Indian comics
Indian comics | |
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Earliest publications | 1960s |
Languages | Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Bengali |
Part of a series on the |
Culture of India |
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Chitrakatha are comics or graphic novels originating from India published in a number of Indian languages.
India has a long tradition of comic readership and themes associated with extensive mythologies and folk-tales have appeared as children's comic books for decades.[1] Indian comics often have large publication. The comic industry was at its peak in the late 1980s and early 1990s and during this period popular comics were easily sold more than 500,000 copies over the course of its shelf life of several weeks. Currently, it only sell around 50,000 copies over a similar period.[2] India's once-flourishing comic industry is in sharp decline because of increasing competition from satellite television (children's television channels) and the gaming industry.[3]
Over the last six decades
History
India's comic industry began in the mid-1960s when the leading newspaper The Times of India launched Indrajal Comics. The industry evolved later in India. Up until the late 1960s the comics were only enjoyed by the children of wealthy parents. But from that time until the early 1990s they established themselves in the market.[3] The evolution of Indian comics can be broadly divided into many phases. Around 1950s saw syndicated strips like The Phantom, Mandrake, Flash Gordon, Rip Kirby being translated to Indian languages. The success of such comic books was followed by a swarm of publishers trying to emulate these titles. The second phase in the late 1960s came in the form of Amar Chitra Katha (literally translated as "immortal picture stories"), comics with hundred percentage Indian content.[5]
In the 1970s several indigenous comics were launched to rival the Western
India hosted its first ever
Diamond Comics, Manoj Comics , Raj Comics,Diamond Toons , Tulsi Comics have gained immense readership and fan following in north India from 1980's because of their popular characters like Chacha Chaudhary, Billoo, Pinki, Nagraj, Super Commando Dhruva, Hawaldar Bahadur, Angara, Jamboo and many more. Creators like Anant Pai, Abid Surti, Pran, Pratap Mullick, Enver Ahmed, Anupam Sinha, Manu, Ved Prakash Sharma, Parshuram Sharma, and many more are well known in north Indian comics due to their creations of various comics characters and volumes of works produced during their active period.
The popularity of manga and anime in India has led to Japanese manga-inspired comic books, such as Mythology, a comic book based on Hindu mythology that has been released in India, Singapore, Malaysia and Europe.[16] Batu Gaiden is a manga fantasy series which incorporates cricket into mythology.[17]
From 2005 to recent times there are many attempts by recently ventured and old comics publishers to revive the Indian comics industry including initiatives from Level 10 Comics, Yali Dream Creations, Holycow Entertainment, Chariot Comics, Ayumi Comics, Red Streak Comics, Rovolt Comics, Vimanika Comics and TBS Planet Comics, UFC, Dream Comics, Swapnil Comics, Vaishnavi Comics, Fenil Comics, Dhaansu Productions and the surviving Raj Comics itself. Amar Chitra Katha, Raj Comics and Diamond Comics, Diamond Toons has ventured into other entertainment media like feature films, web series, games, mobile applications etc. since late 1990s and continuously attempting to widen their impact on the comics-reading population. By the end of 2019, many new comic-making companies have shown a great interest in the upbringing of the Indian comic industry and are fighting to make a mark in the industry.
Indian comics publishers
- Diamond Toons
- Amar Chitra Katha
- Balabhumi
- Balarama (magazine)
- Diamond Books
- Champak
- Chandamama
- Chitra Bharti Kathamala
- Diamond Comics
- Fort Comics
- Indrajal Comics
- King Comics
- Kiran Comics
- Lalu Leela
- Level 10 Comics
- Lion Comics
- Lotpot
- Madhu Muskan
- Manoj Comics
- Radha Comics
- Radiant Comics
- Raj Comics
- Shakti Comics
- Star Comics IBH
- TBS Planet
- Tinkle
- Tulsi Comics
- Vimanika Comics
- Yali Dream Creations
- Yomics World
- VrindKavi[18]
Notable creators
Annual events
See also
- Magazine
- Media of India
Lists
- List of Indian comics
- List of newspapers in India
- List of radio stations in India
- List of Indian TV channels
- List of Indian films
References
- ^ Patel, Atish. "Graphic novelists shake up world of Indian comics". Reuters. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
- ^ a b c "Business Line : Features / Weekend Life : Homecoming for the superheroes". Thehindubusinessline.com. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f "BBC News – Changing habits illustrate decline of India's comics". Bbc.co.uk. 27 November 2011. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
- ^ "Comic, Dead Serious | Samit Basu". Outlookindia.com. 3 May 2004. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
- ^ a b c d Shweta Sharma (13 November 2011). "Documentary homage to comics Gods". Sunday-guardian.com. Archived from the original on 7 April 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
- ^ The Associated Press – Fri 25 February 2011 (25 February 2011). "Indian comic book pioneer 'Uncle Pai' dies at 81 – Yahoo! News India". In.news.yahoo.com. Archived from the original on 19 May 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ D. Ghosh Dastidar, “Prospects of Comic Studies in India,” Gnosis 3 (2019), 113–128 (116).
- ^ "Pulp Gulp Talk Show". Pulp Gulp Talk Show.
- ^ "Comics Initiatives". Comix Theory. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
- ^ "Comics Byte". Retrieved 13 May 2021.
- ^ "AR comics BY KOLKATA COMICS".
- ^ Arora, Kim (5 September 2010). "Strip tease: Indian webcomics make a mark". The Times of India.
- ^ Verma, Tarishi (26 April 2015). "Laughing through our worries: The Indian web comics". Hindustan Times.
- ^ "India gets its own Comic Con". Telegraph. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
- ^ "How social media is boosting comic industry". The Times of India. The Times Group. 3 January 2012. Archived from the original on 7 July 2012. Retrieved 16 March 2012.
- ^ "Japanese Cultural Influence Grows in India".
- ^ "Let 'Kree-Kaht' begin!". Hindustan Times. March 2011.
- ^ Sebastian, Alexander (31 October 2023). "Reading in all shapes sizes". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
Bibliography
- Dastidar, D. Ghosh. “Prospects of Comic Studies in India,” Gnosis 3 (2019), 113–128.
- Hawley, John Stratton. 'The Saints Subdued: Domestic Virtue and National Integration in Amar Chitra Katha' in Media and the Transformation of Religion in South Asia, eds. Lawrence A Babb, Susan S. Wadley, Motilal Banarasidas, 1998.
- MacLain, Karline. India's Immortal Comic Books: Gods, Kings, and Other Heroes, Indiana University Press, 2009. ISBN 978-0-253-22052-3.
- Pritchett, Frances W. 'The World of Amar Chitra Katha' in Media and the Transformation of Religion in South Asia, eds. Lawrence A Babb, Susan S. Wadley, Motilal Banarasidas, 1998.
- Lent, John A., Comic Art of Africa, Asia, Australia, and Latin America Through 2000: An International Bibliography, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004.
External links
- GraphicShelf - India's first Graphic Novel Database
- CulturePOPcorn – Indian Comics and POP Culture News Channel
- Indian Comics: Medium, History, Genre by Pia Mukherji, IWE Online, 5 April 2022.