The fourth-ever Comic Con Africa is done and literally dusted after a dry and windy final day. For the second year in a row, following a two-year pandemic-forced hiatus, the pop culture celebration was back in physical event form, taking place at the Joburg Expo Centre (Nasrec) in Johannesburg over the Heritage Day long weekend – 22 to 25 September.

The fact that CCA 2023 returned to the same venue as in 2022 is important because it allowed its organisers (Mogull Media, using the Comic Con Africa name under licence from Reed Exhibitions) to implement feedback with a stable baseline. Before its 2021 return, Comic Con Africa had hopped around the city, debuting at the Kyalami Convention Centre in 2018, before jumping to Gallagher Convention Centre the following year. Every relocation meant a restart to looking at floorplans and other show logistics, such as parking, as well as food and beverage accessibility.

In prior years, there often seemed to be a trade-off. You iron out one wrinkle and find another elsewhere. Multi-kilometre treks from the parking areas at Kyalami were replaced with the limited, exclusively in-house catering of Gallagher. And last year, the first at the Joburg Expo Centre, the Saturday of the four-day event was crushingly uncomfortable, with hour-long queues for food and drink under Gauteng’s parching September sun.

Kudos to the Comic Con Africa team for listening and acting on feedback. CCA 2023 featured a new layout, widened aisles to 5 metres, far more beverage stands indoors and out, and limited tickets for the Saturday – traditionally, the con’s most popular day. Of course, like any South African municipal worker implementing repairs, fixes in one area did lead to pressure elsewhere.

Oddly, the convention’s sold out Sunday became the new Saturday for its sense of overwhelming busyness. And while you never had to wait more than 10 minutes for food, and 2 minutes for refreshment (unless you were deeply committed to trying the event’s limited edition KFC menu), some vendors were charging R30 for a 500ml buddy Coke – which felt like borderline price gouging.

Overall, it was far more good than bad, though. Gaming received its own standalone hall this year, and with it considerable more breathing room, while Artist Alley (along with the celebrity photo and autograph opportunities) inherited the former’s 2022 space. Tabletop gaming also levelled up in 2023 to receive a much bigger area for its regional board and card game championships, and the ever-popular demos.

The new and expanded CCA layout created a pleasing logic as to where to find things at the vast event. It was also necessary, as while the Comic Con Africa app was useful for keeping on top of the show programme, both it and the print map were pretty much useless if you were looking for something specific that wasn’t a stage, zone or tentpole exhibitor.

Perhaps the only offering that suffered with the new 2023 arrangement was the KidsCon Zone, which now found its child-friendly offerings scattered across the show, including outdoors. There were paddleboats on the Nasrec pools though, simulating next year’s Comic Con Cruise at a nano level.

In a related vein, comic conventions and alcohol are not an ideal mix. At the first CCAs, there were instances of drunk attendees getting too handsy with cosplayers and their props. In the lead up to CCA 2023, the emphasis on alcohol brands Hunters and Pushkin Vodka as primary sponsors was concerning, but the reality turned out to be different. These promotional areas were well demarcated, and attendees overall were exuberant but also well-behaved.

Much like a superhero origin story, Comic Con Africa is finding its place and stride. Most pleasing to see is how the show is striking a balance between more capitalist aspirations and community passion. As at Comic Con Cape Town, a great deal of the stage presentations – particularly in CCA’s Pop Culture Content Zone – are fan driven, covering everything from cosplay crafting and miniatures painting techniques to a look at streaming innovations, collecting as a hobby, and even Star Trek fan meet-ups.

These spaces are filling a role that South Africa’s smaller geeky and pop culture events used to, before many were killed off by COVID, or lost in the shadow of the headline-grabbing Comic Con Africa brand. For the record, some of these shows and their organisers, such as Cape Town’s FanCon (arguably South Africa’s purest comics industry convention), are now working in partnership with Comic Con Africa, combining like mecha to create a single mega form.

Comic Con Africa 2023 was so packed with things to do that you really had to keep an eye on the schedule, or miss out. Torchwood and Arrow’s John Barrowman made a single hour-long stage appearance on the Saturday, delivering his presentation and answering fan questions in high heels and a sequined LGBT+ TARDIS dress. This when he wasn’t dragging people from Pretoria, regaling people with an account of his Woolies shopping expedition, and being taught “Voetsek” by the delighted audience.

Somewhat tamer, but no less enjoyable, The Woman King star, South Africa’s own Thuso Mbedu made a surprise appearance on Sunday afternoon to talk about her comics writing debut and collaboration with Stranger Comics’ founder Sebastian A. Jones on African fantasy series Niobe. Fans got to follow anime enthusiast Mbedu down to Artist Alley and be part of her first-ever book signing.

And that’s the magic of Comic Con Africa. It’s hard not to find yourself in a deflated state of reverse culture shock once it’s all over because, at its best, it allows attendees to escape gloomy reality and lose themselves for a few days in a bubble universe that is full of unexpected experiences, shared fan passion, and the constant flow of endorphins that come from upbeat interactions with likeminded people.

As a final note, you can find our Comic Con Africa 2023 Cosplay Showcase here.