Remembering Ian Abercrombie

Ian Abercrombie may not be a name that you recognize. You may recognize the face, but are having a hard time to really place him. Ian Abercrombie is a character actor. He's known mostly for playing butlers such as in 'Jurassic Park The Lost World' or 'Garfield a Tale of Two Kitties'. If you were ever a fan of the show 'Seinfeld' he was Elaine's boss.

So why are we here at Comic Addicts paying tribute to a butler? Ian Ambercombie made two great contributions to geek culture. Actually he's made about four or more, but there are two that truly stand out. Having said that, we'll tell you what those contributions were.

The Lord of the Avengers

One of the great things about being a geek is that it is very easy to draw parallels between our various interests. Having said that there is quite a bit of buzz about two upcoming films. The first is The Avengers and the other is The Hobbit.

Having said that we here at Comic Addicts got to thinking how many similarities there were between the characters of The Avengers and the well known group from The Fellowship of the Ring. It's was actually quite stunning. In fact, we gave the Fellowship an Avenger identity based on the personality they matched best. Here is what we came up with:

Gandalf is Nick Fury. Why? Gandalf hand picked his team and brought them together for a specific mission. He knew the skills of each and ever member. Ultimately everyone in the Fellowship follow Gandalf's lead.

Frodo is Captain America. Why? He's a small town kid who desperately wants to do good. He wants to make a difference and get a taste of adventure. He's niave and inexperienced, but possess a heart bigger than his size. He is also willing to sacrifice himself for the overall good of the team. He even becomes a point of inspiration as the journey goes on.

Humorous Wayfaring - Unintentionally Funny Comics!

Hello once again dear friends!

Welcome back! And you've indeed chosen a good time to drop in because today I'm bringing you something that I've been working on pretty much since I started reading comics, it's kind of an old hobby now actually - comic panels and covers that are funny but not meant to be so!

Not clear what I mean? Well no worries, just scroll on down and take a look at some of the funniest stuff you'll ever read, even more so because it was not meant to be funny at all!

Nooooooo!!!!! All that effort to be a playboy and ladies man - destroyed by one stray thought!

Ah the good old days... when English was a whole other language!

Women!

Geek's Night Before Christmas

Twas the night before Christmas and all thru the den comic books were stacked and I was reading again. I know I should sleep, despite the late hour but just can't help visiting Baxter Tower. My stocking was hung on the wall with a 3M hook as I nestled further into the chair reading my book.

My Superman jammies complete with cape after all of these years still in good shape. I wore them with pride despite the fade and a small rip in the side. Sure I should be in bed and I should be asleep, but the plot was getting deep. Time ticked away faster than planned reading about Elektra defeating The Hand.

Lost in my world when suddenly a loud sound like Mjolnair had been hurled. Quick as the Flash I ran to the window leaving my stash. A crimson streak went through the sky. It moved far quicker than the eye. Great Scott! What could this be? If it was Superman I couldn't see. A craft landed on the roof accompanied by the sound of a hoof. One hoof? No it was more. Quickly I ran locking the door. What this stranger would want I knew not. Please dear Odin let him leave alone my lot!

The 12 Geek Days of Christmas

The Holiday season is upon us which means the constant bombardment of Christmas music, images of Santa his elves and his reindeer, red and green everywhere. Yes, even if Christmas isn't a holiday you celebrate it is still all around. The cheery atmosphere is nice, but how much of it is geared towards geeks? "Jingle Bells, Batman Smells" is all we've got.
Not quite good enough.

We here at Comic Addicts have decided to do a series that helps make the holiday traditions a bit more geek friendly. We're putting a comic spin on the age old traditions. Each week there will be a new addition to help you get into the holiday spirit.

Today we feature the 12 Geek Days of Christmas. You will note there are two versions. The first is a realistic list as to what could be given as gifts. The second list is pure geeky fantasy. You'll have to imagine the tune in you're head, cause we're not going to sing it.

Having a sit-down with Holy Cow!

You've all been aching to learn more about upcoming issues of Ravanayan, we've all been teased by art from Skull Rosary and been enticed by hints of much more still not revealed – well be at peace good readers!

We at Comic Addicts have finally nailed down the elusive creative head of Holy Cow Entertainment (HCE), Mr Vivek Goel himself along with some of his creative co-conspirators and now bring you an in-depth and honest talk about what in the coming months will make you exclaim “HOLY COW!!”

Thanks for taking out time to sit with us Vivek, its a real pleasure.

To start with, tell us how does it feel to be at the forefront of changing face of indian comics?

It feels great, honestly. Finally I have got the chance to do the things I always wanted to do, the projects, the kind of art, stories, experimentation with different art styles without being answerable to anyone. Also, I love teaching comic book art and with HCE, I finally can do that. Being a self taught artist I understand the value of time and if it took me 2 years to prepare myself I can cut short that period for my young interns to 8 months under proper guidance thereby infusing new blood in Indian comics which we seriously need at this point of time.

How did the idea for Holy Cow Entertainment germinate? what are you looking to do within that banner?

It basically started with a need and a want. A need to give myself a stable platform as an artist and a want to something unique in the form of projects of different genres, giving independent ideas a stable platform. Now is the time that creators take control of their own content and the only way possible is self publishing stuff.

Our basic aim under the banner of HCE is to unite the artist writer fraternity, to give them creative freedom so that they can deliver the best possible comics for the Indian market. The Indian comic industry is very disorganized and fails to understand that we need to work together in order to flourish together as comic making is a team work, no single person can rule it!

What You Should be Reading : Dan Slott’s Amazing Spider-Man hits the Big Time!

(Click to enlarge!)

I’m usually not one for clichés, but Spider-Man and Wolverine are right up there in my list of all-time favourite comic book characters. The story goes that I came back to reading comic books three and a half years ago, a time when both characters were beginning with their respective iconic runs, with the rotating team of Web-Heads (Joe Kelly, Dan Slott, Fred Van Lente, Mark Waid etc.) on the Amazing Spider-Man and Jason Aaron (of Scalped fame) on Wolverine : Weapon X and later the new volume of Wolverine (and now Schism and Wolverine and the X-Men). For today though, let’s just save the talk on Aaron’s Wolverine for another day and concentrate on what Spidey’s been up to of late.

(Click to enlarge!)

The Run-Up

See, the story leading up to Slott’s solo run really starts with the Spider-Man crossover event One More Day , co-penned by the then ASM writer Joe Michael Straczynski, a.k.a. JMS (grudgingly) and the then Marvel Editor-in-Chief (and now Chief Creative officer) (Seriously, someone cast this guy as Perry White already, he loves being called chief) Joe Quesada. It involved Peter Parker making a deal with Mephisto (essentially The Devil) to save his (once again!) dying aunt in exchange for his marriage with Mary Jane Watson being erased from history. It was basically Marvel’s attempt to de-age Spidey and bring him back to his “more relatable roots”. Fans were obviously angry and plenty threatened to boycott the series. The initial year or so of Brand New Day, which was essentially what followed One More Day, was a critical disaster, as the writers were too concerned with establishing the new status quo and new villains, who felt a lot like rip-offs of classic members of Spidey’s Rouges gallery. However, once the dirty work was done,

MARVEL NEWS: The Return of Soldier-X himself!

Welcome back to more wandering and wayfaring folks, its good to be back bringing you the slices of random awesomeness!

(Click to enlarge!)

I wanted to ease back into this after a month spent tirelessly and chaotically chasing down copies of the DC New 52 hot-off-the-presses and reviewing them after each week's Wednesday release – whoah was that a ride! Never did we think (me and my cohort, Anubhav – take a bow man!) that we would actually have to make ourselves read comics just to get through them to review them on time!

But now it is past, and while we here at Comic Addicts will keep on bringing you news from whats up with the new DCU, today we're venturing into other realms – more specifically Earth-616, or to the unfamiliar: The Marvel Universe.

Our topic for today is the impending return – in the centre of the next big Marvel-wide story arc – of arguably one of the most popular and definitely one of the most divisive and controversial characters among fan-dom. He has been known by many names: Nathan Winters, Soldier X, Nathan Summers, Nathan Dayspring Askani'Son, Priscilla (shout to to Deadpool fans!), etc, etc... but to most of the comic-reading and cartoon watching world-at-large he's simply Cable.

I'm not going into the character history and all that – its way longer and more intense then I can commit to just this one column/article/whatever, so just follow my link above to his bio over at Marvel.com and check it out for yourself at your leisure.

In the meantime, down to business!!

M views: Why do we read Superhero comic books

- By Manks

I have been a superhero comic book reader since I can remember, and I have often been asked what draws me into their highly stylised and unrealistic world?

Each person has their own answer to this question, and no single answer is correct.

One of the reasons why we come back to the Superhero comics are because they inspire us. These larger than life creations struggling daily through the worst the world has to offer them, and coming out on top. Their never say die attitude.. ....even after they are literally dead ( there'a  joke here somewhere on the state on Superhero comics - Blackest Night I am looking at you!)

Lets look at some of the tragedies that have befallen the Bat-Characters for example

Batman
The most poignant tragedy is perhaps the murder of Bruce Wayne parents, which drove him to haunt the criminals as Batman. This in itself is a commendable feat. But then




When Bane Broke Batman



M Take : Why should you have picked up Nextwave when you had the chance..

-Created by Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen.

- By Manks

Nextwave is one of the most unadulterated fun title I have read in my entire comic reading life. Sadly however , like most fun comics out there, it met an untimely demise. After Transmetropolitan this is my second most favorite comic out there by Warren Ellis.  And he is not even the reason to check this book out. Stuart Immonen has done his career best work to date on this title. Yes true believer, if you missed out on Nextwave when it came out, its time you rectify your mistake.

Welcome Wayfarers!

In the immortal words of Théoden of Rohan, “How did it come to this...?”

Don’t get me wrong folks, Im truly kicked to be here writing a weekly column for all my fellow comic cravers out there, courtesy the fine folks on this site – guys I promise I'll do my damnedest to behave and to hopefully not make you regret giving me this opening! Really, I mean it I do!

My quoting the Lord of Edoras was to convey the slight disbelief and simply wonder how it is that me, a good Indian boy working 9-5 in the business world have come the direction I have and today am contributing an online column about comics and graphic stories. C'est la vie non?

Anyway!

So, before carrying on any further and confusing you more dear reader(s?) – welcome to the first edition of the Weekly Wayfarer.

Here we will be reaching around comic-dom for the oddball, the intriguing, the unusual, the amusing and occasionally the disturbing – not for any other reason then simply to expand horizons. In a medium overloaded with folks in tights and dominated by The Big Two pretty much everywhere, we as fans must give a shot to the more unique voices, the off-the-grid talent that makes us look again and again and helps change our perspectives on what comics can do.

Now I would like to say this here and now so that there is no confusion about it – this is not an indie comic column. There will be everything from Superheroes to Silliness, covering any and every genre I can think off and for the sheer fun of it we'll be following no linear reading time-line, instead jumping from new releases to golden oldies to ancient obscurities and all in between! And if this post runs a little long, forgive me but its my first time at bat.

Comics are for Kids: A Guide on how to respond

Let us introduce our newest addition to the team - Amanda White :)

Amanda White lives in Augusta, Maine. She has a BA in English from UMA. Amanda has been going to conventions and has been a comic enthusiast ever since she was a little girl. In this article she answers the question we all have faced "at least" once in our geeky life

 

Comic Books Are for Kids

-By Amanda White

It is a common dilemma among comic readers to hear this from time to time, “Comic books are for kids,” or “Comic books are trash literature,” It’s troubling to be enjoying something one minute and then criticized for your reading choice the next. The question is always, “How do I deal with the insults?” It is a tough question, and unless you have a degree in literature you’re not going to be able to give them an answer that will satisfy them. Then again who truly wants to battle wits when you’re enjoying yourself? What business is it of theirs what you choose to read?

Sit tight cause help is on the way. I’m going tell you how to stand up for yourself when these criticisms come flying your way. Not only that, but they will be comebacks and arguments that will give even the snootiest of critic time for pause.

First lets look at the reason comics get a bad rap. There are a lot of reasons given for why comics are “trashy”, but ultimately it boils down to one simple factor: the pictures. Pictures send an image to many people of a kids storybook. Let’s face it, unless it’s a great illustrated classic version of a work of major literature it pretty falls under the category of children’s story. Sad and narrow thinking yes, but it’s the way comics are perceived.

Alright then, if pictures are the issue lets start there. Artwork is the foundation of a comic book it’s true. If you don’t think it’s true think about a story where the story was great, but the artwork ruined it for you or vice versa. There are many factors accompanying the artwork. As is the case with any great painting hanging in the museum many questions are asked of the piece. Does the art enhance the story or subtract from it? Is it in color? Does the color add or take away from the story? Are the panels in a format that helps the story move along smoothly or does the layout hinder the action? All valid intelligent questions that on a subconscious level we all consider as we’re reading a comic.

Then there’s the comment of, “The stories are all the same just the names change,” WRONG! The stories are intricate plots that interweave and overlap with other characters and other series with that character. Many comic stories are very powerful such as the X-Men title ‘God Loves, Man Kills’.

The text within comic books can be looked at and analyzed like any other piece of literature. An English major could easily map out the plot as well as they could ’The Great Gatsby’ or any work of Shakespeare. There are plots, subplots, foreshadowing, moral issues, conflict, and many other standard story devices. It’s also easier to relate to the issues brought up by comics because they’re more relevant to our daily lives. Most of the “great works of literature” take place in a time when class was everything and women married to improve their family status. Not quite so much of an issue in modern day America.

The two major continuums in the comic industry have their own devices that make them unique in how they bring these issues to light. Aside from the characters that is. The Marvel Universe is known for using its characters and storylines that mirror current social situations. On the other hand the DC Universe focuses more on lineage with their heroes. Don’t believe that’s true? Look at it closer. X-Men, overcoming and dealing peacefully with being different in society. Batman, took on Robin to have someone to continue his fight when he’s gone.

The point is that comics are every bit as good of literature as the tired old titles that fall into the basic literary cannon. They’re just not given a fair chance. Perhaps someday, but obviously not now.

So here’s what you say the next time you get criticized for reading comics:

“Actually I find that this particular title has unique characters that I can identify with as well as having artwork that enhances the overall message. True it is the age old struggle of good vs. evil, but ultimately that’s what we’re surrounded with. This particular writer also chooses to focus on a specific moral and/or social dilemma that is a current concern. Overall the symphony that is art and text make for a very enjoyable reading experience,”

If nothing else you’ll get a couple of moments silence as they stand there stunned from getting that sort of answer from someone that assumed was of low intelligence. If they press you for more of an explanation just remember what we talked about. Ultimately though, when it comes to what makes you happy, you have nothing to prove or explain. 

UMM...UHHH....ERRRR......HMMMMM.....HOW ABOUT......NAAAA......DAMN IT....

Long time ago ( really really long time ago!) I asked a good mate of mine to contribute to this blog .. Why? Because he loves comics (obviously) , has a sharp tongue and an even sharper wit.

The article was supposed to be about comics you see, since we are a comic blog! But the damn fellow finally sent me an article and writes about everything else BUT comics.. 

Had he sent me the article on paper, I would probably have refused to even acknowledge the paper print - ! but as it is, he sent it to me online.. and when I started reading it , the wit I spoke about earlier captivated me .... Hope he has the same effect on you :)

So without much ado, let me present the new addition to our growing team: 

-  Vinay Pawaskar

When in doubt, procrastinate. So I did. For a long time. M was single when he asked me to contribute to this blog.  He made the single most important decision that all men and women eventually come to regret (Cheers mate. You are so screwed!) and yet I couldn’t think of a single thing to write about.

I stared at an empty word document till the time I felt that the blinking cursor was trying to tell me something in Morse code. Inspiration treated me like all the girls I fell in love with have treated me. It went and settled down with someone else. Leaving me to stare at an empty word document.

Trouble with a word document is that you can delete the damn thing and use it again. Before Bill Gates sold his soul to the devil to come up with MS Word, we writers had to use pen and paper.  In bygone times, one would write something, think it is crap, crumple the damn thing, toss it and expertly miss the dustbin. You may think that it was a sign of frustration. I think it was a motivating sight.

Imagine after 3 hours of doing so, you have an empty dustbin but your floor is hidden under paper balls. You can think, ‘Holy shit! I need to work on my aim. But behold! I have thought of so many things and rejected them. I am a god damn perfectionist.’ Thus having your spirits renewed you can continue doing so for another 3 hours then repeat the process.

But not so with the word document. You type, edit, copy-paste some stuff, re-edit it and then delete the whole damn thing. Do that for 3 hours and you end up with a blank document and a blanker brain.  That was the state of mind my parents often found me in and it led them to formulate various strategies that ranged from calling in the exorcist to getting me married off before my IQ became a single digit number.

Apart from the lack of inspiration, I was also hindered by a conflict. My ego had issues with my basic instinct. My ego craved a meticulously crafted piece of literature that would find a place in the Smithsonian and even pick up a Nobel Prize or two on the way. My nature, however, is to ramble like a psychopathic drunkard on drugs. Guess who won? My ego now has an inferiority complex but I now have 6 paragraphs that I haven’t yet deleted!

I realise this article doesn’t have anything to do with comics, something that I really love to talk about. But we’ll get round to that in the next article. Somewhere deep within I feel my ego brighten up. ‘This article may have been all over the place but the next one will make Stan Lee want to shake my hand’ it vows. Know this true believer that in life, as it is while browsing porn on the internet, when one window closes another opens.  

(P.S: Vinay: Your next art + tickle better be about Comics! or else!  - Manks)

M views : Review of "SITA"

SITA
by Campfire graphic novels
Author: Saraswati Nagpal
Artist: Manikandan

Review by Manks

The first thing that catches your eye when you pick up Sita is the cover. If I am not wrong then the artist has rendered Sita in the image of Aishwarya Rai. As choices go, basing the protagonist on Aishwarya Rai is not bad at all, especially considering she essayed the same role in Mani Ratnam’s movie Ravan and the fact that she is arguably one of the most beautiful women on the planet.

As far as stories go, if you are aware of Indian Epic Ramayana then there are little surprises in store for you and the good part is, the author is aware of this. She is just intent on telling the story of Sita and has not bothered to expand on ancilliary tales. If you do not know your Ramayana Lore ( seriously? You don’t?) then this graphic novel works as an excellent appetizer to introduce you to the Indian mythology, but you would be left with a feeling of having missed something.

For example, we suddenly meet Rama and Lakshman at Sita’s swayamvar. No explanation is given on the backdrop or Rama’s history. This entire graphic novel is Sita’s story and from her point of view. This kind of story would have been risky as the author is leaving out some crucial bits , however the author manages to capture our attention and infuse charm into the story because she writes from Sita’s perspective. This entire graphic novel is being narrated by Sita, so we are witness to her innermost feelings and reactions on various events such as meeting Ram, on being captured , on seeing Rama’s severed head , on being rejected by Ram etc.
Narrating the story through Sita’s mouth, the author gives a new dimension to the age old tale. If you are a mythology enthusiast, you would also find small nuggets here and there.

The flip side of narrating story through Sita’s character is that we miss out on a lot of action – the famed stone bridge, the ensuing war between Ram’s and Ravan’s forces and the inevitable clash of the titans. We know, see and hear what Sita does. Which depending on which side you sit, may entice or dissuade you from reading this book. I for one liked it. The story seemed fresh to me because it showed me the events of Ramayan from a different point of view. I felt sita’s exasperations and fears on being kept hostage and went through the pain of separation with Ram with her. Good stuff!

I also found the story to be a little rushed. This story needed some more pages to truly breathe and I fear it’s more the format than the author to blame.

The art here is superlative. Is it me or are Indian artists getting really really good at it! The splash pages are amazing , art is clear and the colors are absolutely to die for. Sita is graceful, Ram is divine, Ravan is strong.. This is as close to an international product as I have seen.  I am truly impressed by the art here.

In conclusion, this is a fine mythological tale which manages to find a unique voice among the myriad mythological tales, but this is definitely not for everyone. Give it a shot! You might be surprised.

India Ink: What's cooking in the indian comic scene

-By Manks

Mumbai Convention Watch:

I understand an American wrestler from the famed WWF may be coming to India to launch his comics in the mumbai comicon.  The talks are on !!

I also understand that an editor of a youth magazine in india is also planning to launch a comic there..The comic is in Marathi and in English.


Jump Watch
The brain trust behind the Jump is amongst the final three of "The Pitch" on UTV Bloomberg. The prize is 5 crores (approx 1 million US dollars). Imagine how many comics that could mean.. We are rooting for you to win! Go team Level 10.

Top Cow Pinups

In the last India Ink we showed you a Pin up by Indian artist duo - Abhishek and Shashank for the Top Cow property Witchblade.
I now understand Top Cow has a few more Indian artists lined up for Witchblade annual Pinups. Expect an announcement from Top Cow very soon.

Bahadur Watch
The first Indian Hero Bahadur (created by Aabid Surti) returns to us through online medium.
Click here to learn more about it.

You can visit : http://www.bahadur.in/  to catch the Bahadur saga as it unfolds online


Raj Comics
Raj comics are the lone superhero comics standing from the golden era ( as I call it ) of comics in India.
For this edition, I thought I would showcase some of the powerhouse talent from Raj comics. I cant be blamed for wanting a team up between Marvel and Raj comics now can I ?
Who knows if The 99 can do a crossover with DC Comics characters, Raj comics might yet do it ..

Kobi by Dheeraj Verma

Nagraj by Lalit Kumar Sharma

Nagraj by Hemant Kumar

Exclusive : The return of the Original Hero- Bahadur

Adventures got a sneak peak to the invitation launching Bahadur's website!!

For people who do not know Bahadur is one of the most famous heroes of Indrajal comics (yup the same one that published Phantom and Mandrake) and was created by Aabid Surti in the mid 70's.

To quote Aabid himself:
"Bennett, Coleman & Co wanted me to create an Indian character that could take on the popularity of the four foreign comics that ruled the market in India then—The Phantom, Mandrake, Flash Gordon and Tarzan, During that time, the Chambal Valley was becoming increasingly notorious, and there were exhortations to people to group together to fight crime. So I developed the character of Bahadur as someone who helps create a citizens' police force to fight the dacoits." - From Wikipedia

Initially the website will feature some of the old strips , but there are plans to bring new content and new relevant issues to the fore, such as terrorism.

We are rooting for the first indigenous hero...

Stay Tuned to our site for an exclusive interview with Aabid Surti coming soon ...

Indian Comics - Hope for the future

-By Manks
(This is second part of an article piece on Indian comics. The first one can be found at : here )


In the first article, we looked at what went before in the Indian comic scene. Now we are going to go a step further and understand what Indian comic scene looks like currently.

Present Scenario

 

Illustrated Orchids

Recently many more comics have started cropping up, some even backed by big business house, while Amar chitra Katha and Raj comics continue to hold ground.

Fluid Friction comics have partnered with an Indian firm to publish comics inspired by Indian mythology.
Illustrated Orchids , a company operated by Indian Singaporean diaspora has launched comics based on Indian mythology and culture. The artwork is based on Manga like art and is sold in Malaysia, Singapore, India and Europe.

Vimanika comics

Another company Vimanika has launched comics , again based on Indian Mythology for Indian and foreign markets, which are very good.

Do we see a pattern here? Yup, everyone seems to love Indian mythology. But enthusiasts  question the overabundance of such comics. However I cannot deny that Indian religion and allure of Indian mysticism sells, especially now that many Indians are settled abroad. They are also appealing to children in India, as they retell/ re-imagine the mythos that they have grown up reading about. So for business houses it makes sense to go with the safe and sellable product especially on foreign shores where there already is a comic culture. But what of our own comic culture? Will we never be able to look beyond religion and myth? Even Indians deserve variety. If the product is good, it will sell. Japan’s Manga industry is proof of this.

As if to answer this question, Campfire publications entered the market in 2009. They are publishing classics, biography and originals in graphic novel format.

Corridoor

Some Indians have also started independent foray into the world of graphic novels.
Corridor by Sarnath Banerjee is such an example.

Two more noteworthy additions to Indian comic scene are– “Jump” by Level10 studios and Comix.India who are trying to develop unique Indian content. The quality is debatable, though it’s a step in positive direction.

I am given to understand There are more on the way. Adventures would help unveil some of them as well :)

The picture is not all rosy however, and there is a long winding road to cover before victory.

An artist working freelance for one of these companies told me that by and large it is quite difficult for someone to work for Indian comic scene because they are not paid nearly enough. They need to have a full time job apart from comic industry to sustain them. Most of them are working in the growing Indian Animation scene as well. This is not true for all artists as some larger companies do pay well. But for a wider majority it is. Which I guess is true in any country. You need to have a certain level of skill before you can enter mainstream.

Additionally, Anime and Manga like everywhere else have caught up in India. With Anime associations forming in major cities. Though this is still at a nascent stage, their future is bright. I have randomly met two children of 8 years old who read Manga but are not aware of any other comics out there. Manga is catching them young. A feat that  may make many companies jealous. The reason is their free availability over Internet.

Manga

Companies like Dark Horse/Tokyopop/Viz may scowl at sites like Onemanga, but it helped introduce manga to country like ours where there is no availability of such items. When you contrast it to companies like Marvel and DC, not many people know beyond what they see on the silver screen.
Manga has infact started pouring in through select stores, especially in the south, and they are selling like hot cakes because of the readymade audience thanks to online availability.

The biggest news yet is an attempt at organizing a comic convention. The first ever for India. From what I know, currently the organizers are looking out for sponsors. But the thought is there and it may be very soon when we see it materialized.

For me, the icing on the cake was when I met an Indian artist working for TOP COW publishing, which clearly told me, we do have the talent, and we know readers seem to be growing. All we need is a big push from some more corporates to get Indian comic scene going again and things does seem to be going in the positive direction.

Here’s hoping for the best.


-Disclaimer: This is a reproduction of the article published at Bleedingcool.com by me. All attempts were made to be faithful to timelines and publishers. I also realise that I might have missed out on some publications from South India. However If there is some inconsistancy or some periodical that you think should be mentioned, let me know and I would sort it out.

Indian Comics: Exploring the Past

-By Manks

India is a country of diversity. Consider this: India is the seventh largest country by geographical area and second largest by population (approx 1.1 billion people). It is the world’s largest democracy. It is a country where language (22 National Languages and 843 regional dialects) and culture changes drastically every few hundred kilometers so much so that it becomes unrecognizable even to those of us living here.

Talking about “Indian comics” in such a dynamic environment is no mean feat. This article attempts to look at the advent of comic culture in India and how it is faring currently. Along the way we would be pointing out some notable periodicals that made a difference to this growing subculture

The Advent of Modern Comics

Tintin

 As with most of the things, Modern comic arrived in India later than the west. Around four decades ago, there wasn’t much choice for the comic enthusiast. The only comics available were imported titles like Tintin, Asterix the Gaul, Archie and War Commando. Being imported, they were quite expensive and hence available only to children of wealthy. The notion that comics are for kids was prevalent here as well.

Indrajaal Comics: Bahadur

The true change came in mid 60’s when a national newspaper publication house – The Times of India – launched Indrajal Comics. This was the first serious effort to develop comic culture as these were well within the reach of masses and available at newsstands everywhere. Indrajal comics contained stories of King Features characters and were successful in making Phantom (the ghost who walks), Mandrake the Magician and Flash Gordon household names. It also went on to Publish “Bahadur” an Indian comic hero created by indigenous creators. Indrajal comics went regional soon thereafter starting with Bengali translations and by 1980 they were publishing comics in over a dozen Indian dialects.

The Glory days

Amar Chitra Katha

The success of Indrajal comics gave rise to another publication “Amar Chitra Katha” by Anant Pie. These comics focused on tales of historical figures and heroes in religious texts of Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikkhism ,Jainism and Christianity. These comics still continue and have proved so popular that it still influences Indian comic thinking till date.

Like Anant Pai, Cartoonist Pran created the next evolution when he went beyond historical and mythological tales. He created regular everyman characters that people could relate to and narrated their tales under the banner of Diamond comics. They were humorous strips and quickly caught people’s fancy. Some of his popular characters are Billo, Pinki , Raman , Channi Chachi , Srimatiji. Most famous amongst them however is undoubtedly the duo Chacha Chaudhary and Saboo known India wide. I can safely compare Pran to Will Eisner in terms of reverence and Walt Disney in terms of creative output.

Pran's Chacha Chaudhary

After this a few other regional comic magazine started up like the ones by Jaico Publishing house, Chikara collections etc but none as noteworthy as the ones mentioned.

In the beginning of 80’s Amar chitra Katha launched a children Magazine “Tinkle” which focused on contemporary culture , folk tales and science. The magazine introduced numerous recurring heroes like amusing Suppandi, Mooshik the adorable mouse, Kalia the crow and the malicious minister Tantri.
Indian comic culture had truly begun by now. Almost all of these publications went into regional languages and established themselves amongst the masses.

The emergence of the SuperHero

Till about 1980’s comics were either imported, publishing foreign characters, tales of historical and mythical heroes or regular everyday-man strips. Nowhere was the eponymous SuperHero to be found, until the advent of “Raj comics” in the mid 80’s.


Raj Comics Superheroes



Arguably Raj comics introduced the colorful world of superheroes that we all love to India with unique Indigenous SuperHeroes. (One character that comes to mind which preceeded Raj Comics was "Fauladi Singh" by Diamond Comics). The most famous amongst them are Nagraj ( a snakeman) and Super Commando Dhruv (a highly trained circus acrobat with no superpowers – Reminds me of Nightwing!).

Bouyed by their success, many other publications came out with their versions of Superheros, most notable among them were Tulsi comics , Manoj comics , King comics, and Fort Comics. Even Diomond comics ventured deeper into Superhero Territory soon thereafter.

This was the hey dey of Indian comics. There were choices a plenty from companies to genre. They were ubiquitous and present at almost every newsstand. Comics reached millions and millions during this time. Many people I know have grown up with a healthy dose of these comics. If you were a kid in India and you knew how to read, you were reading comics.

There were some truly interesting characters created during this period and definitely deserves an examination seperately


At death’s door

But in 90’s things began to go bust. With emergence of cable television and animations, comics soon started to lose ground against them. It did not help that many started considering comics as “Low Brow”. In metropolitans came the Home Computer and the cultural shift towards a preference for English. This sounded the death knell of many a publications.
The first one to go was Indrajal comics on 16^th April 1990 after nearly 27 years of publication. By the beginning of the new century many comics had either reduced their output or had gone out of business.

Resurgance

Despite the bleak scenario some comics did flourish in this decade by adapting themselves.
Amar Chitra Katha survived by offering a unique product. Tales of history and religious mythology in English (other regional languages as well). So they entrenched themselves as the elite and educational amongst comics. Tinkle evolved its format, similar to Japanese tankobans but in color.

Raj comics survived due to its deep penetration (and lone superhero company left standing) while Diamond due to cherished characters. Both have started to grow again.


Offerings by Virgin Comics


In 2006 Virgin comics took India to a global stage. They took a leaf out of Amar Chitra Katha’s book and started publishing Indian Mythological rooted comics but for a foreign crowd.

Gotham comics of Bangalore started publishing adventures of Dc/Marvel Characters in India, bringing the cost down. They however have gone MIA lately, making me wonder what happened to them? Does anyone know?

This completes a retro-look into Indian comics. In the next article we would try and look at what the future of comics entail for India?  Who are the players competing for Indian comic space now? How are people reacting to them and many other things!

See you all then.

- Disclaimer: This is a reproduction of the article published at Bleedingcool.com by me. All attempts were made to be faithful to timelines and publishers. I also realise that I might have missed out on some publications from South India. However If there is some inconsistancy or some periodical that you think should be mentioned, let me know and I would sort it out.

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