Nish's Notepad: Odayan #01

Friends, romans, and countrymen, after 5 months of this "academic exile"; Nish returns. :D
So today I'm reviewing Level 10's first title to go digital: "Odayan". I was interested in it from the day I saw its first teaser as it carries with it, the names of some great people in the comic industry.

Story: Suhas Sundar
Art: Deepak Sharma
Colors: Deepak Sharma
Greyscales: Santosh Pillewar
Letters: Raghavendra Kamath





Odayan. The first Level 10 title to go digital. The title whose protagonist looks too much inspired by Kathakali Dancers. Too many hopes are with this title. Could it live up to its expectations? (Hope I'm successful in creating a sense of suspense for y'all. ;) )

So the title has two kinds of artwork. Both are epic, fortunately. The artwork in the prologue (below) gives the title really a different sense. Narrating the past, related to the avatar of Vishnu; Parshurama and his land Bhargavakshetram.


(Click to enlarge)


According to the research I did, the plot is based around the place which is present day Kerala. (Source). The plot has one similarity with another title from Level 10: Daksh. This title too has blood. And more blood. I am certainly a big fan of Daksh, but after reading the first issue of Odayan, found it surprisingly better. Odayan has the old touch in it, the connection with the roots, something related to mythology, thus making the basic (just the basic) plot very similar to Daksh. There's a mysterious assassin, nobody knows if he's good or bad. His mission is just to kill the masters of the art of Kallaripayat. And in this issue, he's successful in killing one, Kalan, who is certainly not the first.


(Click to enlarge)


Suhas Sundar has done a great job with the story. But the story is just half the story ( :Pun ). I'm not going to talk much about the art, it's simply brilliant. Even in black and white, the pictures spoke a thousand words. Be it the prologue art, the main black and white art, or the colored mask (to hide the feelings on the face, as described in the comic). There's even an epic war scene in the comic (the two page spread is just a part).



So here we reach to the end of the review. Hope it helped all out there.
P.s. If you want to read Odayan, you can do it here.

ART: 4.5/5
STORY: 4/5
QUALITY: DIGITAL
OVERALL: 4.2/5