No longer
living an uncertain existence on the fringes of the publishing world, the
Graphic Novel has truly come a long way. Viewed as a niche genre ever since its
inception, graphic novels were often thought to be the same as comics. The
creation and subsequent publishing of graphic novels like Will Eisner’s
Contract with God, Marvel Comics’ Silver Surfer and Neil Gaiman’s Sandman saw a
shift in the popular perception regarding the medium. The evolution of the
graphic novel in India has, in some ways, mirrored its trajectory in the West.
Starting in the 60s, the Indian publishing industry had a rich repository of
comics that were being published by publishers like Raj Comics, Amar Chitra
Katha and Indrajal Comics. So, although readers were familiar with a format
that was similar—images with panel and text—the content and subject were poles
apart.
Changing
content
The advent of
independent graphic novel creators in the early 90s created a ripple whose
effects can be felt even today. One of the earliest Indian graphic novels was
Orijit Sen’s River of Stories, a take on the socio-political and environmental
issues surrounding the Narmada Bachao Andolan. Another early instance of an
Indian graphic novel that is semi-fictional in mode is Sarnath Banerjee’s
Corridor. Based in modern Delhi, the novel looks at people and their everyday
interactions in an urban setting. Books like these made publishers sit up and
take notice of the graphic novel, opening up the possibility of using it to
create content for mature readers. Manta Ray Comic’s Hush and Phantomville’s
Kashmir Pending that dealt with complex and sensitive issues like child abuse
and post-partition aftermath further cemented the position of the graphic novel
as a medium for serious storytelling.
The last
decade has seen many Indian publishers explore the medium of the graphic novel
for the medium’s sake. The combination of visuals and text create endless
possibilities of telling and re-telling stories across genres. While publishers
like Vimanika and Pop Culture Publishing have used it to create cult-fiction
series like I am Kalki and Odayan, Campfire Graphic Novels has used the medium
to tell the life stories of great leaders and unforgettable personalities like
Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Steve Jobs and more recently, Dr APJ Abdul
Kalam.
Mythology and
the graphic novel
In spite of
novel attempts to create original stories, the one source that most Indian
publishers seem to fall back upon, time and again, for inspiration is
mythology. Titles like Campfire’s Ravana: Roar of the Demon King, Draupadi: The
Fire-born Princess, Krishna: Defender of Dharma and Vimanika’s Shiva: The
Legends of the Immortal have created a strong reader base for this genre in the
Indian market.
Fresh
adaptation of stories from the Mahabharata, Ramayana and other popular
mythological tales continue to make it to shelves in bookstores. Retellings of
Indian mythology seem to draw maximum readers, especially in the case of the
graphic novel. Ingrained in our subconscious since childhood, stories of gods
and goddesses are an inherent part of our cultural idiom. An immediacy of
association with these tales of superhuman men and women, perhaps allows the
reader to explore a world that forms an escape from reality, much like any good
film. Therefore, for every original work like Delhi Calm, Kari or Munnu: A Boy
from Kashmir, there are three to four mythological stories that are being
published.
Even in the
case of popular cult-fiction work like Holy Cow Entertainment’s Aghori where
the protagonist embraces a terrible sect of ascetics, the source of inspiration
is Indian mythology. The story traces the character’s journey that brings him
face-to-face with beings out of Hindu mythology, ultimately making a deal with
the Devas or gods.
The way ahead
Of late,
subjects of horror and fantasy have also seen a rising popularity in graphic
novels. On the lines of From Dusk Till Dawn, Shamik Dasgupta’s Caravan is the
story of a centuries old vampire coven that travels through the deserts of
Rajasthan disguised as a caravan of gypsies.
Besides
these, there are a few novel, but short-lived attempts at stylized renditions
like Sita’s Ramayana and I see Promised Land that have been illustrated by
Patua scroll artists Moyna and Manu Chitrakar, respectively.
Although some
seasoned writers and artists believe that the Indian graphic novel needs to let
go of genre classification, and look beyond mythology for inspiration, the fact
that mythology sells more in India is somewhere reflective of the people’s
taste and choice.
Is it then possible for mainline publishers to not cater to
this wide market?
Whether tales
from Indian mythology continue to be made into graphic novels or not remains to
be seen, but for the time being mythology is here to stay.
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