In a lot of ways, the future will
remember 2011 as the year the Indian comic-book geek came out of the
closet. The success of the first ever comic-book conventions in the
country being held in Delhi and Mumbai went a long way in
illuminating fanboys in regard to the presence of their fellow comic
addicts.
It’s a year that saw Ravan’s side
of the story, the beginning of an indigenous Martial Arts epic, Shiva
finding his way back into comic books, the conclusion of India’s
first home-grown Zombie comic book series and an arguably ballsy move
from print to digital (and free), among many other exciting
prospects.
Keeping in mind all these developments,
It’s difficult not to imagine what this oh-so-beautiful monster,
currently in its infancy, is going to grow into tomorrow. Bear in
mind, however, that this is all just speculation and wishful
thinking, but its fulfillment would make this little geek very happy:
A Shared Universe
In my mind, this is the one thing from
a creative point of view that needs to happen soon. We are already
seeing the seeds being sowed for this, with Yumi coming to a
computer screen near you soon, as a Shaurya spinoff, but there
is still quite a long way to go. The reason a shared universe is
important is that it opens a whole world (literally) of literary
possibilities, and helps give multi-dimensional looks at a character
and settings. If the upcoming Avengers movie can’t convince you
it’s awesome, I don’t know what will. Picture the cast of Shaurya
stuck in a zombified Bangalore or a Daksh-spinoff Ravana
escaping from hell into the modern day, keen for redemption.
