News - Next-Gen Epic | Times of India | Dec '08

Epic Tales with a New Spin TOI - 28 Dec 08

Times of India carried a news article this week, on the resurgence of the New Super Heroes from the Indian Mythology, Ramayana and Mahabharata.  In fact this seems to be the new trend which has been adopted in Indian comics or animation media. First it was erstwhile Virgin Comics, which pioneered this concept by introducing a variety of comics titles, one of which was Ramayana 3392 AD, which finds a mention in this article, albeit under their new name Liquid Comics (as explained in my previous post on Vimanika on the management buyout). I really liked the artwork which was exhibited in the new Ramayana series (look at the Hanuman art in the article, incredible), which was supposed to debut in India, after their successful launch in US.  But, I was told that the Virgin Comics decided to hold their plans, as they were worried about generating probable ire from the large Hindu population in India, some of whom found these modern creations offended, and devalued their cherished mythos and beliefs, for commercial purposes.  It’s a debate Comicology don’t want to get into, for the sheer respect shared towards all religions followed in India.

There was even an animation movie recently on Junior Hanuman, the success of which prompted the producers to plan a sequel as Hanuman Returns.  Recently, Chandamama also came up with an exclusive Ramayana Graphic Novel, which also finds a mention in this article. Overall, even though I liked these new and welcome attempts to generate mass media attention towards the Indian Genre of Comics, probably trying to imitate the Japanese Manga revolution in India, I still feel that the olden comics classics of Mahabharata and Ramayana from Amar Chitra Katha (ACK), continue to remain my personal favourite.

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News: Batman & Comic Break | Times of India | Nov '08

There are two interesting articles in Times of India related to our cherished hobby, over the weekend, which are grabbed at Comicology for your reading. The first article is from Times of India (TOI) - Chennai Times, 29 Nov 08 edition, which captures the readers uproar towards the authors' (Grant Morrison, in this case) decision to kill Batman in the recent issue, and his prodigy taking his place in the future series.  When will this creators get over the marketing gimmick for boosting sales; as they change, deface, and even eradicate the comics characters we have known for years.  First it was Sherlock Holmes, then Superman, and even Captain America.  Even the current set of authors at Marvel, went to a distance of erasing all the memory of "Spiderman" Peter Parker and Mary Jane's marriage altogether.  That has already put the next Spiderman Movie into a jeopardy. All the times each one of them have been dramatically resurrected to life, after falling sales, and readers lull response.  And for all its trueness, this might be a same case again.  Imagine - you watching the next Batman Movie, when the character itself has become history in its original form. eeks! For those who would like to have a sneak preview of Batman #681, which has the conclusion of Batman RIP series, described in this post as the "End of Batman", here are few panels from the issue. (© DC Comics)

As you could clearly see that Batman's death is pretty inconclusive (paving the way for his return), and his prodigy Dick Grayson (or Nightwing in his superhero avatar) is shown taking over the Batman role at the end. Here are some Official quotes about Batman's RIP storyline, which supports our theory, and a possible return of Batman solely in his Bruce Wayne avatar, and probably on a later stage as Batman Returns, while Dick Grayson or Tim Drake (the 3rd and current Robin) playing the role of Batman in future issues.  Much like the storyline of Superman Returns earlier. Grant Morrison, Series Author: "This is the end of Bruce Wayne as Batman".  Dan DiDio, DC Comics Executive Editor : "Bruce Wayne is indeed alive, though he'll definitely be gone for a while." A unnamed DC Insider: "Wayne doesn't want to be a superhero any more." Eventhough, I first thought that storyline sucks, it might give an option to see how the present authors actually take a different route in the Batman series, then trying to cash in on the legacy left by erstwhile, Bob Kane. The second article is from TOI - Times Life, 30 Nov 08 edition.  It's a follow-up from our earlier article covered at Comicology about the growing interest in the younger generation in reading comics more than reading books, which is a new trend from the past where the kids more often preferred the Novels, and Written fantasies over the Comics medium.  The article advocates the need to take a break, with growing your Comic habit, and get the Boy inside a Man. I would have given a miss to the second article, as it wasn't available for distribution in a few areas in Chennai.  Thanks for fellow Comicologist Pathy's tip-off, I was able to pick that up from the Bangalore edition of TOI.

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News: Comics Hobby - Times of India | Nov '08

Well, it's first for us at Comicology, to talk about a news-article published in Newspapers. But, this particular article released in Times of India edition today, in it's Chennai special: Chennai Times, was related to the growing interest among young readers, to channel their source from the traditional novels, to other forms, including our interest, Comics.

I was never a great fan of Novels, and continue to be one till now.  Somehow, reading through pages and pages of literary work, despite being about any genre, was never my cup of tea.  That used to remind me much on my school day subject syllabuses, which could be a best alternative to your bed pillow, by the sheer size of it.  The much acclaimed Harry Potter series, I prefer to follow only in visual media, through their Movie franchise.

At times, I used to wonder, why not the nuances of Physics, Chemistry, Biology or History,  could have been best told if they are laid with pictures in between.  Didn't we understand history and its leaders much more through the great Anant Pai's Amar Chithra Katha (ACK), then they were told to us in our school History classes? At least, I did.

The best example of which was the type of picture based learning, exhibited in the recent Bollywood movie, Tare Zameen Par (Stars on Earth), which garnered huge recognition among the masses.  The movie is now designated to be the Indian entry for the Oscars this year, and its a worthy of every bit of accolades it gets, for re-emphasizing the importance of the change in our learning system.

So I was equally amused to see the growing interest of Comics among the younger generation, and the change of thoughts among elders, in the way they looked towards this interest, as exhibited in this article (have highlighted the passages with reference to Comics). 

Hopefully, they will boost the Comics Industries in India in the coming years.

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