Celebrating 10 years of bringing comic, cosplay, fangroups and cinematic enthusiasts together, Bendi-Con returns to Red Energy Arena this August.
Bendigo’s annual comic book convention, Bendi-Con returns for 2024, celebrating a huge 10 years of putting pop culture at the front. Taking place on Sunday 25 August, from 10am at Red Energy Arena in Bendigo, Bendi-Con is a huge day for the fans, run by the fans.
Bendi-Con Details
When: Sunday 25 August 2024, 10am – 4pm
Where: Red Energy Arena, Bendigo, 91 Inglis Street, Bendigo
Tickets: Children: $6.10, Adult $16.30, Family (2 Adults, 2 Kids) $40.80, Family (2 Adults, 4 Kids) $51.50. Purchase here.
Stay up to date with what’s happening in and around the region here.
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Existing to celebrate pop culture in Central Victoria, Bendi-Con has become a pivotal part of the fan community’s calendar, putting comics back into comic conventions whilst raising funds for a worthy cause, The Peter Mac Foundation.
For the tenth anniversary, the convention is dialling the experience up to 11 with 170 tables of merch to rummage through, the popular Artists Alley making a comeback and fangroups a-plenty.
This year Bendi-Con proudly invites Tim McEwen, Bruce Mutard, Dillion Naylor and Darren Close into Artists Alley. Greener Pastures comic co-creator, educator, storyboard artist, and illustrator, Tim McEwen, returns to the event. As a veteran to Australian comic books McEwen is not only a creator but a celebrator, having established the Comics Arts Awards of Australia. McEwen is joined by graphic novelist and comic artist Bruce Mutard. Mutard has been producing comics for 15 years, along with being the co-founder of Comics Quarterly, a journal that covers Australian comics. His work has also appeared for campaigns run by 3RRR, Hitz FM, Independent Monthly, Bizarre Times and InPRESS.
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Dillion Naylor will also check-in to the Artists Alley. K-Zone kids will remember Naylors most famous work as an Australian cartoonist, illustrator and toy designer, with his comic strip Batrisha the Vampire Girl having a six year run in the magazine. Darren Close is the forth confirmed artist hanging out at the Bendi-Con Artists Alley. Darren Close is an Australian comics creator. Whilst primarily self-published, Close is the man behind Killeroo and the GANGWARS anthology. Close is the founder of OzComics, a website that became a Facebook weekly drawing competition. The website most famously held an auction to raise funds to help Gary Friedrich, co-creator of the supernatural motorcyclist, Ghost Rider, after he was countersued by publisher Marvel when he tried to regain rights to the character.
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In addition to the artist discussions and meet and greets, Bendi-Con will be a spectacular for fangroups and collectors. The Bendigo Whovians Doctor Who fangroup always put on a big display and the 501st Star Wars group will be there with screen accurate costuming. Star Walking, the longest running Star Wars fanclub in the World will be back. Pop Toys, based in Moorabbin will be sponsoring a door prize, and selling a huge range of pop vinyls and action figures. There will be a Cosplay Contest for the best dressed attending Bendi-Con with prizes sponsored by Lumin’s Workshop and local comic shop, Good vs Evil.
It’s the event that keeps the comic community coming back. Bendi-Con has grown organically over the last decade, largely due to the incredible support from the local community and their desire to see the comics, the costumes and the pop culture that Bendi-Con brings, but also due to the events dedication to celebrating the craft of comics.
