony Stark duo.
4. This Todd Ingram lookalike.
Tamerra Griffin / BuzzFeed News
(The vegan from Scott Pilgrim vs the World, for those who haven’t watched it lately.)