FANS continued to descend on Take Off club on Friday as hundreds of young Saudi comic and film fans arrived at the venue in a variety of costumes. [caption id="attachment_120824" align="alignright" width="300"] Visitors take pictures for a man disguised as The Joker, during the Saudi ComicCon in Jeddah, Friday. — AP photos [/caption] The second day of the first ever Saudi ComicCon was filled with lovers of comic books, graphic novels, anime, video games and superhero movies. There were interactions with famous film celebrities such Charles Dance, Julian Glover, Giancarlo Esposito and Mads Mikkelsen. There were also many people competing for prizes in the cosplay categories, and some of the most popular costumes were Harley Quinn, The Joker, Spider-Man and Super Man. Walking around and dressed up as favorite character the Japanese Samuri, Tariq Al Gathlan, 24-year old said: "It's one of the best things that has happened in Saudi Arabia. You come here and you're just part of this incredible community. It's exciting to see so many like-minded people. It's inspiring." He looks at his costume as some in the audience noticed him. ‘You think that's crazy?' he asks. ‘My friend has wild costumes too" he said. Enthusiasts went all out with their weird and wonderful costumes, with some dressing up as various famous fictional characters for their Friday outings. The second day witnessed at the main theater, Next-Gen Development Pipeline for Games & Animated Movies Workshop, Giancarlo Panel, Mash'hour Gaming Panel and Saudi fans and local industry representatives were able to attend the True Gaming Awards, an annual event held to recognize and award developers from around the world for the best videogames of the year. On the opening evening, the stage of the event was graced by local and international superstars. Saudi actors Radwan Alreemi, Muhanad Bakhteet and Mohammed Makki took the stage and discussed their new Saudi superhero series, then Hisham Faqeh, a Saudi actor, and a number of Saudi directors and producers discussed the film industry in Saudi Arabia and ways to take it to the next level. Lastly, the stage embraced the international superstars, Charles Dance and Julian Glover, in a panel for the international hit TV series, Game of Thrones. Khairiyah Abu-Laban, a Saudi actress, told Saudi Gazette: "The organization of the event is amazing and it is unbelievable how it is going so far. The high number of attendees are finding new things with every step they take." She continued: "What is bringing people to this event is the variety of things it delivers. Videogames and anime enthusiasts, for example, can find everything that interests them. Also, the fans can finally meet their favorite actors only in this event." Adel Radwan, a Saudi actor, said: "Having ComicCon in Saudi Arabia in itself is a major step forward. We always hear about ComicCon in the United States, Europe and even Dubai and to have this massive event organized in Saudi Arabia is something to be proud of." He continued: "The popularity of ComicCon brought the people to the event. Now with most of Saudis are using social media, when they see such an event, they feel they should check it out. People are having a great time and that's what it's important." Charles Dance, an English actor who famously played the character Tywin Lannister in the international hit TV series, Game of Thrones, said: "It's great to be here, Saudi ComicCon, with the limited time the organizers had to prepare and get this thing going, they have achieved an enormous amount and I'm sure next time, it'll be even better, and I hope you ask me to come next time." Julian Glover, an English actor who played Grand Maester Pycelle in Game of Thrones, said: "The best thing about Saudi ComicCon so far is the number of people and the quality of people, you are all so nice, and you are all so eager, so interested. And that makes a great success, it is already a great success."
