With the sun setting this past Sunday, 29 September, on Comic Con Africa 2024 in Johannesburg, the regional pop culture celebration reached a milestone: five years of bringing geeky types, gamers, cosplayers and families closer to international celebrities, and each other.
Comic Con Africa has been around for longer than five years, of course. The inaugural event took place at Kyalami in 2018 (followed by Gallagher Estate in 2019), but the pandemic dunked the show in Carbonite for two years. Since 2022, CCA has had a home at Johannesburg Expo Centre, AKA Nasrec, which was deemed the only place large enough in the city to host it.
Over the past three years, organisers Mogull Media, under licence from Reed Exhibitions (RX), have been fine-tuning the comic con formula, listening to feedback and using on-the-day learnings. As an example, this year CAA didn’t take place over the Heritage Day weekend for the first time. The four-day event ran 26 – 29 September instead, capitalising on the period being post-payday for a lot of people, as well as set during the school holidays.
Other notable changes this year included the dropping of Street Con and Streamer Con from the attractions list, while bumping Artists Alley – consisting of local and international comic creators, artists and crafters – back up to the primary Pop Culture Hall after shifting to the smaller Hall 7 in 2023. In the lead-up to the event, there were concerns that the move would make the main hall too crowded, but the reality was a pleasant surprise as the con delivered its biggest ever Artists Alley. Booths were spaced so far apart that people could navigate the rows easily even if potential shoppers were standing two deep in front of every vendor.
That was less the case for massively popular Otaku Town, an Asian-themed zone which straddled a major thoroughfare with a stage and Korean market, and was frequently crammed.
Comic Con Africa 2024 didn’t quite have the diverse star power draw of 2023’s event, which brought Star Wars alumnus Anthony Daniels, Doctor Who and the Arrowverse’s John Barrowman, Pokémon voice artist Veronica Taylor and YouTubers The Anime Man and Aki Dearest to South Africa. Barring the cancellation of Dan Fogler, this year’s guests included actors Joe Manganiello, Lou Ferrigno and Brenton Thwaites, plus bestselling fantasy author Samantha Shannon. If you wanted to see any of these celebrities on the mainstage, though, you needed to be at the con early, as their 30-minute sessions typically took place before 11:30, after which they disappeared to do autograph signings and photos with fans.
While CCA 2024 was a little light on attention-grabbing guests and stage content, the show made up for it in experiential offerings. Con regulars could expect staples like board games and tabletop roleplaying, esports and casual gaming challenges, along with LEGO building, Minecraft and skate lessons at KidsCon. However, this year’s show went beyond the usual, going so far as to rename its Gaming Hall the Experience Hall instead.
In 2024, CCA attendees could try out WWII-themed airsoft, build Gunpla models, and watch new movies at Nu Metro’s pop-up cinema – all for free. In addition, congoers were happy to stand in line for an hour or more to take part in a Squid Game challenge, and walk the Witches’ Road as part of a vast Agatha All Along experience that included tarot readings, optical illusions and plasma globes. People would also queue up to shop Funko Pops and, even with a new Uber Eats ordering system in place, get their limited edition KFC. With a packed programme inside and wind-blasted outside, Comic Con Africa 2024 was a truly mammoth show, impossible to fully explore in a single day.
Pop culture often squeezes a twist into the story, and that happened with CCA this year too. Aware of road closures relating to a football match at FNB stadium, the show’s organisers announced that the con would stay open an extra hour, to 7pm, on the sold-out Saturday. That was the plan, at least, until with less than 80 minutes’ notice, the Johannesburg Police Department issued a notice for everyone – fans and exhibitors – to leave by 5pm for their own “safety and security.” The abrupt directive left people scrambling, but it was a speed bump in an otherwise smooth-flowing process, where even traffic direction on the busiest days is now well managed and moving.
Five years in, Comic Con Africa may not be shiny and new as a concept anymore, but it’s polished, confident in its staging and always evolving its attractions.
As for what’s next, during the closing hours of this year’s CAA, the date was announced for the show’s sister event, the third-ever Comic Con Cape Town: 1 – 4 May 2025.
