Sketches of the past: celebrating Indian comics' coming of age

Indian comic books have a long tradition but only recently have they started tackling more mature themes
Charukesi Ramadurai Mar 20, 2011 A few years ago, an unlikely goddess was added to India's already overpopulated pantheon. Going by the name of Savita Bhabhi (meaning sister-in-law), she gave a new twist to the term comic strip: she was India's first pornographic cartoon character. A 29-year-old housewife, Bhabhi had a dedicated website and thousands of dedicated followers. But just a year after its launch in mid-2009, the government, in a fit of moral policing, banned the site and Savita's sexual shenanigans were no longer available for free viewing.

From ''Tall Tales of Vishnu Sharma'' and the cover of an issue of ''Ramayan 3392AD'', all published by Liquid Comics

Around that time, another powerful woman appeared on the scene - but this time offline. Devi, created by filmmaker Shekhar Kapur (Elizabeth, Bandit Queen), was a sassy heroine from Virgin Comics with flashing eyes and a luminous bodysuit. And then there was Sachin Tendulkar, the cricket star who was reinvented in a series called Master Blaster which proved that a short, stocky frame meant nothing to a superhero. Mock him, and he vaporises you with a flaming cricket bat. What a great distance India's comic book industry has come. It's been a long, colourful journey involving Western imports doing battle with heroes from the nation's extensive mythology, and an appraisal of the evolution of the art form has been under way since the death of Indian comic book pioneer Anant Pai last month. India's earliest comic strip heroes were imports from the West. In the mid-1950s, publishing group Bennett, Coleman & Co launched Indrajal comics, bringing to India characters such as Phantom ("the ghost who walks"), Flash Gordon ("he'll save every one of us"), and Mandrake (the magician who "gestures hypnotically"). Indrajal also later introduced home-grown hero Bahadur (meaning "brave") who with girlfriend Bela and dog Chamiya, struck terror into the hearts of the baddies. And during the next decade, entire generations of comic fans struck gold when, in 1967, India Book House editor Anant Pai created the Amar Chitra Katha comics. Literally translated as "immortal picture stories", these comic books featured stories based mainly on Indian mythology. The hero was always noble and valiant, good always triumphed over evil, and the difference between the two was sharp and unambiguous. But who cared? The Amar Chitra Katha comics were packaged in an appealing manner, interspersed with small bite-sized morals, and were easy for kids to digest. The themes expanded to include modern history the lives of freedom fighters, for instance, and popular legends. For a long time, Indian comics were all about larger-than-life heroes and their exploits. Superheroes (of the Indrajal variety) regularly pulled off six impossible things before breakfast. And in Indian mythology, gods have superpowers. Some goddesses too, for many Indians believe in the equality of women where it is least relevant. They carried mountains on their hands, flew in the air and vanquished entire armies singlehandedly. With the 1980s came fresh characters from new publications. Chacha Chaudhary ( Diamond comics) and Detective Moochwala (Target magazine) were instant hits. They solved problems not with extraordinary powers but with their wits and cunning. Chacha Chaudhary's brain was said to be "faster than a computer" but we all know the speed of computers in the 1980s. Pai also introduced the classic Tinkle with stories based on folk tales from India and faraway lands. Each issue also carried contests and snippets on science and world cultures. By then, Anant Pai had come to be called Uncle Pai, and regularly received letters from young readers. Tinkle characters such as Shikhari Shambu, stupid Suppandi, Tantri the Mantri and Kalia the Crow all live in the collective memories of Indians of a certain generation. After Pai died from a heart attack on February 24, a wave of nostalgia spread over blogs and newspapers carried a range of tributes to the creator of the nation's original cartoon network. After the success of Pai's Tinkle, comic books also started appearing in regional Indian languages, featuring local characters. But the strips remained exclusively for children, with simple humour instead of

clever wordplay. There was none of the sophistication of say, Asterix, or the cynicism of Calvin and Hobbes. The arrival of satellite television brought an end to the glory days of comic books on the subcontinent with its wide variety of cartoon shows. Comic book publishing houses found it difficult to survive in a market where children's reading habits were already in decline. Indrajal was the first to go in 1990. Shaktimaan was reduced to endorsing biscuits on television, something of a comedown for India's Superman. But somehow, Amar Chitra Katha adapted and survived by adding more contemporary themes and heroes such as Mother Teresa (humanitarian), Kalpana Chawla (astronaut) and J.R.D. Tata (industrialist). After the lull, a renaissance has been seen in the past few years with new publishing companies appearing on the scene. In 2006, Virgin Comics came to India with sleek offerings which combined the storylines of Amar Chitra Katha and the graphic stylings of Avatar. The company was shut down in 2008, but has been relaunched as Liquid Comics. Ramayan, set in AD3392, is one of Liquid's best sellers, while Vimanika is another company that offers comic books based on Indian mythology. In the past few years, the industry has started to target adult readers with complex narratives and nonlinear presentations. Protagonists have also begun to show shades of grey; between the divine and the diabolical, there is Devi. As Karan Vir Arora, chief executive of Vimanika, says: "Our comics bring out both the rough side - the anger and aggression of some of the gods in our mythology - and the soft side of our ancient history. This shows our culture, our values and our dharma [code of conduct]." Comics are also now looking beyond the successful staples of Indian mythology. Campfire, which has been coming out with a series of graphic novels since 2008, publishes stories derived not just from Indian and Western mythology but also biographies and classics. Titles have focused on Nelson Mandela, the Wright brothers, Frankenstein, The Merchant of Venice, Oliver Twist and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Samit Basu, the author of Devi and other graphic novels, says: "The growth of Indian comics has moved in two different directions now. On one side, action-based comics about superheroes remain popular and on the other, graphic novels in the tone of mature narratives are emerging." The most notable of these novels are Kari by Amruta Patil and Corridor by Sarnath Banerjee, with casual references to aphrodisiacs, lesbians and postmodernism. Of late, blogs devoted to comic books and characters, as well as original comic strips, have begun to mushroom. Merchandising is also finally in. "The stories and the characters created by Vimanika will be brought to life through animated films, live action films, games, toys, theme parks and much more," Arora says. As if to acknowledge this, the first Indian comic book convention was held in New Delhi in the last week of February. It saw fairly heavy attendance and included a book fair with more than 50 publishers. Arora, whose company was an associate sponsor of the convention, remains excited about the response. "It was a blast. Nearly 20,000 people came over two days." Basu agrees: "It is clear there is no lack of enthusiasm among readers of comic books. I could sense genuine excitement when I walked around." Basu adds something that bears out the trend towards comics targeted at adults. "If you say `comic convention', you would expect that in India, people would bring their children. But most visitors were adults. They were all well-versed in international comics and came wearing American and Japanese character

costumes." The choice of venue for the convention was also interesting: Dilli Haat, a perennial market showcasing traditional Indian arts and crafts, now played host to an emerging Indian craft. Considering that the word "comic" comes from the Greek komikos for comedy there is still a startling dearth of humour in Indian comics. Any element of humour is to be seen only on blogs (called webcomics) such as the popular FlyYouFools and Arbit MBA. Perhaps here, too, the future is digital. Ask Savita Bhabhi if you don't believe me.