00:00The Middle East Film and Comic Con showcase another eclectic and fun-filled lineup of
00:09content on the 7th to the 9th of April 2016 at the Dubai World Trade Center.
00:13An estimated 70,000 fans from 30 countries attended the highly anticipated event, now
00:17in its fifth year here in Dubai, to take in some of the best artwork from regional and
00:21international talent, meet and get autographs from celebrity guests, and peruse a plethora
00:26of comic book fantasy and sci-fi memorabilia.
00:28One of the many highlights of the Comic Con here in Dubai is the Artist's Alley.
00:32Here aspiring artists display their unique take on art and are always happy to talk about
00:36their work and what drives their passion.
00:37My artwork is inspired by the pop culture and the TV shows and the movies that are famous
00:44among the young generation, so I tried to capture those two movies and TV shows in my
00:52own art style.
00:53I'm interested in pop art and crayon melt, so I basically tried to mix both together
01:02by something like this, whereas first it was a canvas and then I melted the crayon, it
01:09was colorful, and then I just like played on one shot with this canvas instead.
01:14Established artists from some of the biggest names in the comic world are also on hand
01:17to meet and greet fans and show off some of their latest work.
01:20This little is the town full of criminals.
01:22This town full of criminals called Eden is where these bad guys are sent to have a new
01:28start, a fresh start with life.
01:30Crime does tend to continue to happen, so Mark, the town's mailman, who has Asperger's
01:35Syndrome, he's able to see these details that everybody else overlooks.
01:40So, he's predisposed to be the town's detective, but he's a Sherlock Holmes type character.
01:45This year, the Middle East Film and Comic Con brought over the creator of the Teenage
01:48Mutant Ninja Turtles, Kevin Eastman.
01:51He shared some insight on how he came up with the idea for one of the most successful comic
01:54franchises in the world.
01:56Peter Laird and myself, we shared a studio and we would team up and try to sell our ideas
02:00and work and things like that, and so one night I thought, if Bruce Lee was an animal,
02:05what would be the silliest animal that he would be?
02:08And I thought of a slow-moving turtle, fast-moving martial arts, and it made me laugh, and so
02:13I did this sketch.
02:15The turtle had a mask on, he had nunchucks strapped to his arms, and I put it on Peter's
02:20desk and I said, this is going to be the next big thing.
02:23You know, ha ha ha.
02:24A ninja turtle.
02:25And he got the response I wanted.
02:27He laughed and he thought it was funny, so we just kept bantering back and forth.
02:31It was like, if one, why not four?
02:33You know, alright, we have four turtles, each with a different weapon, well, what's their
02:37story?
02:38So we just sort of kept working and working, and it evolved as a joke that we enjoyed,
02:45and we wrote all the early issues for us, because we never thought anybody would buy
02:49them.
02:50So we just wrote something fun, and we put everything we loved about comic books into
02:54this idea and this story, and we were very lucky.
02:57Also on hand was Nicolaj Coster-Waldau, better known in comic-con circles as Jamie Lannister
03:02from the ultra-hot TV series Game of Thrones.
03:05I love working on Game of Thrones.
03:07It's a lot of fun.
03:08I mean, at one point it's going to end, and the way they've done it throughout the seasons
03:13is, you know, every character that has gone, it's made sense, it's been great, and you
03:19know, you're telling a story.
03:21So, yeah, I'm going to miss working with those people when that happens, but, you know.
03:27Not to be outdone, anime lovers were also in for a treat, as Veronica Taylor, the veteran
03:32voice actor behind Pokemon's main character Ash Ketchum, was in attendance.
03:36People have talked about, gosh, how watching Pokemon got them through being bullied at
03:42school, it got them through feeling different and not having any way to communicate with
03:47other people.
03:49People have met their spouse through Pokemon, through playing the cards, through a forum,
03:54through whatever.
03:56It's a connecting point, and I feel like for myself at a convention, we start with Pokemon
04:01and we go out from there.
04:03We talk about many other things, but that's where we start.
04:06Just like the Pokemon journey, it has a beginning, but never ends, you know?
04:11So it's been, I'm incredibly humbled by that, and I don't know, I'm just, I mean, here I
04:19am in Dubai, I mean, how crazy is that, from a girl in New York City to here, from just
04:25a job that I worked on.
04:26Of course, one of the main reasons people flock to the Middle East Film and Comic Con
04:30is to take part in cosplay, and the various costumes being worn range from video game
04:34characters, comic and sci-fi characters, to unique designs people thought up just for
04:40the event.
04:41What's the inspiration?
04:42Just like half Zombie, half Antidote, it's like Chucky, actually.
04:46A character from a video game.
04:48Who?
04:49He doesn't have a name, it's just like a guy from, like the guy on the cover, on the cover.
04:54As always, the Middle East Film and Comic Con was a truly unique and colorful experience,
04:58giving fans from around the world a chance to meet some of their comic book heroes, mingle
05:02with celebrities, and a venue to geek out for the weekend with friends and family.
05:06Logan Fish for Tabloid.
05:08Hey, I'm Veronica Taylor, and I'm here at Middle East Film and Comic Con in Dubai, and
05:12for myself and Ash Ketchum, you're watching GNTV!
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