Comic Con India – New Delhi - 2011

In another few hours, India will have its first-ever Comic Con, a kind of which have been in existence in Americas, Europas, and Japan, for near 4 decades, but only has been in talk in India up recently. It’s truly a chance for India, to stake its claim in the international arena, with its range of offerings, which aren’t dictated by the Westerners or the Easterners.

We here at Comicology, give you a heads-up on with few know-hows, and about what you could expect from the 2-day event extravaganza, set to showdown at the capital city of New Delhi.

Convention for Comics, what about Book Fairs then?

Books and its related Conventions have happened over the years, since the time it has come into existence. While a general Book Convention brings readers of all genre’s, it doesn’t focus on one particular way of story telling, or that matter an original take. Comics are the one’s which takes the story telling, and keeps it close to the ways in which it was originally been in use from Stone Age, the Graphical way.

Comic Cons (aka Conventions), are the result of that love towards Comics or Graphic Novels. You get to focus on one, you cherish reading the most, and meet fellow like minded people, whom you always wanted to gang up with.

How many Comic Cons are happening around the World?

Well, it seems almost every major city in the West, and the Japan, Korean hemispheres hosting an Comic Con event of its own. But the most famous ones, and the one which every Comic fan cherishes to attend in our life time, can be brought down to

• San Diego Comic-Con International – It’s the 4th largest Comic Con in the world, but the one which usually pulls all the media and happening crowd among its strength, especially considering that it’s from the American heartland.

• Japan’s Comikets – It’s the largest Comic Con in the world, and the only one which is exclusively organized for the Self Publishing creators working on Manga genre.

• Angoulême International Comics Festival – It’s the 2nd largest Comic Con in the world, which heralds the world of Comics, away from the impact of American or Manga, promoting the Franco-Belgian goldies.

• Lucca Comics and Games – Even though considered the oldest (started in 1966), and the second largest, it has never been able to break out of its traditional and geographical mould. But it has its own takers.

Is India ready to host it’s own Comic Con Yet?

I would say it’s long due, even though I must also admit that we haven’t grown to a stage where we have number of players in the business, to have a Comic Con of our own. But, the last couple of years, we have seen a lot of enthusiasm among Comics fans, and it’s ably supported by a new wave of creators working on Comics, who have all geared to make them count in the international arena.

Indian Comic Con, is certainly a one which is much needed to nurture and channel this talent, and make it be heard in a common forum, published internationally.

Who are the Organizers, and how it evolved?

One of the first talks about Comic Con in India, I heard was from a Comic fan based out in Mumbai, who wanted to have it set for the same 2011, in his city. But an idea, like that needs not only the passion, but  also the able to put their hard earned money in the picture, and more importantly support of a business house which thrives on the media, which matters most for such events and bring the involved companies all under one roof.

That was made possible by Twenty Onwards Media, based out in New Delhi, and it was it’s chief, Jatin Varma, who can now proudly be called as the Founder of the initiative. Much kudos should go to him and his team, to bring this event into fruition.

Why is it in Delhi, and not any other City?

It’s an obvious choice, since the organizers, are based out in the City.  Being the national capital, one can’t question its choice of selection either.

But, what would I like to see is the Comic Con India, being hosted across each metro cities of India, every year. That will help it reach much wider audience. It’s the first one, so let it happen, before we ponder over city loyalty and affections :)

Who all are participating?

You normally expect only Comic Companies or Graphic Novel affiliates, to find in a Comic Con. But, Comics or GNs have become more an enabler for a number of other businesses, like Merchandising through Toys, Movie Features, and more. And considering, that India doesn’t have a number of players in the field yet, to fill an event with only those companies, the organisers have ensured to rope-in companies who can be linked up to Comics in some ways, like Toys and Merchandising shops, Print Media, etc.

That said, there are still a handful of Comic Companies, who are going to make their presence, and these are three, whom I am looking forward to.

Some of them are going to have their new launch up of titles, while the others would bring their collections, to be bought and signed over from the creators themselves.

Apart from them, the long awaited independent projects like Chitrakatha, and Ravanayan, would also be present The chance to sync up with the folks, also offers a chance to barge them with questions on their target date, one you can’t let go, for sure.

What could I expect in the Event?

Everything, what you could normally expect on a Comic fans and creators, get-together. But, most importantly, it’s going to be a chance to interact with niche people, who share your passion towards Comics.

Let’s ask this to ourselves. How many times we wanted to explore and share our readings or new finds on Comics, with anyone other than your usual circle? Why is it so, because we expect to hear and share another person’s perspective, over the ones you loved reading, and discover new items for our reading in the process. And What’s more interesting then syncing up with the people, who have worked on them.

The introduction of World of Internet in mid 90’s, could have paved the way for more such interactions  happening over the net, and the ages of Web forums, have now only been pushed to a back alley, by the more faster Websites promoting Social Networking (like Facebook, Orkut), where the like minded can interact with a bunch of people, and share and cherish their reads and finds, all the while not having to know personally.

But, still there is nothing better than the olden ways, of face to face interaction, and here is a chance to do so.

Apart from that, there is a chance to bring the Superhero (or may I dare to say, the Kid) in you, as a series of prizes have been announced by the organizers. So don’t be surprised, if you see Supermans and Batmans, and even some of our homegrown superheroes, eavesdropping on you at the event.

Is there an Agenda to the Event?

There is a set plan spread over two days, which gives you an option to plan your visits and be engaged with the happenings over time. Here is a Two Pager, sourced from the Organizing team.

There is almost a workshop happening, every half an hour, so the hard choice of picking and choosing the ones you like the most, is upon you.

I guess it’s, going to be tricky :)

So, here we are, to celebrate the most unique passion, among all readers of arts. Let’s be Comical and let our heart out on the event, and get attached to the one we dear the most, Comics. 

Comicology wishes the Indian Comic Con, all the best, and hope we can have some good moments to take out from the event.

For further readings, here are our fellow Bloggers who have blogged their heart-out about the event, which all deserves a look and a read.

• http://bkpc.blogspot.com/2011/02/first-annual-comic-con-india-2011.html
• http://justcomix.com/2011/02/following-conventions/
• http://adventuration.blogspot.com/2011/02/india-comic-con-how-it-measures-up.html
• http://www.gothamcomics.co.nr/

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News – Return of Indian Superheroes | HT | Feb ‘10

Those who are passionate about Comics among us would all agree that Comics in India, is largely an industry, which never got its due credit, compared to the ones which its counterparts in Americas, Europe, and Japan enjoyed.

Did we not have the talent, or the interest, or the creativity?, what pushed us in the back corner of the alley, when other industries flourished?

Much was to do with the way the then Indian comics publishers perceived the market, who instead of relying on the wealth which had to be nurtured within, were instead eager to tap to this business medium, by bringing in the foreign content for local publishing. What they did in the process, was to cut out the creativity, and uniqueness of Indian comics creators, who failed to get the necessary backing. And evidently, the success of such publications over test of time, remains the best lesson learnt.

But, not all players followed the suit, as exhibited by a handful of publishers, who stood different and were ready to go any miles to promote local content. Only a handful of them survived the TV and Internet era, and they remain to tell the story.

This month’s Hindustan Times newspaper carried a thought provoking account of the same, with inputs from Comics publishers, who belong to the later category - the legendary Diamond Comics and Raj Comics.

It talks about the survivors from the Dark Ages of Indian Comics, a period highlighted by Diamond’s Gulshan Raj, as between 1997-2003, when TV and Internet medium took over from traditional print runs.

The article talks about the current plans of those surviving publishers, in order to better align with the changing times.

One another interesting reference, in the article, is Raj Comic’s Sanjay Gupta’s acceptance that his creation, Nagraj, created in 1980’s and arguably one of the first and better known Indian Comic heroes, failure from establishing himself in the bigger league. In Gupta’s own words, a stature similar to Superman/Batman.

Only recently, Superman and Batman’s first ever appearances in Comics, made headlines as they were outbid each other to a tune of $1 million, on comics auction sites.

Eventhough, the real scenario under which these overshot money, could be attributed to the poor economy, and the need for newer investment fronts, the fact remains that the thought of Nagraj breaking grounds with Superman or Batman, cannot be realistic, keeping in mind the difference in the comic market as it was and is available in US, with the one we have/had in India, which are poles apart to say the least.

As much as we could mock the dream for all its ambitions, we couldn’t ignore that the intent was there, when the Nagraj character was envisioned. But was their equal weight of effort in planning to reach the big league? Let’s accept Superman/Batman evolved during time, mainly because that it was born in a language, which had a universal reach, and was contributed by the fact, they were the first of its kind.

On the contrary, Raj Comics concentrated its market only for Hindi speaking sect, thus, apart from the Hindi speaking states in India, it was never popular in the other states, and sometimes even unheard in some among them. If it could not break the Desi language barrier, did it stand any chance at the International stage?

At least, their present focus to reinvent the characterisation, and their increased focus on reprinting the older issues, in better paper quality and print techniques, should bring them into mainstream, and hopefully this time they would do it sans the limited language focus.

The best quote I can draw from the recent media article, was Karan Vir of Vimanika Comics’s assertion on the same quality lines.

..Someday I hope to make Vimanika the DC or Marvel of India. We may not be able to replicate their success in the print runs but I'm sure we'll get there in terms of quality and art.

That isn’t all. Hindustan Times, also carries another Comics article, aptly titled Comic Punch, where it looks in detail the present comics market, and then the future as it is being planned by the new and established players in the field.

Staying with the article, the current comic market in India, is said to be around 300 Crores mark, with an estimated print run 12.5 crores every year. Industry experts also believe that the market is expected to grow by 40% over the next few years, pooling in all those aspiring companies, to join the frenzy.

Diamond Comics, Raj Comics, Amar Chitra Katha (under it’s new ACK Media avatar), all seem to be gung-ho on taking their comics ventures, to the next level, in terms of animated and full-feature films, DVDs, Mobile and eComics.

On a reality check, there is no harm in comics publishers trying to tap into newer mediums, which is the need of the hour. But hopefully, they would realize the importance of staying true to the roots of print medium, which eventually opened up all these frontiers.

For reasons, they can always look back at another promising venture like Virgin Comics (now Liquid Comics), suffered at the hands of dreaming big, and losing their forte. Even though, they keep making news (including this very article in reference), it’s long time since they came out of hibernation, to prove that they still stand a chance in the industry. I hope I am proven wrong, but the Omen is strong enough, considering Virgin’s past track records. All izzz Well or hopefully will be :)

 

I guess this article, did turn out to a pretty serious mode, and to keep the comic spirit up, here is another article in the same newspaper, talking about the Walt Disney of India, Mr. Pran, the legendary creator of Chacha Chaudhary and umpteen other desi cartoon characters, which have been entertaining the kids and teens alike, for near 4 decades.

Well, I must admit, that I have outgrown most of what Diamond Comics throws at us off late, but the fact remains Pranji, is still considered one of the greatest icon in comics medium, as highlighted by the fan following he enjoys among kids, even today.

No wonder Diamond Comics, which still publishes Chacha Chaudhary and other Pran characters, into comics format, is easily the biggest comics publisher until today. But they can’t sit on their laurels, as other players including the newer ones, are going to take the fight to them. Comics readers are in for a treat, for sure.

In keeping with spirit of current times, here is a Pran designed cover art on occasion of Holi, which decorated the cover of yesteryear Lotpot, a magazine in which Pran’s legendary creation Chacha Chaudhary originally appeared in.
(Courtesy: Comic World)

Wish you all a Happy Holi, dear friends. Adios Amigos!!

References: Hindustan Times, Steve on Superman #1 Sale, Yahoo on Batman #1 Sale, Comic World on Lotpot, Rediff’s Interview with Karan.

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