Review : VRICA #1 (by Chariot Comics)

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Story : Katyayan Shivpuri, Aniruddho Chakraborty

Art : Pramod Bhramania

Editor : Aniruddho Chakraborty

Producer : Siddharth Vaidya

The comic book market in India, which is still in its nascent stage, is just like this very familiar city which we have so innocently encountered in texts, stories, tales, anecdotes and even myths and legends.

Yes my fellow Jedis and Siths, I am talking about the colossal City of the Gods. The Indian comic book market (and the industry) is like this behemoth city where the Gods and mythological creatures have literally galvanized all the creative processes. It is analogous to a city where Gods rule and those who have challenged their might have either gradually perished or caved ways for entries and additions of super natural elements and eventual manifestations of the almighty gods themselves. In such a precarious setting, Chariot Comics really tries to break the established existing norms and the so-called patterns. The poison Chariot picks for this herculean task is its first comic, titled VRICA #1.

So what is VRICA??

Review : Odayan #1-4 (Level 10 Comics)

Story/script : Suhas Sundar
Main Art & Colour : Deepak Sharma
Greyscale : Santosh Pillewar
Letters : Raghavendra Kamath

Odayan at first glance seems to be Level 10’s answer to Alan Moore’s V for Vendetta. It is actually a well-written, classic tale of revenge and the restoration of power, incorporating very delicately the elements of surprise, deceit, suspense and valor. It is perfectly illustrated to compliment the excellent writing, introducing certain nuances which distinctively define the theme, showing the inspiration and the influences.

[Editors Note: Some minor spoilers, you have been duly warned!]
 

The series starts off with a bang, very smartly using elements of mythology, history and here-say to create a backdrop for a complex saga. It introduces us to the main protagonist – Odayan – who with his mysterious origins, killer instinct, rebellious ideals and a little narcissism, becomes an instant hit with the reader. We see his impeccable skills while he duels with and beheads a father whose son would play a major role developing an ideology, similar in certain ways to the one that is instilled in Odayan himself.

Review : Ravanayan #5 (Holy Cow Entertainment)

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In terms of the actual chronological events of The Ramayan, this issue reaches the milestone where Ravan kidnaps Sita using Mareech as the decoy/sacrificial lamb and kills the vulture warrior Jatayu, nullifying any efforts made to prevent Sita's abduction. This issue also presents a take on the fight between Mayavi and Vali which, as we all know, caused the bad blood between the Vanar brothers Vali and Sugriva, eventually leading to Lord Ram defeating Vali and as a result winning the support of the powerful Vanar army.
So, according to Vijayendra Mohanty (a.k.a, “the writer”) it was Ravan who lays the seeds of enmity between the Vanar brothers. It was Ravan who used Mavayi as a mere pawn to create the perfect misunderstanding. 

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Review: RAVANYAN #4

The Ramayan is probably the first Indianized/desi superhero/superhuman story we listen to or read in the early stages of our lives, a story which instantly burns a long lasting circuit in the cache-memory part of our brains. I guess the stellar significance of The Ramayan can be felt by the fact that most of us develop the sense and the ideology of right and wrong, good and evil, kind and cruel via The Ramayan and throughout our lives we keep referring to these ideologies and changing them according to our needs and demands, either consciously or subconsciously.

Now why I mention this very trivial information is to emphasize the level of creativity and innovation that the people at Holy Cow have used while concocting RAVANAYAN. I mean they have taken probably the most popular Indian reading material and completely changed the position of the pieces to create an entirely new and extravagant viewpoint. Truly Holy Cow has shown us the other side of the coin. And with chapters 5 and 6, Ravanayan has reached a different level of awesomeness altogether - both in terms of writing as well as the artwork.

THE COMIC CON HANGOVER

By ObiWayneK

It has been exactly been 23 hours: 34 minutes: 42 seconds since The 2nd Annual Indian Comics Convention (aka Comic Con Delhi) got over and even after such a span most of my body parts hurt, my head is spinning a little, there is some sort of a pain culminating in a void-like feeling in my stomach (probably because of all the momos I had) and the only thoughts that fill up my mind are my memories from the past 3 days. 
I am actually having a classic comic con hangover. 
But despite being in such a physical and mental state I can hardly wait to start digging into all the reading material that I have procured from the convention, start working on my costume/get up for the next convention and conjure dreams about all the beautiful female cosplayers I saw and interacted with. (oops did I just mention that!!?)

The comic con may have its dilapidated definitions which are coined by corporate tools and capitalists, but for us, the comic addicts and comic book geeks, the comic con is not just a platform for comic book releases and a forum for us fans to meet, but an event symbolizing a unique amalgam of perseverance, passion, patience and resilience. So how did the 2^nd edition (technically the 3^rd) of this almost-sacred gathering exactly pan out?

Well to describe the experience, apprehensions, appreciation and complains in a generic and regular paragraph would be an absolute blasphemy and a crime on my part. 
Thus we should proceed to the 3C categorical analysis of The 2nd Annual Indian Comics Convention and its offerings.

COMIC ADDICTS VS BOOK WORMS!!

 EPISODE 3: The Return of the Addicts

ObiwayneK’s journal,

February 8^th, 2012:

Worm carcass in the alley this morning, tire tread on its burnt stomach. These book worms are afraid of me. I have seen their true colors. Their streets are extended gutters and the gutters are full of blood. When the drains finally scab over, all the vermin will drown. The accumulated filth of all their failed pseudo intellectualism and baseless arrogance will foam up about their waists and all the book authors, worms and book w****s will look up and shout, “Save us!” and I'll look down and whisper, “No!” (although watching that recently posted watchmen parody makes me want to say “I just farted” ).

They had a choice, all of them. They could have followed in the footsteps of good men like Alan Moore or Grant Morrison. Decent men who believed in creating the best possible reading material for the public. Instead they followed the trifling word slingers, who had nothing better than staid old plots documented in dull fonts and they didn’t realize that the trail led over the precipice until it was too late. Don’t tell me that they didn’t have a choice. Now these book worms stand at the brink of destruction by the comic-addicts, staring down at that bloody hell. And in the face of complete decimation all these intellectuals and wannabe smooth talkers can’t think of anything to say.

11. Age no bar: Well this is what we addicts have achieved and it is something the book worms would always dream of having, an ensemble of people with absolutely no age bar. We addicts consist of people of all ages, ranging from 5 to 92. I would be a complete a** if I denied the fact that people in the age group 10-60 read books as well as comics, because they do, but it’s the extremity age groups that add to the gadget list on our bat-belt. It is a scientifically proven fact that children understand and learn better by looking at more pictures and little text.