The initial titles that have been launched are : Devi, Snake Woman, the Sadhu, Ramayan Reborn and 7 Brothers. They have some preview pages on the site [see pdf version - 17MB].
Being a comic book fan myself, I am excited at this entry of Indian mythology and mysticism into this creative medium. And what caught my attention in these comics, is the fantastic art ! Indian comics seem to have come of age, and the dark, suggestive images had me enraptured...it brings out the primal satisfaction of imagery that speaks to you at a much deeper level than you could ever imagine...much more than words or moving images can, at times...
I like the treatment provided to India's most venerable and all time favourite epic - the Ramayana, titled Ramayan Reborn...the visual imagery seems to bring the story to a strange heady mix of characters who seem more human, yet more godlike at the same time...here is the title page...
We already see the different "treatment" meted out to Rama...also the art seem to be much better than the clean-cut, sanitized images of the Ramayan that we have been used to since the Ramanand Sagar days...can't wait to get my hands on this and other titles from Virgin Comics...Enjoy some more images from the various comics...click on each one to enlarge...
[images courtesy of Virgin Comics]
2 comments:
Nice promotion work, Sib. Very well summarized. Virgin should be paying us for the shameless plugging we're doing for their comic label.
I actually like this stuff far more than the Indian Spiderman attempt. That felt way to ABCD'ish to me. And you could call me biased - but it will be a long time before I think ABCD's really get what it is to be Indian - likewise for their comic book attempts.
Also far more original to have new characters than rehashing western spandex heroes in Indian avatars (pun intendend). Or even Indian mythology merged with Greek or Chinese and other Asian mythologies.
Despite all that and even notwithstanding some outstanding art work - I will reserve my final judgement until I can actually read these comics. They're still books after all. And while I don't expect Frank Miller and "Dark Knight Returns" - I hope they don't end up making it sound too ... well... cliched and boring (the "I vaant to keeel youuu!" type, or , "the crystal or power will be mine!" plotlines!):)
Got mah fingers crossed!
Sarat...you are right in that we must reserve final judgment until we read the comics...but the previews and the large PDF that is available for download seem to augur well for these comics...if nothing else, this artwork and the ideas that stem from the comics will, at the very least, vitalize the field of Indian comics...and like you say, hopefully people will take the Indian graphic novel audience in a more serious light.
In fact, if you look at the few pages from the Ramayan Reborn series, one can see that the plot-lines are very mature...in fact, they seem to be taking the risk of inviting upon themselves the ire of the "right-wing" folks for tampering with venerable characters from Indian mythology...bold, if nothing else...
Meanwhile, I am thinking of drafting an email to Sir Richard Branson about our attempts to popularize his latest venture ! Who knows, he might throw of a couple of spare billions our way ! ;)
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