Indian comics
This article concerns Indian Comics, graphic novels and the comic industry in India.
History
Early years
The concept of comics in India is quite recent compared to the European, American and Japanese industries, but is nevertheless almost 50 years old. It developed from the adaptations of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata in the 1960s, to educational comics for children, caricatures in print media, and adaptations of American superheroes. Despite the publication of about 100 million copies a year, comics in India is still largely dominated by American characters, and local production remains marginal.
The first Indian comic author was Pran Kumar Sharma. In the beginning of the 1960s, in the magazine Milap of Delhi he published the first Indian strip Daabu. However, this first experiment remained the only one in India in the 1960s, since Indian magazines published exclusively American strips on their pages. He created, however, numerous strips, like Shrimatiji, Pinky, Billoo and the popular Chacha Chaudhary in the 1970s.
In 1967, the cartoonist Anant Pai of the India Book House, launched the series Amar Chitra Katha, the objective of which was to transmit to children the great mythological and Indian religious texts. The story of Krishna was the first in the series, joined rapidly by the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. The collection now has 426 volumes. This success inspired other publishing houses who launched their own series on their own themes: Dreamland Publications and Diamond Comics at New Delhi, and Jaico Publishing House at Mumbai. Some publishing houses specialized in making comics for Indian diaspora , like the Chakra collection, the Cultural Institute for the Vedic Arts of New York. This last collection, which sells mainly in South Africa, Kenya and North America, competes with its contemporaties by adoting a very dynamic style, similar to manga.
Later Years
Anant Pai and India Book House launched in the beginning of the 1980s, the first Indian comic magazine for children, called Tinkle, which was a big success. Tinkle diversified on the educational themes developed by Amar Chitra Katha, including science, contemporary culture, etc. The magazine introduced numerous recurring heroes like amusing Suppandi, Mooshik the adorable mouse, Kalia the crow and the malicious minister Tantri.
In the1990s, the newspapers started publishing caricatures of Indian origin. The Indian democracy permits the journalists and cartoonists to discuss current affairs with reasonable freedom. Among the most famous caricaturists are Joseph Arul Raj, Ashok Dongre and Neelabh Banerjee. Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray was also a caricaturist when he was young. Another notable Indian comic publishing house is Raj Comics, home of characters such as Nagraj, (a Hindu superhero who has subsequently made the transition to television), Doga, Super Commando Dhruva and various others.
Future
In 2003 the comic industry became aware of an unassuming cult comic that had hit the scene. Slave Labor Graphics of San Jose California published Bombaby the Screen Goddess. The comic introduced a character by the name of Sangeeta. Sangeeta doubled as a dutiful daughter by day, and as a reincarnated Hindu goddess by night. Though the comic did not meet wide distribution, it received much acclaim and was even featured in Time Magazine. This influenced the comic industry. The Indian subcontinent is not widely represented in Western popular culture at the moment, despite its enormous impact on world culture, and this changed within the comic industry due to the release of Bombaby. Larger comic houses began their own take on the idea of an Indian superhero or using Indian themes in their books. Two years later, Spiderman went to India. See:
The success of American superheroes and of Marvel Comics in India inspired the Gotham Entertainment Group, the principal editor of comics in South Asia, and the licence holder of Marvel in India, to create in August 2004, the series Spider-Man: India, designed by Jeevan Kang. Spiderman combats against the demons of the Hindu mythology. In adddition, India's first graphic novel, Corridor, was produced, gaining critical accaim and wide sales amongst India's book reading community, introducing adult themed comics to the Indian scene for the first time. See:
Recently, a partnership between Richard Branson's Virgin group, and Gotham Comics, has led to a new company Virgin Comics, who aim to turn India into the next Japan in terms of entertainment, by creating new lines of comics rooted in Hindu mythology and Indian history (much like manga in Japanese culture), which can then lead onto new franchises, such as films, games, and anime. The first three series of comics, set for launch around July 12 2006 are:
The Sadhu will focus on an Indian rishi who has given up moksha to seek revenge for a crime. Devi will feature a female superhero appointed by the gods battling the forces of evil in the fictional town of Sitapur. Snakewoman will feature a young girl's decent into a world of bloodshed, and may be related to the myth of naga.
In addition, at least one other series, based on an ancient Hindu epic, has been named:
It remains to be seen if Indian comics will be able to escape the popular perception in India that they are 'just for kids' as the world accepts them as a complicated adult medium of entertainment. The launch of foreign comics, and Japanese manga and anime in recent years will hopefully help the industry gain a mainstream foothold.
References
- THE NEW FRONTIER: GOTHAM CHOPRA TALKS VIRGIN COMICS
- EASTERN PHILOSOPHY: DEEPAK CHOPRA TALKS VIRGIN COMICS
- VIRGIN COMICS REVEALS INITIAL LINEUP
- VIRGIN'S FIRST TIME: PREVIEWING "DEVI" #1
- VIRGIN COMICS PREVIEWS "THE SADHU" #1
External links
- Virgin Comics
- Gotham Comics
- Raj Comics
- Zoom on Indian comics (French)
- Amar Chitra Katha
- Diamond Comics
- Dubyaman's Duniya
- Spiderman India