Comics in India

[gentlesatirist]

Just got back from a 10-day business trip to India. And what did I see of the comics world?

Stacks of Tintin and Asterix collections. Saw the same in Germany in '04, proving the timeless value of these strips. (Asterix is French. Tintin is Belgian or Dutch, right?)

American side represented by...a stack of recent Archie digests! Yes, in spite of the scorn of "mainstream" comics fans, the character still has a global following. One of the local newspapers (in New Delhi) even runs an Archie strip on its comics page. Who knew such a thing still existed?

Also saw a single Richie Rich digest of uncertain vintage.

Picked up a couple of "Classics Illustrated"-type comics about historic Indian heroes. Inside info said they were published in mid-70s and reprinted in '04. They've probably been in print the whole time, a la CI. Read the first one, story and art not exceptional.

Saw all these at a book stand at an underground bazaar in New Delhi.

No sign of Marvel or DC comics, but the one toy stall did have a bunch of recent Justice League toys and some Superman and Batman knockoffs. Bought my son two packs of "superhero cards," which were combo-playing cards/role game mixing both DC and Marvel characters, as well as the comic strip hero Phantom. These were clearly used without licensing, but my son loves 'em. Best misspelling : Caption America and Caption Marvel.


- FE
Wickliffe OH

(P.S. - This jet lag is absolutely kicking my ass. Been back 3 days now and still waking up in the middle of the night wide awake. Averaging about 3 hours of sleep. If anyone has any cure for this affliction, please let me know!)

[Metamorpho]

Thought you might enjoy this site http://www.rajcomics.com/index.html

As for the jet lag, Melatonin as sold in health food stores or anywhere vitamins or herbals are sold, has helped me with the occassional bout of travel related insomnia.

[Mike Kuypers]

American side represented by...a stack of recent Archie digests! Yes, in spite of the scorn of "mainstream" comics fans, the character still has a global following. One of the local newspapers (in New Delhi) even runs an Archie strip on its comics page. Who knew such a thing still existed?

Me, for one. I read the Archie (http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComic.mpl?date=2006/2/18&name=Archie) strip online every day.

[Shellhead]

(P.S. - This jet lag is absolutely kicking my ass. Been back 3 days now and still waking up in the middle of the night wide awake. Averaging about 3 hours of sleep. If anyone has any cure for this affliction, please let me know!)

I sometimes have insomnia. Unless it's due to a stressful situation, I usually don't suffer more than once in a while, so I just tough it out. But there have been a few times when I really, really needed to sleep despite my stress-induced insomnia. At those times, I have taken Nyquil, and it's very effective at putting me to sleep within an hour of taking it. I sleep very soundly when on Nyquil, too. I'm never going to make it a regular habit, but I do recommend it to you for your jetlag problem.

[Sir Tim Drake]

Did you see any Amar Chitra Katha (http://www.amarchitrakatha.com/main_page/main.asp) comics?

[gentlesatirist]

...Those are the ones!

(Wow. Sir Tim Drake. Gentleman. Scholar. International comics expert.)

I picked up Rani of Jhansi (which I read) and Krishnadeva Raya (which I haven't). Don't know much about the overall series, though. How had you heard of them, Tim?

There's also an ad on the back for a comic called Tinkle, which I first thought was an anthology, but now looks like a Highlights-type kids mag.

About 20 other issues under Amar Chitra Katha are advertised on the other back cover. All are described as the Pancharatna series.

As for the Archie strip, I check out papers from Cleveland, Akron, New York and Houston pretty regularly throughout the year and had never seen it.


- FE
Wickliffe OH

[Sir Tim Drake]

I first heard of Amar Chitra Katha when someone posted a link to their site on a non-CBR message board. I no longer remember what board it was. They're also mentioned in Pilcher and Brooks's Essential Guide to World Comics.

[gentlesatirist]

...did much better last night. Woke up a couple of times, but was able to fall back asleep, unlike other nights. Probably got 6-8 hours in total.

Inadvertently, I was worsening the situation by drinking caffeine to stay awake during the day, then (one night) doing a couple shots of whiskey to try and fall asleep. Turns out caffeine and alcohol only serve to keep you in your previous mental state, which to me was India, a forward difference of about 11 hours from Ohio.

Hopefully, this improvement will continue. Thanks to all for the advice!


- FE
Wickliffe OH

[shawnh]

Thanks for posting that link. I have an old copy of a Amar Chitra Katha book in English, called Krishna and the False Vasudeva. I thought it was pretty neat, although it's kind of an odd story. It's amazing how long these have been published and how many titles are available.

[OrochiNaga]

Just got back from a 10-day business trip to India. And what did I see of the comics world?

Stacks of Tintin and Asterix collections. Saw the same in Germany in '04, proving the timeless value of these strips. (Asterix is French. Tintin is Belgian or Dutch, right?)

American side represented by...a stack of recent Archie digests! Yes, in spite of the scorn of "mainstream" comics fans, the character still has a global following. One of the local newspapers (in New Delhi) even runs an Archie strip on its comics page. Who knew such a thing still existed?

Also saw a single Richie Rich digest of uncertain vintage.

Picked up a couple of "Classics Illustrated"-type comics about historic Indian heroes. Inside info said they were published in mid-70s and reprinted in '04. They've probably been in print the whole time, a la CI. Read the first one, story and art not exceptional.

Saw all these at a book stand at an underground bazaar in New Delhi.

No sign of Marvel or DC comics, but the one toy stall did have a bunch of recent Justice League toys and some Superman and Batman knockoffs. Bought my son two packs of "superhero cards," which were combo-playing cards/role game mixing both DC and Marvel characters, as well as the comic strip hero Phantom. These were clearly used without licensing, but my son loves 'em. Best misspelling : Caption America and Caption Marvel.


- FE
Wickliffe OH

(P.S. - This jet lag is absolutely kicking my ass. Been back 3 days now and still waking up in the middle of the night wide awake. Averaging about 3 hours of sleep. If anyone has any cure for this affliction, please let me know!)

Half Indian here too, and based in the UK :-)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_comics

That article says it all really. Im not that interested in the classics - it seems Gotham Comics publish both Marvel and DC for India and Singapore.

[Agentum]

I know there is some The Phantom comics in India, or at least have been.

[Sir Tim Drake]

There is a recent graphic novel called Corridor, by Sarnath Banerjee, that bills itself as the first graphic novel from India. Has anyone read this book?

[Hintermann]

I am an Indian (though living in the UK for the past 21 years). I grew up in the 60s on a diet of Phantom & Mandrake comics that were very popular at the time. The problem was, even though the publisher, a local company called Indrajal, colourised the original newspaper strips, they edited the stories heavily. In later years, other publishers took up the strips and sometimes reprinted popular stories in their full form.

Marvel/DC type 'Superhero' comics have never been very big in India. But those published by Harvey (Sad Sack, Little Dot, Casper, Ricjie Rich etc), Gold Key (funny animal as well as others), Archie Series and Hank Ketcham's 'Dennis the Menace' were all popular, especially in the South. Also going well were Gilberton's Classic Illustrateds & Classics Junior.

By the 70s, sales of these imported comics dropped due to rising prices and locally published stuff like the aforementioned 'Amar Chitra Katha' took off. But those who could afford it continued to buy imported comics, including the now popular Asterix & Tintin.

Nowadays, Egmont seems to have got some sort of base in India and they have already published Phantom & Mandrake stories from European artists. I expect they will be looking to expand their horizons soon, but looking at the attitudes of today's kids in India, I doubt if they'll take up comic books like we used to.

[OrochiNaga]

My father grew up on phantom comics I think :-)

The 'Corridor' graphic novel looks quite good - I think ill buy it next time I get some stuff from amazon.

[Sir Tim Drake]

By the way, welcome to CBR, Orochi. Or given your snake-themed name, maybe I should say: Greetingsssss.

[OrochiNaga]

Thankyou Sir ;-) Or as they say in India thankyou sahib :-)

[Hintermann]

Or as they say in India thankyou sahib :-)

Not anymore, they don't. Thankfully, that sort of thing went out with the Raj, although I see a lot of similar patronising attitude in the UK even today.

[OrochiNaga]

Not anymore, they don't. Thankfully, that sort of thing went out with the Raj, although I see a lot of similar patronising attitude in the UK even today.

I see it in Bollywood movies all the time - people still call each other sahib - it afterall just means sir. I prefer ji myself :)

[Hintermann]

I see it in Bollywood movies all the time :)

So do we....the wife and I. Where do you get your Bollywood DVDs from? WE get ours from a dealer in Reading. The Indian issues are heavily censored but if you buy them in the UK, they are more complete.

[OrochiNaga]

I either get them from online stores (amazon has good selection) or local shops, or at melas (although I rarely go). They are also available for download of course, which I dont object to doing if the movie is bad, but I like to own a hard copy of the best. Occasionally see them at the cinema.