2nd Year Anniversary & Comics News

Well, it feels just like yesterday, when I sat down and thought about giving some form to my long standing ambition to start an exclusive website devoted to one of my long cherished passion over Comics. What came out of that thought, was the blog which has come to be known as Comicology.

And what we have here, is the Second Anniversary of our Blog. Time does run fast, isn’t it? I will save you of my blabbering for the end of the post, but before that, just like our 1st Year Anniversary post, let’s look into some of the most happening news around Indian Comicosphere, to mark the occasion.

On the Indian Comics front, the past year was one of the best in terms of more players joining the Comics field, meaning to its true essence. Ever since Virgin Comics closed shops in 2007, which previewed a whole new face of Indian Comics, there was a dearth of fresh air in the Indian Comics space. Finally, the call seems to have been answered by a host of new start-ups, which are vying to fill up the void left by Virgin/Gotham.

Let’s look into some of those who were recently in the news for their newer endeavours. The list includes only those brands who are still in active publishing, thus steering past the forerunners Indrajal Comics (which had its run from 1964 to 1990, amassing 803 titles in total), Amar Chitra Katha (started in 1967 and running till 1991, amassing 436 titles, and since have been reduced to just reprints. Read more about ACK, here), and the recent casualty Gotham Comics (which never made a long run, through its entire start and stop publishing. Read about their last set release, here).

Diamond Comics: From a publishing house which has it roots earlier to the Indian Independence (which dates back to 1907), Diamond Comics, which was started in 1978, remains the most sold comics brand in India, which continues even today. Despite being the forerunner of Comics biz in India, comics fans were always apprehensive about their restrictions into evolving the comics beyond the Chacha Chowdhary, Pinky faces (most commonly referred to as Pran Era), to move to an evolved Graphic Novel format. But, Diamond Comics continues to remain on the same foothold, where they feel themselves more comfortable at.

The only good news heard from them recently, was their foray into bringing Walt Disney back to India, under their sister brand “Junior Diamond”. Read more about it over here. But for the sheer fact of being one of the forerunner of Indian Comics, much more is expected out of them.

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Raj Comics: The only other brand which could rate up to Diamond to claim their share of the longest in the business; is the 1984 starter Raj Comics. They truly deserve every bit of the accolades, which is reflected by their slogan ‘The Home of Indian Superhero Comics’.

Raj Comics picked up the area which was mostly untouched by Diamond, to base their storylines on in-house created Superheroes, most famous of them being the Raj Comics trio of Nagraj, Doga, and Dhruva.

The superior artwork went hand in hand with the wonderfully written plot, to make their series one of the most recognised ones, very close to the fame enjoyed by DC/Marvel characters in India. Till date, their line-up consists of an amazing 3500+ titles.

The only complaints over Raj Comics, was their ever standing image of being a regional language player (For starters, Raj Comics is predominantly published in Hindi), which long deprived them of the international recognition, which they thoroughly deserve for their splendid work on the Indian Comics front.

Incidentally, there was a recent announcement from the publishers, on them reaching out to more languages (which I presume should include English too) with their brand, which should put them right on with the elite in the business. I am staying hopeful. For details, refer www.rajcomics.com

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Vimanika Comics: The only comics company which can claim to have picked up from where Virgin left-off. A brain child of Mumbai based Karan Vir, which was started with much fanfare in 2008. They have two series, in their line-up, namely The Sixth and Moksha, which have so far been released in 3 issues each (including the #0).

The artwork is clearly of the highest standards, you can find at present in India. The plot-work is mostly based on the Indian Mythology, with a retake on some of the forgotten heroes from the myth. (Read more about it, here)
 

In 2009, Vimanika Comics have planned to release their first two Graphic Novels, in the forms of The Legends of Karna (which talks about the life and times of Karna from the Mahabharata epic), and Dashaavatar (which talks about the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu, as per Hindu Mythology).

The two will become the first volumes, of a series which would run for a couple of years, as per Karan.

Here is a preview of both of those Graphic Novels, which is sure to draw attention towards those incredibly drawn and colored panels. I am eagerly looking forward for them to hit the stands. For details, refer www.vimanika.com 

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Campfire: Another new start-up from the publishers Kalyani Navyug Media, based out in New Delhi. Their initial concentration is totally different from the original Virgin or new-gen Vimanika, as they decided to license out the famous classic novels known to one and all, and present them in a whole new package.

In late 2008, they came up with a host of these classic titles, decorated with new artwork from a number of Indian artists. Not much I could say about the venture, as I am yet to buy them, which I would do shortly, for a review at Comicology.

As far as I have previewed the series, even though the artworks were of varied quality, and some were real breath-taking, the sheer focus on recreating the olden classics, which were read and experienced by majority of the readers bunch, is a little let-down, as it doesn’t allow you to enjoy the title to the fullest, let alone the interest of experiencing something new.

Their company website, says that they are also in the process of creating some Original titles, along with comics based on Mythology. So, I will reserve my verdict, after experiencing their titles. As per the sales, goes I still see much of Campfire titles available on shops, which were released way back in 2008. They must think about more aggressive marketing strategies, if they want to make themselves know among the masses. For details, refer www.campfire.co.in

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Arkin Comics: Is an aspiring comics company, started by Rohan Kapadia, based out in Pune. Their primary objective is to create custom comics, and also venture on 3-D comics, which they tout as the first ever in India.

Their current concentration is on releasing a line-up of comics consisting of a new superhero team, by the name of IRITH, which they pronounce as India’s First Anti-Terrorist Superhero Task Force. A huge difference from their other contemporaries, who all seem to be relying their titles on Indian mythology.

We had previewed their planned series during our V-Day post here, where the creators behind the series had expressed their concept on the direction of their dream venture. Refer to the interesting discussion on Comments section at the end of the post.

Their first issue is due in the mid of August, so do look forward for them at your local newsstands. For details, refer www.arkincomics.com

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M4 Comics: Another aspiring comics company, from the recently started M4 Media, based out in New Delhi. Dheeraj Verma, co-founder of M4 Media, and former veteran artist of Raj Comics, who recently also had a stint with Vimanika, has said that they are working on a new series, titled as One, which will be a take-down again from the Mahabharata epic.

Seems that the epic Mahabharata, is the hot property among all the new comic start-ups in India at present.

Apart from the Comics, they are also planning for a host of magazines targeted at Kids and Young adults.

Not much, I could say about them, as their plans are still on an early stage, and much depends on how their final products turns-out. For details, refer www.m4media.in 

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Fluid Comics: Well, as it turned out, the wealth in offer with Mahabharata epic, or Indian mythology as a whole, is not only restricted to aspiring Indian start-ups. Fluid Friction Comics, who are based out in Hong Kong, and specialises in the Manhua (which is the Chinese art version, of Japanese Manga), have come up with a new title Devashard, which also is a take-down from the characters represented in Mahabharata.

They have so far released two titles, in Hong Kong and Internationally. Out of which, the first edition was distributed for sale in India through IDB. It was priced around INR 195, which was way over cost, for a brand new comic in Indian market.

As expected, their sales weren’t as promising, and the second issue of Devashard, is yet to make it to India, which I doubt it will never be.

I had picked up the first title (which was available in late 2008), which featured a new cover from their international version, to mark their Indian entry and make it more aligned to the Indian readers (The Sun god centric cover-art).

To say frankly, I wasn’t impressed to a great extent, either in the artwork or the storyline. The only bright aspect of the series, was the depiction of Earth, which is termed as Bhumi, and was detailed into such minute reference and geographical distribution of lands and uninhabited places, which was an entirely different takedown from other comic series I have read based on Mahabharata.

May be a second issue in the series, with reasonable pricing would have given an opportunity to re-experience the series and take a final call. But with that looking improbable at the moment, the verdict is reserved on the series. We will see more about the series, during our review of the first title, which is been pending for long time at Comicology.

For details, refer www.fluid-comics.com, www.devashard.com, and their official blog devashard.blogspot.com (which has some inside details about the characters and the world of Devashard. Definitely, deserves a visit and read)

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And that brings to the end of the Comics News exclusive to the Indian domain, covering all the happenings around the Indian Comics Industry. Now, for a little chit-chat on our occasion of celebrating the 2nd Year anniversary at the blog.

It has indeed been a long and fruitful journey so far for us at Comicology, especially to me. From a humble beginning when the blog was frequented only by a handful of friends, it has blossomed into a website which garners more than 200 hits a day on an average, from over 120 countries.

It speaks volume about the contribution of readers, who cherished reading about one of our unique passion towards Comics. From my side, I have always resolved to the determination, that I wouldn’t be using this blog either as a medium for making money, or to drift away to things unrelated to Comics or its sub-genre Animation.

On this sweetful journey, I also garnered a host of friends, which I believe was the biggest achievement of this whole initiative. The journey also brought some bitter pills to swallow, but they only helped me to grow more determined, and focus on evolving the content offering, day-in an day-out. In return for all those true love and support, you can take my words that we are here to stay and together will enjoy the richness in offer out of the “The 9th Art”, for years to come.

And just before I close, I often come face to face to few of the nears, who keep asking me the same question –“Do you feel your time is well spent on this childhood passion?”. Well it’s hard to explain to them on your likes and dislikes, but I simply want to leave them with some of the famous words uttered by T.S.Elliot:

“Time you enjoyed wasting is not wasted time”

Wish you a Happy Friendship day, my friends, aka fellow Comikers. Have Fun and nJoY

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News - Comics Bloggers making Waves | Jun '09

World is mourning the loss of an icon, famously known among his fans as the “King of Pop”, Michael Jackson. Even though I have reservations over his life at large, the fact remains that no one can deny the popularity and respect he enjoyed among music fans world over, whom he inspired and commanded for decades through his famed blockbuster albums. With that said, I hope he finds his joy in his afterlife.

In the World of Comics, the month of June was a pleasant surprise, as some of our fellow comics bloggers achieved important milestones in their respective means, garnering media attention too. This post is to highlight some of them, in the process honouring their efforts towards our unique passion shared towards The 9th Art.

#1: Toonfactory’s Chitrakathaa Rolls-On

Good friend and fellow comiker Alok Sharma, who is famously known on blogosphere, under his nickname Toonfactory, has finally restarted his most ambitious and dream project, Chitrakathaa. Chitrakathaa is a documentary which hopes to map the evolution of comics medium in India, with enough spotlight thrown on the creators who revolutionized this art form, which often is deprived of its fair share of accolades.

As part of this great project, Alok has scheduled a line-up of interviews for days to come, in the process meeting up with some of the famous creators Indian comics scene has ever seen.

The first-up from his side, was the news that he indeed met Mr. Pran Kumar Sharma, known simply as Pran among Comics World. Pran was instrumental in creating a series of locally drawn and inspired comic characters, who looked at the day-to-day lifestyle of typical Indians, with a jolly-good humour attached to them. Some of his legendary creations include Chacha Chaudhary, Pinki, Billoo, which still continue to be syndicated and serialized on a variety of Indian languages.

There was a time (even now) when Diamond Comics wholly relied on Pran, for their in numerous titles, which still continues to find the reprints quite often, along with newly drawn series, which Pran continues to create for Diamond.

Pran was decorated with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Indian Institute of Cartoonists in 2001, It was my childhood dream to meet up this famous icon, who was once named even as the Walt Disney of India.

Good that Alok was able to achieve that feat for all of us. Alok has promised a big write-up and news about other creators whom he would be meeting for his project. Makes for an interesting wait. 

You can learn more about Pran, and the art institution he runs on his official website.

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#2: Comic World on Press

Nobody is a stranger to the fact that comics blogs in India, are mostly dominated by fans of erstwhile brand Indrajal Comics (IJC).  People found their happiness in sharing what they have in their collection, in the process introducing these wealth of titles to new comics readers, as well for the older ones to cherish their childhood passion.

Even though, I have my reservations over releasing a comic in toto on net, I had to appreciate this bloggers enthusiasm in keeping up the comics reading passion alive.

Recently, the speed of these blogs had reduced significantly, as the number of IJC issues which are left un-scanned have reduced to a meager numbers. Many of the blogs have switched over to provide different content to enthuse the visiting readers. One such blogger, is long time friend, and fellow IJC blogger Zaheer, more famously known under his nick-name Comic World.

Recently, he started to venture on newer avenues, by discussing the pulp fictions of India, when Pocket Books based Novels ruled the roost. Many Comic friends would remember that, it was the publications which were publishing pocket books, who eventually started publishing Comics too. Most famous of among them are Raj Comics and Diamond Comics.

One such post at Comic World, which ignited this novel topic, was considered the best ever by many who commented on the topic.

Eventually, Comic World made its way to be featured in an article on a National Daily Newspaper called Hindustan Times.

The article talks about the childhood habit of many who have drooled over these pocket book novels, and comics in general, and their impact on modern society, and literary world. Kudos to Zaheer, for achieving this wonderful feat. Keep Rocking, Bro.

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#3: Comicology draws Attention

Well, I generally try not to blow up my own trumpet. But, it’s a matter of honour to mention that our blog was referred over at ComicBitsOnline, during one of the Interviews with CineBook’s
Olivier Cadic.

CBO’s Terry Hooper, a comic creator himself, and the Keeper of the Black Tower, has always been a good old friend and staunch supporter of Comicology, which is highlighted by the fact that he used to feature posts now and then about our blog in his most visited website (Ref. these pages). I am grateful, to Terry for his support towards this long journey through our favourite Genre.

Not only that, everyone who is fan of British Genre of Comics, would remember the name Steve Holland. A comics historian on his own rights, who has a host of comics titles credited to him, runs a Rolling News section on his official blog, Bear Alley.

Recently our Lucky Luke post has found its mention among the list, which is generally reserved for comic creators and visionaries. I am thankful to Steve for giving this great recognition to our blog.

For me, these two references in blogs, rate over and above any media article published in newspapers, for the sheer reason that they are written by someone who share the same passion towards Comics, like us Comikers.

By saying that, I don’t decree the occasion, when Comicology was featured in a Tamil Weekly magazine, Ananda Vikatan. I am thankful for them to have allotted a space for us in the esteemed magazine. For other language friends, the article is part of the series, where each week a new blog is introduced to the readers, and this one talked about the various faces of Comics as available in our blog. (Scan Courtesy: Arun S)

Undoubtedly, when you talk about comics bloggers making news, there is no way we can forget that the evergreen Muthufan was the first to feature on a Newspaper article, which was syndicated in a handful of newspapers, including Deccan Chronicle and Asian Age.

The only problem that time was that the content left much to be desired, starting from the title (The title starts with the word Kitsch, can you believe it?). You can read more about it in Viswa’s blog post over here. A sheer case of how a reporter could conceive a topic, without knowing head and tail about the subject. (Scan Courtesy: Viswa)

Wasn’t I right in saying that a mention in comic blogs, rate over and above the media articles written by some unknown faces. Well you be the judge :).

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Cinebook - Backlist Titles | 2009

Guess what, just when I took a breath thinking that we have reviewed pretty much 90% of the titles released by Cinebook as Backlist in 2008, here we are pounded with another set of classic titles from the Franco-Belgian Genre.  Yeap, Cinebook have launched their much expected second batch of Backlist titles to mark the new year 2009, in India.

In our foremost Cinebook debut post, back in 2008, we debated on the topic of whether the deal between Cinebook and Westland will continue, bringing us these wonderful titles, at a bargain price. 

But, subsequent enquiries to Westland didn’t return any favourable response. One of the bigger problems with Indian based companies, is that their zero-response attitude towards readers or fans, unless you have links with a distributor or an inside friend. So, the news of whether or when we will see the next batch of Cinebook, was never known until Oct’08.

On Oct’08, as a desperate act, I logged a request to our dear old friend, Terry of CBO, to check directly with Cinebook’s Olivier Cadic to assess the probability of Indian re-entry.  Guess what, the relentless Terry came back within a couple of a days, with this good news on CBO.  According to which, Westland and Cinebook brokered a return deal at the Frankfurt Book Fair, last year. 

Well, it was sweet news to me, and since then I was expecting to see them hit the stands in India.  My further queries to Westland office on the availability of these titles, were met with a cold shoulder, as always.

Nevertheless, here we are with another set of wonderful issues from Cinebook.  One thing I feared was about the pricing of the titles this time around, with the economic slowdown. But, the good hearts in the biz, seem to have stuck on with their earlier success mantra of bargain prices, tailor made to Indian Comics fan’s budget.

So, without further due, here is the complete list of Cinebook comics available in India, as part of the first batch for 2009:

Aldebran/Betelguese INR 350 | Leo | 4 Titles   # 01: The Catastrophe # 02: The Group # 03: The Creature  # 01: The Survivors	Alpha Renard & Jigounov | 2 Titles  # 01: The Exchange INR 350 # 02: Wolves’ Wages INR 195
Billy and Buddy  INR 195 | Roba | 1 Title # 01: Remember this, Buddy?	Blake & Mortimer INR 250 | Hamme & Benoit | 3 Titles  # 04: The Francis Blake Affair # 05: The Strange Encounter # 06: S.O.S.Meteors
Buck Danny  INR 195 | F Bergese | 1 Title # 01: Night of the Serpent	Cedric INR 195 | Leloup & Cauvin | 1 Title  #01: High-Risk Class
Clifton  INR 195 | Groot & Macherot | 1 Title # 06: Kidnapping	Ducoboo INR 195 | Zidrou & Godi | 1 Title   # 03: Your Answers or Your Life
Green Manor INR 350 | Vehlmann & Bodart | 1 Title  # 02: The Inconvenience of Being Dead	IR$ INR 350 | Desberg & Vrancken | 1 Title  # 02: Blue Ice
Lady S INR 350 | Hamme & Aymond | 1 Title  # 01: Here’s to Suzie	Largo Winch INR 350 | Hamme & Francq | 1 Title # 03: Dutch Connection
Lucky Luke INR 195 | Morris & Goscinny | 4 Titles  # 12: The Rivals of Painful Gulch # 15: The Daltons in the Blizzard # 16: The Black Hills # 17: Apache Canyon	Melusine INR 195 | Clarke & Gilson | 1 Title   #03: The Vampires’ Ball
Orbital  INR 195 | Pelle & Runberg | 1 Title # 01: Scars	Pandora’s Box  INR 195 | Pagot & Alcante| 1 Title # 01: Pride
Papyrus  INR 195 | De Gieter | 1 Title # 03: The Assassinated Pharaoh	Queen Margot INR 250 | Cadic & Derenne | 1 Title  # 03: Endangered Love
Scared to Death INR 195 | Mauricet & Vanholme | 1 Title # 02: Malevolence and Mandrake	Bellybuttons, The INR 195 | De Gieter | 1 Title # 01: Who do you think you are?
Bluecoats, The  INR 195 | Lambil & Cauvin | 2 Titles #01: Robertsonville Prison #02: The Navy Blues	Scorpion, The  INR 350 | Desberg & Marini | 2 Titles  # 01: The Devil’s Mark # 02: The Devil in the Vatican
Thorgal INR 350 | Hamme & Rosinski | 2 Titles # 04: The Archers # 05: The Land of Qa	Yakari INR 195 | Job & Derib | 1 Title  #06: In the Land of Wolves
Yoko Tsuno INR 195 | Leloup | 1 Title   # 03: The Prey and the Ghost

Few notable misses from this set are:

• Lucky Luke: As expected, #11: Western Circus, #13: The Tenderfoot, #14: The Dashing White Cowboy released by Cinebook in 2008, have been given a miss, since they were published in India by Tara Press, already.   
• Iznogoud: Cinebook have published 3 issues of Iznogoud up until 2009, but they chose wisely against distributing them in India; The reason is that Euro Books have currently planned to publish 12 issues of Iznogoud in India in 2009.
• Largo Winch: #2 issue was released back in 2008, but it is missed out in this lot.  I was certainly hoping to see the story unfold in this issue, but it seems we might have to wait for the next batch, and be content with #3 for now.
• Biggles Recounts: Issue #3 was missed out. No qualms, as I didn’t find the series impressive enough to miss. But #3 was promising enough, since it was to talk about Wright Brothers and their inventions.
• Biggles: Spitfire Parade was released by Cinebook in 2008, but as Euro Books have already published majority from the Bergese set in India, the miss is understandable.
     
  Note: As per the latest news, Cinebook have stopped publishing Biggles titles, due to a legal disagreement between the Original French publisher Le Lombard and the people who represent Biggles copyrights. I hope that the issues are sorted out soon, and we will get to see more Biggles titles under the brand of Cinebook.

Due to the recent change in the distribution cycle of Cinebook in India, we would not have to wait for a year or so for each batch of those wonderful titles. Westland have now started ordering Cinebook titles every month on an incremental basis, which is a good news for me, and most importantly will help to continue the series uninterrupted.

As you might have guessed, we will be looking into each of these series more in detail in the upcoming posts at Comicology.  So Stay Tuned, to know more on these gems from the Franco-Belgian Genre.

Here is a snapshot (at the left) of my Complete Cinebook collection (from both batches of 2008 & 2009).  Doesn’t it gives a good show :). It certainly looks huge on my shelf, and only back in 2007 I was thinking that Euro Books is the biggest set in recent years (snapshot at right).

No doubts, Cinebook instalments are much better in content than Euro Books. 

Not to forget it is also much heavier on your pockets then the later. But isn’t it worth the money? :)

Talking of Collections, I couldn’t help but talking about about one of my largest buys ever recently.  Couple of years back, when I visited Uncle Sam’s country, I picked up one issue each of Titan Book’s New Modesty & Bond Series Collection.  They were highly priced (when converted to INR, obviously), but I thought I could own it as a one-off showcase piece in my collection.

But, when I recently witnessed Chennai’s Odyssey Bookstore, showcasing the complete Bond & Modesty collection on the stands, I couldn’t stop myself from the tempting offer laying before me to own them, even though they were priced directly at the exchange rate, once again. Dollar seems to have followed me all along :-).

Nevertheless, the classic comic strips of Bond & Modesty deserve their price, and I convinced myself over a month, to lay my hands on the complete set in 2009.

It remains (and I hope it stays) till date my biggest spend on any specific comic series.

At least, the one good thing I did amidst all these buys, is opting for an email Credit Card statement instead of the traditional physical ones.  Well, as all you might know, It saves me from some prying eyes back home, and a lot of trouble thereafter :).

Well, we are in for a long deal of reviews at Comicology, with all these recent buys.  So strap on, and let’s zoom past them for months to come.

Last Updated: 23 December 2010 - with new Cinebook Titles for the year.

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