Jump to content

Indian comics

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Siddhartha Shah (talk | contribs) at 08:46, 29 January 2012 (inserted column close tag). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

File:Ananta Pai.jpg
Anant Pai, the creator of 'Indian comics' and founder of Amar Chitra Katha
Part of a series on the
Culture of India
Culture of India
Society
Arts and literature
Others
Symbols
Organizations

Indian comics (Chitrakatha, Citrakatha) are comic books and graphic novels associated with the culture of India published in English and various Indian languages. India has a long tradition of comic readership, characters from centuries-old extensive myths and folktales have adorned the covers of children's comic books in India for decades.[1] Indian comics often have large publication; however, the industry still remains immature compared to that of Japan, which is the world's largest producer of serious graphic novels and animation. Due to widespread use of English language, Indian comics and graphic novels tend to be more stylistically similar to Western comics, than the manga, manhwa and manhua of India's Asian neighbors. Over the last three decades, Diamond Comics, Raj Comics, Tinkle and Amar Chitra Katha have established vast distribution networks countrywide and are read by lakhs of children in a wide range of languages.[2]

The famous Comic creators in India include Aabid Surti, Uncle Pai and the cartoonist Pran and famous characters are Chacha Chaudhary, Nagraj, Doga, Suppandi and Shikari Shambhu. Anant Pai, affectionately known as "Uncle Pai," is credited with helping to launch India's comic book industry in the 1960s with his "Amar Chitra Katha" series chronicling the ancient Hindu epics Mahabarata and Ramayana.[3]

The evolution of Indian comics can be broadly divided into four phases. Around 1950s saw syndicated strips like The Phantom, Mandrake, Flash Gordon, Rip Kirby being translated to Indian languages and made into comic books by the publishing group Bennett, Coleman and Company with their Indrajal comics. Indrajal also later introduced home-grown hero Bahadur (meaning "brave"). The success of such comic books was followed by a swarm of publishers trying to emulate these titles.

The second phase in 1960s came in the form of Amar Chitra Katha (literally translated as "immortal picture stories"), comics with hundred percentage Indian content.

The advent of superhero comics in the early '80s marked the third wave, with creators and publishers hoping to benefit from the success of the superhero genre in the West. For a long time, Indian comics were all about larger-than-life heroes and their exploits. Chacha Chaudhary (Diamond comics) and Detective Moochwala (Target magazine) were instant hits. Anant Pai also introduced the classic Tinkle with stories based on folk tales from India and faraway lands. Dozens of publishers churned out hundreds of such comic books every month, but this trend nosedived in the late '90s with the advent of cable television, Internet and other modes of entertainment in India.

However, publishers like Raj Comics and Diamond Comics along with comics like Amar Chitra Katha have been able to sustain their readership. After the lull, a renaissance has been seen in the past few years with new publishing companies appearing on the scene. The last decade has seen a rise in the Indian comic book industry, especially after the Virgin Comics' launch.[4] The company was shut down in 2008, but has been relaunched as Liquid Comics. Ramayan, set in CE 3392, is one of Liquid's best sellers, while Vimanika is another company that offers comic books based on Indian mythology. India hosted its first ever Comics Convention in 2011 February .[5]

History

Early years

The distribution of comics in India is more recent than the European, American and Japanese industries, but is nevertheless almost 60 years old. Despite the publication of about 100 million copies a year, comics in India are still largely dominated by American characters, and local production remains marginal. One of earliest attempts is by comic magazine Chandamama. Chandamama has published in more than 5 languages since 1947.[6] 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.

One of the early Indian comic authors was Aabid Surti, who published the first 3 panel strips Dhabbuji based on the protagonist who is a lawyer by profession and is witty, in the magazine Dharmayug. In the 1970s he also created a character Bahadur for Indrajal Comics which proved to be quite popular and could compete with other characters like the Phantom and Mandrake the Magician in India which was also published in the magazine. Around the same time Pran Kumar Sharma published the comic Daabu. However, these first experiments remained the only ones in India in the 1960s, since Indian magazines almost exclusively published American strips on their pages. Pran created, however, numerous strips, like Shrimatiji, Pinki, Billoo and the popular Chacha Chaudhary in the 1970s. These comics continued to be inspired mainly by newspaper strips, and popular early superhero based Western comics. Unlike in Japan, where comics were quickly recognised as a potentially mature medium, comic readership remained confined to children, and content remained largely conservative and un-intellectual.

Among local languages, cartoon strips and comic books thrived, especially in West Bengal. Pratulchandra Lahiri created two strips on a regular basis, for the Jugantar newspaper in Bengali and for the Amrit Bazar Patrika in English. Narayan Debnath created local strips that were published as books from Kolkata. Among his creations, Nonte Phonte and Handa Bhonda are still in circulation, and have spawned low quality animated films. Another one of his creations, Batul the Great is one of India's earliest superheroes as it was conceived during the sixties. Mayukh Choudhury was another comics author who did stories in the action/adventure and historical genres, published in Bengali. Most of both their work was published by Deb Sahitya Kutir, Koldgffaskata, from 1960s-1980s. Tushar Kanti Chatterjee is another pioneer comics author from Bengal, whose detective comics were serialized in the Bengali magazine Shuktara.

Middle years

Comics of this era were influenced by the popularity of American Archie comics and series like the Adventures of Tintin. In 1967, the editor Anant Pai of the India Book House, launched the series Amar Chitra Katha, the objective of which was to transmit to children the great stories of historical figures and of those in religious texts of Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism and Christianity. The life 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 the 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. 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. Tinkle has a Marathi or Maharashtrian influence in many of the names of characters and storylines. In the 1980s, Target, a children and youth magazine published two page comics. Detective Moochwala by Ajit Ninan and Gardhab Das, the singing donkey, by Neelabh & Jayanto, were its most popular characters. Target magazine was an innovator as its artwork was original and of a high quality for its time. Manjula Padmanabhan, one of the few Indian female comic authors, did illustrations for Target. She also created a female comic character called Suki which was serialized in Sunday Observer in the 1980s. Another notable Indian comic publishing house is Raj Comics, home of characters such as Nagraj, (a superhero who has subsequently made the transition to television), Doga, Super Commando Dhruva, Parmanu and various others.

In Tamil Nadu, Alagar comics is the most famous one. Its available in both English and Tamil.

In Kerala state, Comic digest books (such as Balarama, Poompatta, Bobanum Moliyum, Balabhumi, Balamangalam) are very popular among the urban and the rural people, but the reading remain confined to children. The content includes short stories, translations of Classic novels, Malayalam novels, moral stories, crosswords, science experiments, rhymes, and games etc. and illustrated stories developed in-house or imported. These digests had produced popular characters such as Mayavi, Dinkan, and Soothran. It is important note that most of the people of Kerala considers Comic digest book only as a kid stuff.

Modern age

Virgin Comics started an era of more mature entertainment and art

In 2006, a partnership between Richard Branson's Virgin group, and India's Gotham Comics, led to a new company, Virgin Comics, geared towards creating new lines of comics rooted in Indian mythology and Indian history. The first series of comics were published in 2006, to mixed critical reviews. The main icon of Virgin Comics was the superhero Devi, but other series included a fantasy adaptation of the ancient Ramayana epic, a series based on the life of a supernaturally adept Sadhu, as well as many comics set outside India. All series so far have followed the western style of comic storytelling and art, focusing on the typical 22-page full colour format. This reflects how many of Virgin Comics creative team were inspired by the more mature western comics becoming available in India during the 1990s, such Frank Miller's gritty Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. In 2009, the Virgin Group pulled out of Virgin Comics, and a new company Liquid Comics has taken over with the same core team of Gotham Chopra, Shard Devarajan, and Suresh Seetharaman. (See: Devi, The Sadhu, Snake Woman, Ramayan 3392 A.D., End of Story, The Asura Analogues, India Authentic, The Master Blaster, Seven Brothers, Guy Ritchie's Gamekeeper, Walk-In, Voodoo Child, The Stranded, Dock Walloper, Masked Magician, Shadow Hunter)

Fluid Friction Comics are an International comics company with an Indian partner who have taken Indian mythology as the inspiration for their comic series. Their premier series Devashard is an embellishment on the life of Karna and their future titles will be based around other integral characters from the Mahabharata. All stories are based in a fictional world based on a mythological idea of the Earth 7,000 years ago named Bhumi. The artwork in the comics has been produced by a truly international team featuring artists from both the Eastern & Western hemispheres. Devashard launched for the first time in India just before Diwali in October 2008.[7]

Illustrated Orchids is a comic book company that is operated by the Indian Singaporean diaspora. The company has creative studios in India, and is led by creative director Sudhir Sehgal. Having published comics in Singapore, the company plans to enter the Indian, Malaysian and European market. In contrast to Virgin Comics, the company is oriented toward the eastern market, and seems to contain some manga inspired artwork, as seen on the cover of Mythology issue one, which features the classic manga style facial art. In press releases, the company claims it will create a unique Indian style of comic art. Four series have so far been developed. (See also: Bollywood)

In 2009, an ambitious new company entered the graphic novel market. Based in New Delhi, India, Campfire Graphic Novels has a distribution network with several major publishing houses around the world such as Random House.[8]

Campfire publishes its graphic novels in four categories: Classics, Biography, Mythology, and Originals. Campfire currently has a collection of more than 25 titles, and is poised to increase its output over the coming months. Some of their most popular titles include Photo Booth: A Graphic Novel, Kidnapped, Conquering Everest: The Story of Hillary and Norgay, and 400BC: The Story of the Ten Thousand.[9] After re-creating the classics for a new generation of readers, their current goal is to produce high quality graphic novels using stories from Indian mythology. Already very popular with comic review websites, Campfire Graphic Novels have received good notices from the internet community for their engaging storytelling and high quality artwork,[10] as well as being featured in print based review articles across the world.[11] Campfire is also very active in promoting reading and the graphic novel format. They often conduct popular interactive workshop sessions on the topics of reading and illustration. Campfire Graphic Novels also have a major presence at International Book Fairs and Comic Conventions around the world.

Based out of Mumbai, Level10 Comics was founded in 2009.[12] Level 10 owns a flagship publication titled Comic Jump that is targeted at the 18-30 male audience. They experiment with a number of genres, namely The Rabhas Incident which is a zombie thriller, Shaurya which is about five young people with superhuman qualities, Cricket fantasy series Batu-Gaiden, Daksh and Odayan which are noir and dark hero themed titles. Other titles include Northern Song and Sando. They have also published creator-owned titles. [[Since January, 2012 a new monthly comics titled majic has been published by Pabitra Margherita,(a welknown name in contemporary cultural arena of north east india,) on behalf of Margherita Comics from Guwahati,Assam in four languages(assamese,bengali,hindi and english).Majic contains one full length sci-fi story along with 6 to 7 other short stories mainly fairy tales,fabbles,jokes etc. in its monthly editions.The maiden issue contains a breathtaking time machine journey of a group of five youths into the past.]]

World Comics India is a Delhi based organization promoting comics as a medium of self expression, globally. Started in mid-nineties by a cartoonist Sharad Sharma, it organize workshops to train common people to tell their stories, known as Grassroots comics. Organization has also introduced comics in education. It has initiated several comics campaigns on issues like infanticide, feticide, corporal punishment etc. [13] World Comics has published a number of issue focused comics anthologies, their series on development issues "devcom" was first such example of comics journalism at grassroots level.]].[14]

Newspaper medium comics in India

In the 1990s, newspapers started publishing more caricatures of Indian origin. Indian law and 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 Bisen. With the advent of India's potential and demand of quality comics, but lack of institutes for the speciality in comics art, Mr. Anupam Sinha has launched his own Anupama Academy Of Art for specialisation in departments of creation of comics.[15][citation needed] He is renowned for illustrating some of the best Indian comics. Currently his weekly strip superhero "Rudra" is being hailed as trend setting in hindi newspapers like Dainik Jagran. Ashok Dongre is well known for his Comic Strip SWAMI based on the Infotech Business in India. Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray was also a caricaturist when he was young, and has worked for 'The Free Press Journal', where cartoonist R.K.Laxman has also worked. Bal Thackeray also ran a magazine called 'Marmik', which used cartoons and strips to propagate his political agenda.

In Kerala, cartoonist Toms', created satirical comics. His most famous characters are the prankster kids 'Boban & Molly'. Rajneesh Kapoor is one of the few Indian contemporary cartoonists who does a regular newspaper strip in English, called 'This is Our Life'.

Web-comics in India

File:Badmash webcomic.png
Scene from the comedy Badmash.tv webcomic which is popular amongst the Indian diaspora

The increasingly popular webcomic medium, which is mostly dedicated to short online comedy strips, has also been used by a small number of Indian artists or writers. Badmash is created by and aimed at the Indian diaspora. This format is expected to expand due to ICT literacy, large numbers of white-collar workers, and internet penetration in India. "Curry Bear Comics" is another popular Indian webcomic that revolves around three South Asian college kids and their white friend. This comic is aimed more at Indian College students living in America. Another popular Indian webcomic "Fly, You Fools!" is aimed at Indian residents, and deals with the daily irritations of life in India.[16] The Indian blog "Daily Humor" also publishes webcomics and was featured on one of India's premiere blogs "India Uncut". Webcomics afford an outlet for artists who do not wish to distribute via published media.'Savita Bhabhi', a webcomic, is possibly the first pornographic comic in India. 'Arbit Choudhury', another webcomic, is regarded as the World's 1st MBA Comic Character. "Sunny Kris", a webcomic focusing on Indian workplaces through its five characters is another new addition to the growing list of independent webcomics. "Spicy Desi" is yet another newcomer to this ever evolving genre. It's focus is to show South Asian lifestyle from a western perspective. "Kinnari" a fantasy web comic set in ancient India is aimed at a wider group of viewers. Self publishing of single panel gags and other cartoons by Indian cartoonists is gaining momentum. IndianWebComics lists and discuss works by Indian web comic artists and cartoonists.

Non-Indian writers' work

The Indian adaptation of Spider-Man, Spider-Man:India, was mainly bought by collectors

In 2002 the comic industry published a minor cult comic based upon contemporary Indian culture. Slave Labor Graphics of San Jose California published Bombaby the Screen Goddess. The comic introduced a character by the name of Sangeeta, who doubled as a dutiful daughter by day, and as a reincarnated Hindu goddess by night. The comic did not meet wide distribution, although it received acclaim and was featured in Time Magazine.

Although large western comic houses such as Marvel had used Indian superheroes and characters in the past, (such as Timeslip, Karima Shapandar, Neal Shaara, Indra and Captain Nemo), this was probably the first comic series to use an Indian character as its main protagonist. Other comic artists started similar projects, such as Grant Morrison's Vimanarama comic, and Marvel's Spider-Man: India project, which was the first major release by a large comic company, introduced India-based artists talent to the mainstream, and which was published in India by Gotham Comics. The title was inspired by the success of American comics in India.

Japanese manga artists have also produced numerous series with Indian themes, including the use of yogic terminology in Naruto, the Kushan Empire in Berserk, and numerous references to common gods and demons which Japan and India share thanks to the commonality of Buddhist influence in the two countries. A great many manga series are inspired by Journey to the West, the classic Chinese tale of Buddhist monks on pilgrimage to India. Some manga series which have Indian themes central to the plot are; the Buddha manga, Earth Girl Arjuna, Saiyuki and RG Veda. See:

More recent developments within Indian publishing include the use of foreign editors and writers. Campfire, based in New Delhi, recently published three original graphic novel titles written by Lewis Helfand, Mark Jones, and Sidney Williams. 400BC: The Story of the Ten Thousand,[17] Photo Booth: A Graphic Novel,[18] and Dusk Society[19] were commissioned by, writer and editor, Mark Jones.[20]

Graphic novels

In addition to the recent development of more mature comics, in 2004, Penguin published Corridor, by Sarnath Banerjee, which was widely advertised as India's first graphic novel, followed by a second foray in 2007. However, a 60 page comic called River of Stories by Delhi based artist Orijit Sen, published in 1994 by Kalpavriksh, about the Narmada Dam Projects controversy, is an important precedent and can be regarded as one of the early Indian graphic novels. Kashmir Pending by Naseer Ahmed, and The Believers by Abdul Sultan, both dealing with Islamic militancy, were released by Phantomville, Sarnath Banerjee's company. Chennai-based Blaft Publications has entered the graphic novel arena with the publication of Moonward (2009), by George Mathen a.k.a. Appupen. See:

Comic Con India

A comics convention was held at Dilli Haat, New Delhi, on Feb. 19-20, 2011. The convention was a first for India, and took the San Diego Comic Con as its inspiration.

Comics Journalism

There are few unique examples are available in Comics Journalism in India. Orijit Sen's "River of Stories" was first step in this direction. In 2011, World Comics India started a six months online diploma course in Comics Journalism. Comics Journalism

Publishers

Critical works

India's Immortal Comic Books: Gods, Kings, and Other Heroes, by Karline McLain, Indiana University Press, 2009. ISBN 978-0-253-22052-3.

File:Nandini chandra ack.jpg

The Classic Popular-Amar Chitra Katha (1967-2007), by Nandini Chandra, Yoda Press, 2008. ISBN 81-903634-3-3. The book analyses the ideological sources, objectives and the influence of Amar Chitra Katha comics in the cultural politics of India. It is possibly the first book length discussion of Indian comics.

Comics with Interactivity

File:Giddoo Cover.jpg
Front Cover

"Giddoo: The Jungle Adventure", by Anil Saigal is one of India's first Comic Book with an interactive interface. The book features 3 songs - "Moti's Tumble", "Herd for Nerds" "Kalva Rap". These songs are available online for readers to sing along while reading the book. Ashee Media, the publisher, plans to release the second edition of the book early next year [2012] with a CD which will have the songs and audio-video clips from the book. The "Kalva Rap" is becoming a huge hit amongst kids. The book is currently available in English and Hindi and the author is in the process of translating it in other Indian Regional Languages and the foreign language German.

The book was launched at the Crossword Bookstore, Kemps corner on 4 December 2011. The book is available in all leading bookstores in India. It has also been made available on the iPad.

There are already talks of the book being converted into an animation film. Giddoo is said to give a stiff competition to international cartoon characters like Tom and Jerry and Mickey Mouse as per a review in the leading Indian newspaper Amar Ujala.

References

  1. ^ www.reuters.com
  2. ^ [1]
  3. ^ news.yahoo.com
  4. ^ [2]
  5. ^ www.telegraph.co.uk
  6. ^ "Chandamama Corporate Site". chandamama.org.
  7. ^ Fluid Friction Comics Official WebsiteFluid Friction Comics' Launch in India
  8. ^ http://www.randomhouse.biz/libraries/pdfs/Graphic_Novel_Catalog10.pdf
  9. ^ "Best Sellers". Amazon.co.uk.
  10. ^ "The Comics Cube!: Fresh Off the Read Pile: Moby Dick by Campfire Graphic Novels". Comicscube.blogspot.com. 2010-07-22. Retrieved 2010-09-13.
  11. ^ "Classics go graphic". Hindustan Times. 2010-03-10. Retrieved 2010-09-13.
  12. ^ Article by Raoul Lobo
  13. ^ [3]
  14. ^ http://www.worldcomicsindia.com/wci.html
  15. ^ "Anupam Academy of Art". anupamacademyofart.com.
  16. ^ "Fly, You Fools on Mint". flickr.com.
  17. ^ "400BC:The Story of the Ten Thousand". amazon.co.uk.
  18. ^ "Photo Booth". amazon.co.uk.
  19. ^ "Dusk Society". amazon.co.uk.
  20. ^ "Campfire Original Graphic Novels". campfire.co.in.

External links

{{{inline}}}

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Indian_comics&oldid=473824086"