War comics beyond the battlefield

In The Routledge Companion to Comics, Editors Roy Cook, Frank Bramlett, and Aaron Meskin., 2016

Many authors and artists in India are conscious of or even directly engaged with international comics, especially from the USA, Japan, and Europe. Yet, Indian comics remain relatively obscure in those same countries. When they are recognized, readers and reviewers tend to frame them as novelties, rather than part of a vibrant comics world. Despite the rich history of this medium on the subcontinent, many critics and scholars remain mired in earlier educational or later transnational comics publishers. This not only loses the complexity of such works, but also holds such works to transnational and often corporate standards. The result is a lack of appreciation for comics communities and an over-emphasis on works that reach readers within well-established industries outside of India. This chapter highlights the tapestry of the medium in this context – with a focus on the people, titles, publishers, and moments that remain important for creators and their communities in India today.

Cultural History, 6 (1), 2017

GNOSIS: Special Issue-3 , 2019

Although the prehistory of comics in India can be traced all the way back to the 1850’s Delhi Sketchbook or the Indian Punch, the proper Indian comics scene can be said to have started from the 1960’s with the publication of Amar Chitra Katha Comics and thriving publishing houses like Raj Comics and Indrajal Comics. Since then, for the past five decades there has been a steady rise not only in the publication of comics in India, but also in its reception and appreciation. The appropriation of the term ‘graphic novel’, coined by Will Eisner, into the Indian scenario has uplifted the importance given to the comics form. Post-1980’s comics artists in India like Sarnath Banerjee, Vishwajyoti Ghosh, Sarbjit Sen, Orijit Sen, Amruta Patil, Appuppen and many others have started their own endeavors instead of working for publishing houses. This along with numerous graphic anthologies in the recent years like Gaysi Zine, This Side: That Side, Longform, and many others have enlarged the scope and directions of studying comics in India. Having discussed the comics scenario, this paper talks about various ways in which the Indian comics industry is affected by the conceptual notions generated in the western world. It also raises questions about the future of comics as a genre in the Indian context and what its place may be in the upcoming researches of the Humanities departments in India.

2017

This research paper is intended to educate in a broad sense the reader on what was happening during the time frame of the late 1930s to the early 1980s using the lens of the comic book and the cultural phenomenon that resulted in their integration into popular adolescent society. This cultural phenomenon would influence generations of men and women to go to and support war while supporting the idealism that peace could only be achieved through conflict.

International Journal of Comic Art Vol. 15, No. 1, 2013

NOTE: This article has a few out-dated details; please read alongside my Comics in India chapter in the Routledge Companion to Comics, or refer to that piece instead. Despite a diverse and long history of the comics medium in India, much scholarship has tended to focus on just a small sampling. As the most widely published and read Indian comics, books from the Amar Chitra Katha series are the ones that most scholars have focused upon, to the detriment of understanding the wider context of India’s comics, storytelling, and visual cultures. While Amar Chitra Katha would eventually transcend earlier comics and visual narratives in popularity, such works are important for their ability to engage local or regional arts and international comics culture. More importantly, few scholars have addressed the work of contemporary comics creators or the graphic novels and comics currently coming out of Delhi and the rest of India. This article provides a historical account of the path from comic books to the later rise of graphic novels grounded in one creator, Amitabh Kumar’s, experiences as an author and researcher on Indian comics and culture. As a comics creator and researcher, he celebrates the importance of other publishers and creators in maintaining comics as a narrative medium. Based on Kumar’s perspective, as he works to establish a historical narrative himself while engaging with that precedent in crafting his own comics, this article traces the roots of the comics medium in India, from political cartoons to superhero comics and graphic novels.

Comic books and graphic novels are an amalgamation of artwork and literature. It is an interesting medium which can be used to tell a story in an alternative way from other mediums. The medium itself is so distinctive because of the measured way in which it combines visuals and words. We live in a visually driven digital age. Different media channels have benefitted from this. Films, TV, Newspapers and magazines- are available on hand held gadgets. And there are readers who believe in the traditional experience of these mediums. Even comic books are now available digitally. But according to trade figures, the comic book industry throughout the world is struggling despite the digital convenience. Its appeal is niche and the Industry isn’t exactly a money spinner like Films. The Indian Comic book industry has managed to exist and prosper in by far; one of the toughest commercial environments in the world. The distribution channels for comic books are non-existent in India. The readership is miniscule. For years, they have told stories influenced by Western comic books. They were bound by the harshness of the market. They managed to exist and survive. The situation has now changed for the better. Indian comic book industry is now a different animal altogether: a perseverant beast; to be precise. Numerous comic cons (pop culture conventions) have been successful in India. The Industry has embraced elements which are rooted deep in its countries culture. Stories have been spun around sadhus, goddesses, mystiques, warriors, ghosts, pop culture icons, unusual creatures and even social issues. This has added to the existent crop of superheroes and detective based comic books. Apart from this, there is also a dedicated Graphic novel industry now. This research delves into contemporary comic books and graphic novels which are an indicator of this change. The metamorphosis has been backed by narrative, aesthetic and distinctive qualities of these comic books and graphic novels. This inquiry attempts to provide a definitive compilation of distinctive conceptual, visual and storytelling elements that make the Indian Comic book Industry what it is today. 107 contemporary comic books/graphic novels by 28 publishers were a part of this study. Patterns, range and uniqueness emerged amongst the chosen material. The research also identified other dimensions for further research of Indian comic books.

International Journal of Comic Art, 2010

Comics simply combine words and (non-moving) pictures in an integrated way. As a separate genre in story narration, comics have historical roots in three different parts of the world. First of all, there is the Japanese tradition of graphic art, which has developed into the so-called m(tnga-comics that arc nowadays not only popular in East Asia, but also in many countries in Europe and North America. Second, there is the tradition of European broadsheets which illustrated moral, religious, and political tales to large, sometimes illiterate audiences and which over time developed into the familiar comic strips in children's magazines and satirical magazines for an adult audience. Third, the roots of this visual narrative can be traced in the United States where newspaper editors discovered the increasing popular comics in the late 19'h and eatly 20'h Century to compete with other mass media publications on a daily basis.2 For over a century noq comic strips have been published in newspapers' magazines and books, and, since the 1990s, also on the Internet. Comics have developed both in content and appearance. Comic strips have inspired the production of films: not only animation films or cartoons, but also movies. Comics have inspired the creation of certain video games, as well as the production ofa great deal ofmerchandise, such as toys, clothing, souvenirs, and packing materials. References to comic strip characters are found almost everywhere, in the streets, in shops, in private houses, but also in special exhibitions and museums dedicated to comics. And of course, comics are still to be found where they originated: in the mass media. Their omnipresence suggests an undeniable impact of the transmitted narratives. So far, not very much is known about the precise way comics influence people's image of the world, but an attemptto analyze its content will be a basic and important f,rrst step. The content of comics has become very diverse during their existence in the 20'h Century. Although the medium derives its English name of the comical, humoristic element in many of the illustrated stories, comic strips nowadays show a much larger variety in themes; the so-called "funnies" are only a minority in the total supply of topics and approaches. Comics can be very serious and very light hearted, sometimes even in one and the same story. Many storylines are rather accessible, but more than once, the complexity of IJOCA, Spring 2010

2011

This dissertation is not the product of a single person, but also reflects the contributions of many who helped in its creation and refinement. While the final result (and mistakes) are mine alone, I was assisted by many people whose help and input must be acknowledged.

South Asian Review, 2018