More than just cartoons
Aishwarya Subramanian
On an ordinary day Dilli Haat is a good place to buy handloom saris,
pashmina shawls, perhaps stop by the food section for momos and fruit
beer or (if it's that time of the year) kahwa. Had you been there last
weekend you might still have done all of these, but with some unexpected
fellow-shoppers; the venue was playing host to the Delhi leg of India's
Comic Con, a celebration of Indian and international comics. A large
area at the back was given over to a stage and a number of stalls
displaying or selling comics and comic-related merchandise.
Vampires are hot favourites. Photo: Shanker Chakravarty |
One thing that was immediately clear was the sheer diversity of the
ways in which the comic form is being used in India's nascent industry.
Vimanika Comics and Holy Cow Entertainment's Ravanayana series both draw
on Hindu mythology, as do many of Campfire's titles. Campfire also
reinterprets a number of literary classics in graphic form. Some comics
spoof or play with classic superhero tropes. One of these is Munkeeman,
created by Abhishek Sharma and written by Anant Singh, which takes up a
Delhi urban legend and runs with it. Singh also collaborated with
illustrator Abhijeet Kini on the animal fable Chairman Meow and the
Protectors of the Proletariat. Vidhyun Sabhaney's Mice Will Be Mice is
about a failed science experiment on the rampage, with multiple
references to Frankenstein and King Kong. Prominently displayed at the
Popculture Publishing stall were the Timpa books, created by Jhangir
Kerawala and featuring a young, Tintin-like hero who solves crimes in
Calcutta. A stall put up by Chennai-based publishers, Blaft, displayed
prominently Kumari Loves a Monster (with a special pre-Valentine's day
discount) in which short poems in English and Tamil describe the love
between a series of beautiful women and monsters.
But a large section of the hall was devoted to World Comics, whose
aim is to use the medium to disseminate information, and whose display
table featured a number of anthologies and posters. Sufi Comics used the
comic form to educate people about Islam. Ari Jayaprakash and Anisha
Sridhar's Kuru Chronicles, a vast project that includes some stunning
artwork, drew attention. On a panel session on the art of writing
comics, Campfire's Jason Quinn declared that India would shortly be
outstripping the West in the quality of the comics it produced. It was
rather too obviously a crowd-pleasing statement but the amount of talent
on display at events like these is heartening. Sharad Devarajan, the
Co-Founder and CEO of Graphic India and Liquid Comics, is convinced that
India "has the potential to become one of the biggest creative exporters
in the years ahead."
Despite all this there were some conspicuous absences. Among the
missing were Level 10, creators of the excellent Odayan series, and
Libera Artisti whose comic Autopilot was one of my favourite finds last
year. Also missing were the prodigiously talented team from Manta Ray.
A great deal of the art shown here wasn't in the form of comics at
all. A booth from B.I.T displayed sample prints of its students'
artwork, including a miniature pair of superheroes and a wonderful image
of Krishna plaiting Radha's hair. Elsewhere, a number of interesting
t-shirts were on sale. On offer at the Chimp stall were a confused
Batman at the crease and a veshti-clad "Supermaniam" (of which my father
is now the proud owner). At the Popculture publishing stall, one saw a
growing stable of superheroes, desi versions of their Western
counterparts. SuperKudi, WonderBai, WolverAnna and SuperMummy don't seem
to have starred in any stories yet but can be found on a range of mugs,
cushions and similar merchandise. One counter even offered superhero
cupcakes. In many cases the products seemed aimed less at comics' fans
in particular than at people who simply followed popular culture; at
least two stalls were selling t-shirts based on popular Internet memes.
In earlier editions of the Comic Con, there appeared to be at least
as much of an effort to market the event to children as to adults. Last
year, in particular, the Chhota Bheem theme song seemed to provide an
inescapable and often irritating soundtrack to the festival. There were
still a number of children present this year - including a girl in a
purple tutu and Spiderman t-shirt, and two small superheroes sharing a
dosa outside the Tamil Nadu restaurant - yet things seemed far more
geared to the adults who accompanied them. The t-shirts that were on
offer in many places came in adult sizes only, and even the hugely
popular Amar Chitra Katha stall seemed less crowded than in previous
years. Last year's event also included big promotional displays for
forthcoming movies from Disney and Marvel. These were missing this time.
What all this seems to indicate is that the convention's organisers
and participants are beginning to feel more confident that there is an
audience of adult comic book fans who are willing to come out and
participate in events like these. Graphic India's Ashwin Pande, who has
attended the comic con for the last three years, notes that it has
become "nerdier and more fan-friendly with each successive Con."
That this is true is clear from the sheer number of people crowding
into the Random House and Hachette stalls (these two publishers
distribute DC and Marvel comics respectively in India). It's clear from
the growing number of international publishers at the event; this year
saw display booths from Top Cow, Drawn and Quarterly, Fantagraphics,
First Second, and Vertical.
And it's certainly clear from the cosplayers. The first Comic Con,
held in Delhi a few years ago, could boast only a very few people in
costume, and those who were there were dressed as relatively mainstream
characters. This year saw a conspicuous absence of Batman and Superman
costumes; though there was, as always, a full complement of Batman
villains.
Instead, we had Lady Loki and Spider Jerusalem, Doctor Who and a
number of manga and anime characters (the city has also played host to
an Anime convention for quite a few years now). But a convention implies
much more of a sense of community than is easily felt at the event in
its current form. At the moment there's little space for fans and
artists, or for fans and other fans to interact with one another.
In part, this may be because of the venue. Dilli Haat is, after all,
designed as a series of small stalls, whether they are selling
papier-mâché boxes or superhero mugs. In the last couple of years the
convention has moved to other cities; Mumbai has had two comic cons, and
Bangalore's Koramangala Stadium hosted a "Comic Con Express" in
September 2012. It's possible that in different venues the imbalance
between comics and merchandise sorts itself out.
- The Hindu |