Lanka Comic Con or “LCC”, as it is fondly known by legions of Sri Lankan geeks, is Sri Lanka’s premier pop culture festival. 2020 marks five years and the sixth Lanka Comic Con to take place. Since its inception in 2015, LCC has grown to become a national-scale event attracting over 6,000 geeks, locally and regionally.
Covid-19 has transformed how the world interacts. This year, due to the pandemic and the restrictions that come with it, Lanka Comic Con 2020 has migrated to a virtual platform, Lanka Comic Con Online, in a move to take the LCC experience, core values of community, and simply being yourself directly to fans for them to enjoy from the safety of their own homes in this time of social distancing.
Lanka Comic Con Online is Asia’s first virtual comic con and is powered by pioneering Sri Lankan interactive media company Prodigi Interactive. Prodigi Interactive is a community of avid geeks and gamers who have collaborated with Lanka Comic on this innovative venture due to their passion for celebrating Sri Lankan geek culture. Prodigi Interactive specialises in interactive gamified platform development and are also the developers of Asia’s first AAA gaming experience Threta.
Lanka Comic Con Trust Head Trustee Thilani Samarasinha explained that 2020 has seen the rise of the virtual event and a global shift from physical to virtual. “With physical gatherings and conventions posing a threat to national health and safety, Lanka Comic Con Online provides a platform for the geek community to connect and celebrate geek and pop culture responsibly,” Samarasinha said, adding: “Lanka Comic Con Online will have most of the familiar features of the physical con, from live panels to spotlights on local geek creators and the first virtual geek marketplace.” 
The Lanka Comic Con Online platform powered by Prodigi Interactive will encompass a virtual event environment within which guests will be able to design (and keep) their own individual avatar to visit and interact with in the convention.
The virtual platform will allow guests to access different experience zones giving them a virtual experience akin to visiting a physical comic con.
Experience zones include a zone for live panels on topics like game development, creating comics, and making movies; a comics zone where fans can read cool online comics by local comic book artists and an interactive cosplay wall where fans can upload pictures of their cosplays for display; an anime and manga zone for anime fans to celebrate anime culture including Sri Lanka’s only ongoing Sinhala manga; and a creators’ zone where fans can get sneak peeks into new games being developed by local creators as well as trailers and previews of new local Indie films.
Local creators speaking about and showcasing their work at Lanka Comic Con Online include Prodigi Interactive with their first action-adventure, open world video game based on Sri Lankan mythology Threta; RAM Studios with the story behind Sri Lanka’s first multiplayer releases on Steam – Extraction Valley and Mahasona; the studio Game Forrest with their first-person, post-apocalyptic shooter Unbroken; FilmDragonn Productions with their award-winning short film “Say Something”; HH Editorium and Eight with Sri Lanka’s first stop-motion animated feature film “Mr. Flex”; and a showcase by High School Junkies, a team of promising Sri Lankan filmmakers who’ve been featured in film festivals at platforms like San Diego Comic Con and who have recently released Sri Lanka’s first action musical The Knight Out.
Lanka Comic Con Online will also feature an online marketplace for fans to connect with beloved geek business, old and new, and a virtual Artists’ Alley for fans to connect with Sri Lanka’s talented geek and pop culture artists.
Samarasinha shared that Lanka Comic Con Online will feature panels and work in English, Sinhala, and Tamil. “The message of inclusivity has been at the core of Lanka Comic Con since day one; our tagline has always been “Come Be Yourself” and it is our mission to create a safe space for the geek community to come together and grow.”
Lanka Comic Con Online is to take place from 23 to 25 October 2020 through the Lanka Comic Con Online virtual platform which is accessible through the Lanka Comic Con website www.lankacomiccon.lk. For updates and event schedules, join the Lanka Comic Con Online event page on Facebook or follow Lanka Comic Con on Instagram @lankacomiccon.
Lanka Comic Con Online is Asia’s first virtual comic con and is powered by pioneering Sri Lankan interactive media company Prodigi Interactive. Prodigi Interactive is a community of avid geeks and gamers who have collaborated with Lanka Comic on this innovative venture due to their passion for celebrating Sri Lankan geek culture. Prodigi Interactive specialises in interactive gamified platform development and are also the developers of Asia’s first AAA gaming experience Threta.
Lanka Comic Con Trust Head Trustee Thilani Samarasinha explained that 2020 has seen the rise of the virtual event and a global shift from physical to virtual. “With physical gatherings and conventions posing a threat to national health and safety, Lanka Comic Con Online provides a platform for the geek community to connect and celebrate geek and pop culture responsibly,” Samarasinha said, adding: “Lanka Comic Con Online will have most of the familiar features of the physical con, from live panels to spotlights on local geek creators and the first virtual geek marketplace.”
The Lanka Comic Con Online platform powered by Prodigi Interactive will encompass a virtual event environment within which guests will be able to design (and keep) their own individual avatar to visit and interact with in the convention.
The virtual platform will allow guests to access different experience zones giving them a virtual experience akin to visiting a physical comic con.
Experience zones include a zone for live panels on topics like game development, creating comics, and making movies; a comics zone where fans can read cool online comics by local comic book artists and an interactive cosplay wall where fans can upload pictures of their cosplays for display; an anime and manga zone for anime fans to celebrate anime culture including Sri Lanka’s only ongoing Sinhala manga; and a creators’ zone where fans can get sneak peeks into new games being developed by local creators as well as trailers and previews of new local Indie films.
Local creators speaking about and showcasing their work at Lanka Comic Con Online include Prodigi Interactive with their first action-adventure, open world video game based on Sri Lankan mythology Threta; RAM Studios with the story behind Sri Lanka’s first multiplayer releases on Steam – Extraction Valley and Mahasona; the studio Game Forrest with their first-person, post-apocalyptic shooter Unbroken; FilmDragonn Productions with their award-winning short film “Say Something”; HH Editorium and Eight with Sri Lanka’s first stop-motion animated feature film “Mr. Flex”; and a showcase by High School Junkies, a team of promising Sri Lankan filmmakers who’ve been featured in film festivals at platforms like San Diego Comic Con and who have recently released Sri Lanka’s first action musical The Knight Out.
Lanka Comic Con Online will also feature an online marketplace for fans to connect with beloved geek business, old and new, and a virtual Artists’ Alley for fans to connect with Sri Lanka’s talented geek and pop culture artists.
Samarasinha shared that Lanka Comic Con Online will feature panels and work in English, Sinhala, and Tamil. “The message of inclusivity has been at the core of Lanka Comic Con since day one; our tagline has always been “Come Be Yourself” and it is our mission to create a safe space for the geek community to come together and grow.”
Lanka Comic Con Online is to take place from 23 to 25 October 2020 through the Lanka Comic Con Online virtual platform which is accessible through the Lanka Comic Con website www.lankacomiccon.lk. For updates and event schedules, join the Lanka Comic Con Online event page on Facebook or follow Lanka Comic Con on Instagram @lankacomiccon.
By The Sunday Morning Web Desk