Comic Review : Aveon 9 (volume 1)

The Plot

Humans have left Earth and moved to another planet called Aveon 9 because Earth was left uninhabitable by natural disasters. Here, over a period of time, humans have ensconced themselves as the ruling class, surpassing the native species' and have carved out dynasties among themselves. Their kingdom however is not peaceful nor does the entire native population support their rise. The story begins with the unfortunate accident of Counselor Zane of the House of Lunus in the city of Vexadus. It then shifts to follow the endeavours of Zane's son Tez, as he tries to find his way to the city to locate his father. This volume ends with Tez minutes away from entering the city.

And now on to the review. 

CA EXCLUSIVE : Level 10 Comics' 1st Ever Crossover Teasers!

Exclusive : The Good People from Level 10 have News. 

We have Details.

(Click for eye-ball feeding super-sized goodness!)

The other day, Level 10 put up the above Devmalya Pramanik penciled image on their facebook page, teasing what appears to be the first instance of characters crossing over from different titles, and defining the common shared universe inhabited by the casts of Daksh, Shaurya and Northern Song, immediately putting plenty of fanboys in knee-deep intrigue territory.

Comic Con Special Review : Daksh 1-4

Courtesy the fine people at Level 10 comics, the Indian comic book geek finally has something to hand the irritating buggers who follow the retarded notion of comic books being for kids. After the success of the first issue in the independent creator-owned edition of the Comic Jump anthology, and the subsequent excellent fan reception of the second issue, we now have our hands on the first four issues, thanks to the launch of the Daksh Graphic Novel at this year’s Comic Con India.

Rajat's Reviews: Daksh Issue #01 (late but not lost)

When I opened Level 10's Jump #11, the one title I was eagerly looking forward was the new chapter of Daksh.

 Issue 0 had piqued my curiosity and anticipation and there were expectations aplenty for Shamik’s new venture!

The first page looked familiar. So did the second. And then  I realized that it was the same issue which was printed the last time!! “What on earth…” was my first reaction and I was on the verge of shooting a sweet little mail to Shamik and Suhas when I suddenly noticed the word "Uncensored" at the top of the first page. I discarded the mail, picked up the book and started reading again.

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!

A day in the park with Daksh's creator!

Welcome back addicts! Today brings an EXTRA special treat for one and all!

We have for your pleasure, an interview with Shamik Dasgupta, Indian comic scribe extraordinaire, and uber-brain behind the already iconic “Daksh”.

In our last interview with Shamik he promised that he would be revealing all about this new comic that has built a whirlwind of energy around it, to us here at ComicAddicts. And true to his promise, here he is in a candid conversation with us on Daksh

(Also, we have been graciously given some sample pages of spectacular art to preview especially for all of you – click them to see them in all their wicked glory!!)

(Click to enlarge!)

CA: Shamik, thanks again for taking the time to be here. If you don't mind we're in total fan-mode and will dive right into the deep end!

CA: After a stormy start and a lot of great fan-approval, Daksh has finally reared his head again! Admittedly, we couldn't have been more pleased, except perhaps if it had been sooner. Where has Daksh been so far and why did it take so long for him to come back again?

SD: Well actually there had been some disruptions after the first issue which took us some time to get back in gear, but when we did we went full steam ahead. There were speculations whether we would follow the usual conventions with Daksh and keep it for all ages or we should go completely mature on this title. Finally and thankfully Level 10 decided to establish their brand Comic Jump as a full fledged mature oriented magazine and my shackles were broken. This is possibly the most fun I ever had writing a series with no holds barred.

Brainstorming with Bibo Bose

Biboswan Bose - the name that has been making people crazy since his first work on Level 10 Comics' “Jump Independent’s Daksh” is the subject of our interest tonight.

This young art star was recently interview by another youngster Anupam Sarkaar - who is a budding artist himself. Here is the transcript of the same:

A brilliant rendition of Zombie by Bibo!

Click on the image to view full size

"Virgin comics was both a boon and a bane on Indian comics" - Shamik Dasgupta in a tell all interview

Comic addicts got up close and personal with the talent power house Shamik Dasgupta, well known for his hit series from erstwhile Virgin comics - Ramayana 3392 AD , and his latest collaboration with Level 10 comics - Daksh.

Shamik speaks about his career post Ramayana 3392 AD , Irkin comics , the Daksh controversy , his current work and provides his perspective on Indian comic scene.  

Q:. After your stint with virgin comics is level 10 the first Indian comics company you have worked

with?

A: No, I have worked previously with Arkin Comics, a Pune based company which came out with

a bunch of interesting content in 2009-10. I was writing for their flagship title 'Irith' which is about a

band of Indian super-soldiers designed specifically to combat a newly emerged terrorist outfit who are

packed with alien technology.

Q: Sounds interesting, what happened with your work with them then?

A:: Arkin management had shut down in mid 2010...as it is with most new fangled comic publishing

houses they ran out of money. We had published around two issues of Irith and had work done for

almost five issues but they never saw the light of day.

Exclusive: Daksh inside peek....

This post ends our exclusive coverage of Jump independent specials with the reveal of inside pages for Daksh in all their glory!
I for one cannot wait to get hold of this one! Enjoy!

Exclusive: Jump reveals Daksh cover, we reveal rejected covers

Level 10's Jump Vol six is an independent special, where we would see some new concepts from Indian creators. Today they have released the individual covers of the series being showcased in the volume. We replicate the covers below.

The three series for this edition are Daksh , Shotgun Sharma & Chappan Churi and Rise of the Warblade.
Now discerning readers would be aware we revealed the info about Daksh some time ago on this very blog at here
The three series seem to be from very different genre as well as art style. Am glad to see such variety on display here.

Now , we were lucky enough to get hold of some alternate colored versions of Daksh, which did not make the cut.

The covers are by the dynamic duo Abhishek Malsuni and Shashank Mishra (who did the Witchblade Pinup - here).
As we can see the art and colors are Top quality and Daksh certainly looks very threatening (befitting a "Dark" hero). Can't wait to read this one.

Stay tuned to our blog for exclusive content on these three creator owned series to whet your appetite before Level10 finally releases the issue.

Exclusive: Inside look into Shamik's new title..

In last edition of India ink we showed you this image..

Now , here is the unveiled look.

This is a creator owned titled by Shamik Dasgupta and as yet unnamed artist. All we know, the artists is a 21 year old boy and this comic's protagonist is a "Dark Hero" on the lines of Spawn, Darkness etc. In India there isn't any parallel, except maybe Anthony from Raj comics.

And now, for the first time on internet anywhere, Adventures unveils the inside panels of this new comic..

The art is undoubtedly brilliant..and the character design of the hero exudes "dark"!

Damn you Shamik for making us wait this much...Just unleash the hell, consequences be damned.