Double Take: Review of LOK II

Editor/Script: Deepam Chatterjee

Art: Hemant Kumar

Cmpositing: Tabish Shaikh and Deepak Rawat

Cover Art: Amit Tayal and Abdul Rasheed

Color: Abdul Rasheed

Publisher: Vimanika comics

Take One: Review by Anirudh Singh

Andy is a veteran western comic/Manga geek. With the rise of Indian comic scene, he has ventured back into indigenous comics from his self posed exile to speak about Indian comics

Ah finally Indian comics are foraying into territory left alone for so long, using source material handed down over the ages in the history of our own people. There are so many stories and tales of unsung heroes in our mythology, it would be a sin to ignore them for too long. Amar Chitra Katah tried it once long ago. Capturing glimpses of wonder and amazement as they told the epic of Mahabharta. Vimanika does it again with the Legend of Karna. 

The book rightfully titled “The Sixth” takes us back across the ages and eons. Into an era when darkness and light were not defined by science, rather were defined by magic. Before anything else even impacts the reader the artwork does. It is magnificient in all aspects. Character designs blend seamlessly into the narrative and the visual imagery is quite stunning. 

The story is also an eye opener. This is not the tale of Karna as we remember it from Ramanand Sagar's televesion epics. No there are layers to this story. The start is fantastic, with a begining embroiled in primal legends of a demon who sought and won a great blessing from the Sun God. The story churns on and familiar faces start to appear imbibing you with a sense of mystery. It is after all a story of how deception and intrigue created a rift between two brothers. And how the destinies of these fated heroes embroiled even the Gods in their tangles.

One scene which truly stood out was the birth of Kauravas. The idea of a hundred sons being born from one mother was always fantastic concept but “The Sixth” takes this concept further, the feeling of unease is thick within these panels. And you can instantly tell that the product of alchemy as foul this has to be foul itself. It is no wonder that the sons of the Kuru clan turned out filled to brim with malice. Shakuni is a character to watch for, the schemer from the epic takes on a new visage as he is shown to be a man in command of nefarious powers. Part necromancer, part sorcerer Shakuni can be seen taking an eerie interest in his nephew's lives from an early age. In contrast the birth of the Pandavas is heralded by the presence of a God. For indeed it was the union between God and human that gave birth to the five princes. The contrasting births and the contrasting destinies of the kindred princes is set up beautifully drawing in the reader and setting up for an epic launch.

However,just as I was getting engrossed into the amazing narrative and artwork. The story decided to skip. And when I say skip, I mean skip completely to the modern age. Now, I like clever narratives, I like scene switching, multiple timelines the works. But to pull it off you have to really careful. You see whenever you skip from one time to a completely different one you break off the flow of the story. To reconnect the flow one has to place a few familiar elements, or gradually introduce you to the new characters elaborating the relationship with the old ones. This book doesnt have that. The time – skip hits you in the face with all the politeness of a brick wall. And stops u short of enjoying the story

.The story afterwards is not in any way lacking than the one before the skip. Its interesting, has the same artwork and a lot of interesting characters and I'm certain given time and more books in the series I would enjoy that part too. But right now with the book as it is, It reads off more as two separate stories in the same jacket than one continuous one. 

Legend of Karna, The Sixth is no doubt a classy book in a classy series. But it suffers sometimes from glaring abruptness in its narration. The artwork though fantastic,  blended in perfectly when the story was somewhere in the BC, it does not go so well with the mordern setting. Perhaps as I read more of this series the narrative will right itself and once more build up its pace to perfection, 

A valiant effort,  might one day evolve into a work of art.

Double Take: Review by Nishkarsh Chugh

Nishkarsh is a veteran Indian comic blogger and fan and the youngest member of our team 

The awaited Legend of Karna Book II has been launched recently at Comicon but as they say; "देर आये दुरुस्त आये"..

During the Con, it had great sale, due to which Vimanika was sold out on Day 1.. The trend continued on Day 2 and that was when, I got my copy.. 

The cover was extraordinary, by Amit Tayal (who is an illustrator for Campfire too) and Abdul Rasheed. However, the first main difference between LOK Book I and LOK Book II was the inside art. Amit Tayal was replaced by Hemant Kumar, but I still feel the former was better.

Nevertheless, the story was AWESOME and continued from where it left, when Karna was abandoned in River Charmanwati. However, there was a short (7 pages to be more precise) introduction about the demon Dambhodbhava and Nara and Narayana, a prologue to how Karna got his armor.

 The main story began with Chapter 2: Childhood featuring how Karna was adopted by Adhiratha and his wife, Radha and the life of Karna as a child. It also featured the birth of Pandavas and Kauravas and 

associated stories.

The main feature of LOK Book II is that it revealed the villains of the present time, who were none other than the Kauravas- Dusshala, Duryodhan and rest of the gang.

The story ended with Dev Daljit Singh, beating up some guys who came to kill Karan Vir. Amazing action, I must say.

Now coming to overall rating, I really liked LOK Book and I think this has a great future potential and if the series continues like this, it may live upto the expectations of the fans..

Dheeraj Verma Speaks from Seattle Emerald city comicon!

Dheeraj Verma with Great Phoenix Jones

It was a really very nice feeling at ECCC and lot of fans were there, city was freezing but the welcome by the organizers was very warm, I love that.

Seattle is one of the best city I found in US after the San Diego. City was small but very pleasant to live there. Beautiful place and surrounded by sea and got a chance to meet so many people like Max Brooks, sitting next to me, as well as the team of Avatar Press,  Dave and Keith, both are such a nice persons and as usual Mike Wolfer and Jason.

Dheeraj Sir with Poison Ivy

People were looking to enjoy  for 3 days and am sure they enjoyed the show. I am puttin some of the pics I took , especially of real time Hero : the Great Phoenix Jones, a real super hero who fights with the criminals in Seattle streets in night and when I met him I was not aware that who is he, but when Keith told me about I was really amazed that we have such peoples in here on earth who are real time Super Heroes. A big salute to him, while to saving peoples he faced the guns and other weapons of course but he is tough guy and no doubt again a Super Hero.

Bye for now and will keep you update time to time. 

Till

Chow,

Dheeraj Verma

Nikesh Murli and Vinay Brahmania on Veera the Gaurdian

The team of  Veera the Gaurdian, Nikesh Murli and Vinay brahmania gives us their perpective on the graphic novel and shares some exclusive interior pages with us. ( click them to revel in their full glory!)

1.     Where many people shy away from Writing / working from comics, what made you think of doing this project as a graphic novel?

 NM:I have been writing and publishing short fiction for over a decade now and I teach fiction writing at university. For me comic books represented a new challenge in story telling because of the unique marriage between images and text.

I am a keen student of story structure and I do a lot of workshops/seminars for budding writers. When the opportunity for Veera came via an open call on COMIX INDIA blog, I jumped at the opportunity because I have been waiting to study the genre for a long time and here was a golden opportunity to combine what I knew about fiction with the conventions of comic books. I devoured books by Alan Moore, Will Eisner and Scott McCloud on the theoretical aspects and went back and studied everything from PREACHER to THE DARK TOWER graphic novel adaptations which have a prominent place on my book shelf.

Working with a major daily like DinaMalar and an uber talented artist like Vinay was something I couldn’t say no too.

 V: I accept that not many people want to be writing or drawing comics because its not very economically beneficial yet. The credit of getting nikesh and me together goes to dinamalar. They were launching a weekly magazine for kids, nikesh had a story and I was itching to draw

2.     What was the inspiration behind the concept of Veera ?

V: Honestly, The inspiration credit goes to nikesh it is his concept totally I just visualised and drew him

NM: Veera can be described as the hero’s journey in Slum Dog Millionaire + the emotional journey of characters in J.J. Abrams’s Star Trek.

I wanted to add emotional depth to the protagonists while still framing their journeys using Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey.

I also wanted to tell a story about children who are neglected and abused, irrespective of the social class they are from, and the strength it takes to face the past while battling the present.

While I have used techniques from comic book storytelling to bring the world of Veera to life, the series is written like a TV show, not only in terms of the 12/season episodic structure, but also the way each issue has been broken, to ensure that there are no boring story beats

I think the positive buzz from the first few weeks have justified my decision to attempt this fusion of dramatic storytelling devices.

3.     The synopsis sounds very kid friendly. What is your target audience?

NM: I had strict instructions from DinaMalar that they wanted a series for kids. The impression I got from speaking to the editor was that he was looking for something that was traditional but strong enough in the story department to keep the MICHAEL BAY generation hooked.

4.     What do you think is one of the most attractive features about Veera.

NM: I think the emotional journey that the characters undertake will resonate with children and adults alike. Not to mention the awesome action set pieces!

Veera wants to escape his wretched life in the slums and his abusive father but his sense of responsibility and love for his mother and brother, holds him back.

Nayana’s psyche has never healed from the trauma of a childhood event and she doesn’t view the role of a Guardian as a divine duty, but a burden that was imposed on her by the man who rescued her and adopted her as a child.

Vasu does not understand his anger and the sense of disgust he feels towards the poverty and filth that surrounds Veera. He feels responsible for his father’s death and knows deep in his heart that he may never measure up to his father. Add to this, the fact that he is overly protective of Nayana and loathes Veera’s friendship with her, we have the potential for conflict that can be mined for gold over several seasons.

V: I think Murli has explained beatifully, what I can add is the fact that the contrast in Veera's Character from a humble downtrodden rag picker to being a chosen one is totally fun to see. I love it.

5.      How was working with Each other? did you guys argue about certain things or was it a seamless partnership?

V: I feel things went way too smoothly between us. We both saw the concept almost through the same lens. Whatever revisions happened were logical to the story line

NM: I can’t praise Vinay enough for his professionalism and talent. I am in awe of his abilities and the way in which he has visualised my story.

6. Artwise, Why did you guys chose this particular style?

V: Well when it all began I did character sheets for all characters and nikesh was comfortable to take this style to the final drawing board

7. Vinay, your father is associated with Bahadur comics. Any plans of Bahadur in your future?

V: Yeah bahadur was dads dream hero we all loved him very much. I would love to work on bahadur but it is being handled by Mr Abid and my younger brother pramod they are doing good stuff.

8.     It’s been some time since its release. How has the response been for Veera?

NM: It is very humbling to be a part of a great tradition of comic book storytelling in India.

I have been informed by the publishers that the response was amazing and that they were inundated with telephone calls and letters, praising the new venture, so much so that Dinamalar printed a thank you in their daily edition to recognise and appreciate the support

Tamil comic book bloggers have said kind things about Veera.

9.     You are givin the entire novel for downlaod for free? Whats the idea behind that?

NM/V: It was DinaMalar’s idea. Siruvar Malar, the supplement in which Veera is published, is distributed for free. So it made sense to give it away as a free electronic download. I think it has paved way for increased readership. It looks gorgeous on the IPAD! Btw, the link to download Veera is :here:

10.  In 5 lines or less, Why should I read Veera?

NM: If you like epic quests set in fantastical worlds where brave protagonists battle inner and outer demons to find the meaning of what happened in the past and seek a destiny to light their path in the future, you will LOVE Veera! Don’t be fooled by the fantasy tropes, Veera is and always will be about the inner journey of the human psyche.

 V: It is a bundle of action adventure and fantasy. It’s a great story and I have tried to do justice to the art I have played with colors to keep it bright and interesting to kids. I promise it is worth a dekho. 

9.  Whats your next projects?

V: I am individually working on another series of comics for kids (fantasy adventure),one mythological based character series and one mature reader comic about an anti terrorist group. I am planning to complete all three than look for interested publishers

NM: Once the Tamil run is complete, I will be publishing Veera ‘s English edition.Hopefully, Season 2 of Veera. We have just skimmed the surface in terms of exploring the characters and their journeys and we haven’t even met the key players in Kaal, who want the conflict to spill into that world. Without giving away any spoilers, season one is not gift wrapped and delivered to your door in a neat package, it is messy; the Guardian’s have stirred the hornet’s nest. And there will be blood to look forward to.

I am working on a lit fic novel for my PhD and also developing several other novel length projects for YA and children. Also on the lookout for an artist to collaborate on a 7 issue comic book targeted at girls for an American company. If anyone is interested, drop me a line.

Project Reveal: Were House : Vivek Goel shows and tell

Lets start with the obvious question Vivek, you have got everyone excited with the brilliant art you have shown recently at your and our facebookpage. Time to tell us some more about the origin of your new project: Were House:

This project basically began with a curiosity, to do something black n white. Since I do tight pencils and my art style is also very noir/dark, horror provided with the perfect opportunity. I am mostly tagged as being a mythology/fantacy artist (can't help it, this is what I have got to draw till date) I desperately wanted to break from it but since my other creator owned project Ravanayan wasn't goin to allow me to do that for a long time, I decided to do something in it myself :)

Click to see in full size

It seems you have chosen shape shifting animals as your subjects this time.

  I was always into animals and am very fascinated by the amazing concept of Lycantrope (shape shifting) and so the idea of doing a mini series based on different creatures depicting different degrees of Lycantropy hatched. It is a kind of project that has been done and a no. of times (take a werewolf) and that is why I wanted to give it a different take and took the native Indian animals as the lycantropes !!

Tell us a little about the team of Were House.

  I wanted to have a veriety and so i started looking for different writers and got blessed in the form of Super talented Akshay Dhar, Shweta Taneja and Soumya Das who have written the 3 stories and I have drawn them all !! 

Why three different writers? 

The reason of working with 3 different writers is that I wanted a variety in storytelling and it has worked amazingly, all of them have their own forte and their own unique ability to tell a story !! 

The final but no less important player in this series is my pencilling assistant Ankur Amre whom i discovered 5 months back, his internship in my office is nearly completing and now he is working very closely with me. He has played a pivotal role in the backgrounds of the GN.

You have said that you wanted to do this in Black and white. Why avoid colors?

Click for full size

 I really want to explore black n white medium of story telling, I believe that a good readble comic does not needs colour dependency (no offence to all my colourist brothers and sisters.), colouring always enhances your drawing but every comic does not need it...especially horror and crime !! I have experimented a lot in the art with this GN and let me tell you that if you handle your pencil carefully with the right amount of pressure, the result just comes out amazing . I got a tremendous opportunity to play with solid blacks and whites and i just loved each moment of it.

Before we end this interview , anything that you would want to tell us about the project?

 To wrap up, I can just tell that all 3 stories are connected in some way and will definately relate to your personal fears !!! i guarentee you that !! Wanna find out more, go buy the book, its out in May 2011......and oh !! yes...we have the same publisher for ravanayan and were house .

Project Reveal: Interior Art: Once Upon a Warrior

We are excited to reveal Interior Pages from the title:


ONCE UPON A WARRIOR.
(Copyright 2010 DISNEY / A BELLYFUL OF DREAMS ENTERTAINMENT. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

This comic is an adaptation of the movie:
 ANAGANAGA O DHEERUDU

Starring Siddarth, Shruti Hassan, Lakshmi Prasanna Manchu.

Comic book credits are as per the following
STORY - PRAKASH KOVELAMUDI

ART - RAJ GOLAY (pages 1-30)
     ASHISH PADLEKAR (pages 31-33)
     SAUMIN PATEL (pages 34-72)

COLOURS - NEERAJ MENON, SAUMIN PATEL

LETTERS - ANAND RAMCHANDRAN

COVER ART - SAUMIN PATEL

EDITORS - RAJ GOLAY,SUPROTIM SENGUPTA

available at landmark mumbai and hyderabad now!

Enjoy the Preview !!

Cover

Art by Raj Golay :

Art by Patel Saumin

We also present the movie trailer for your enjoyment!

Vimanika in Action: A Comicon India retrospective

We sat down with Karan Vir Arora (Vimanika Comics) to take his perspective on recently concluded Comicon India.


Q: What did you think of the first edition of Comicon?
A: Well we just loved the 1st annual comic con in Dilli Haat ! we knew and believed in it from the day one that Jatin and his team could pull off such magnifico event , not only pull off but manage it superbly !

It was profitable for everyone ,we sold out! I mean people were ready to buy our wet posters and comics too!!(Post rain).

Not only did publishers and retailers get a chance to showcase their stuff but Aritists and writers too!


Q: What were your experiences during the con?
A: Well to start with as I landed at my stall and took out our comics people started to flock around and the stuff started to sell out like hot cakes like they were hungry tigers waiting for their hunt to arrive ,only this time comics were the hunt! I did not even get a chance to set up our stall!!

We also did quite a few workshops - how to write comics -was brilliantly presented by Kshitish and how to draw comics by Ratnakar singh and his team.And finally i did a interactive session with the fanboys and gals, post that i aswered loads of questions , Roamed around with Kalki in flesh and blood! -where people were holding on to him to get a shot with him,the model btw came all the way from Chandigarh to do this :)

It was lot of fun i was not free for a sec also ,selling comics,fans getting their pics clicked with us,signing autographs,taking workshops,interacting with the Media electronic and print and finally interacting with the Vimaniks!!! z

loved every bit of it ! Thats life!

Q:What are your plans for the next con?
A: Oh you gonna love what we got for next year ,its going to blow your mind ,lets just keep that a secret for now :)

Cause its only the beginning for Vimanika and Comic con India!!!

There's a new Gaurdian in town...

Full name of comic

Veera the Guardian

Creators

Writer: Nikesh Murali

Artist: Vinay Brahmania

Publishers

Dinamalr Newspaper

Release date

8th of February

What's Veera all about?

Veera, a poor slumboy while trying to escape from his abusive,alcoholic father is drawn into an adventure of cosmic proportions when he accidentally follows his friends, Vasu and Nayana into another dimension called Kaal. 

To his surprise, he finds that Nayana and Vasu are Guardians of the dimension, who protect its innocent inhabitants - refugees from the never ending cosmic war between the Gods and Demons. When Nayana is kidnapped by the cunning Moori and the evil Queen of Khandisa, Veera must team with Vasu and use his wit and hidden powers to save Nayana from being sacrificed.

Stay tuned to our blog for an exclusive interview with the creators and interior pages reveal..