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.

Wishing Well : Indian Comics in 2012

 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.

REVIEW: Ravanayan #3 & #4 - Double sized!

Ravan’s audition and Brahma’s casting ouch! (Spoilers ahoy)

Well written and equally well illustrated, Ravanayan issue 3 is a triumphant return to form after issue 2 which seemed more like an illustrated version of the “The story so far...” section of a book. The good folks at Holy Cow promised to treat us to a double issue this time round and the issue was a treat.

Coolest Indian Comic Cover Ever?

Most of Vijayendra Mohanty’s photos that I've come across till now depict him deep in thought. While most writers want to portray a brooding aspect to their personality, Mohanty appears to be someone who actually thinks. Ravan’s mindset throughout the issue is eloquently depicted in words. A noteworthy highlight is the dialogue between Brahma and Ravan - The conversation is quite interesting (though I sat in the brooding pose and have some questions which I shall raise later) and refreshing.

And speaking of refreshing, how cool is the way Brahma is depicted!!!

Rajat's Random Ramblings - Ravanayan Begins...

Comic Addicts has done it again. In an unprecedented move, we are doing, probably for the first time in India, a pre-release review of one of the most anticipated book this summer, Ravanayan.

This has only been possible with the cooperation of Mr. Vivek Goel the owner and the chief artist of the Holy Cow Entertainment, who was futuristic enough to realize the way cookie crumbles. Other Publisher friends… Ahem. We are waiting... Our public DEMANDS pre-release reviews!!! ;)

Anyway, as always, I get distracted and wander off to paths unexplored. Let us come back to the task at hand.

One of the 2 covers from Issue 1 - The inner turmoil - Sage Father, Demon Mother

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