His colleague presses on.
100 percent written and drawn in Russia!
When you read our comics youll become a communist!
Playing along, Kotkov chimes in, Thats a joke, of course, but not everyone understands that.
Since the creation of BUBBLE Comics in 2011, its been one milestone after another.
They started out with original series for the characters Demonslayer, Friar, Major Grom, and Red Fury.
After two years they added Meteora and Exlibrium, to bring the total to six monthly titles.
We hopped half-a-century of developing and evolving comics, Kotkov says.
It was easier for us than for Marvel or DC.
The world is fond of superheroes now.
One guy came up to their booth to question whether Russian President Vladimir Putin supported their comics.
He said If Putin supports your comics then I want nothing to do with it, Gabrelyanov says.
Then he just threw our brochure down.
We are not into politics.
Were into interesting stories and characters.
After a long pause, Kotkov cracks, Does President Obama support Iron Man or Captain America?
Cultural differences aside, most fans that stopped by were receptive to Comic-Cons newest import.
Such is the current dichotomy of the comic book convention industry.
Back home, theyre the only game in town.
Wherever did they get that idea?
Russian comic book fans instead sustained themselves on U.S. translations and graphic novels that Kotkov says were half legal.
In the 90s, people wanted to eat and not read comics, Gabrelyanovsays.
It was a horrible situation.
Businessmen could walk out of their offices and be shot on the street.
People dont think about comics when you should be thinking about saving your life and your familys life.
It opened the door for companies to produce Russian-translated manga and American comics.
Before we started, no one wanted to do anything with comics, Gabrelyanov says.
They thought it was too risky.
The other publishers that tried to do something like that basically failed to gain any fans, he says.
From kids magazines, he grew fond of comic books, from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to Batman.
Gabrelyanov grew up on American movies and started to read comics after watching the 90sSpider-Mancartoon.
He went to university to study film editing but eventually dropped out.
He calls his decision to pivot to comics the biggest day of my life.
Adds Gabrelyanov: We didnt expect it to be so widely popular.
Nowadays its easier to get attention through the internet and blogs.
One major issue in translation is finding analogues for Russian idioms and common phrases in the English language.
Demonslayer, an honored Airborne member, uses that phrase ironically while breaking a bottle on the demons head.
Not exactly the same effect, but close enough.
They wont believe it now because they know about radiation, and they wont buy it.
They just believe in a person that gets his job done.
That person can be really effective.
Even I gave them a hard time for some of their rather disappointing books, saysSukhov.
Overall, their quality went up and theyre still the most professional publisher when it comes to Russian-made comics.
BUBBLE, at least for now, is a candidate that runs unopposed.
A DC Comics without a Marvel counterpart.
His hope was that hed make connections in San Diego that could lead to a stronger lineup.
Maslov says they tripled their talent budget from year one to year two.
It was the right decision, Maslov says of keeping the cons as one entity.
We want to naturally expand.
The scale of the whole event, stage quality, fans, thats what really matters.
Nataliya Naboyshchikova, 22, goes by the online cosplay profile name Songbird.
She is also active in the European cosplay scene, often attending conventions and participating in photo shoots.
But I dont see it now.
Maslov did notice that cosplay in San Diego was more abundant amongst hardcore and casual fans.
Its Mardi Gras for nerds after all, and everyone is encouraged to dress up.
Im not that much of a fan of comics to be honest,Naboyshchikova confesses.
Im now getting into comics.
People are really proud that we have our first publishers of comics in Russia.
The popularity of cosplay in Russia presented an opportunity for BUBBLE to engage new fans.
When they started producing comics and attending shows, they paid professional cosplayers to dress up as their characters.
As the fan base grew, they decided they no longer needed to pay cosplayers.
Now, people who have costumes of their heroes seek them out to help with their convention activities.
Everyone watches superhero movies but very few people read actual comics, Kotkov says.
Its a fun business, but it is a business.
The dream is a lofty one for now.
The biggest problem we have right now is the price for the venue.
Not everyone went nuts for the announcements.
Its a small step for cinema studio production but a big step for the geek industry in Russia.
The BUBBLE guys want to keep creative control of their heroes.
They passed up offers by outside companies to produce films based on their characters.
I want to keep them to myself.
Its easier now to find money for this project than years ago.
A version of this story appeared in Den of Geeks San Diego Comic-Con Special Edition magazine.
To read the full digital edition, click below.
