Webcomics in India

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

liberal perspective. Webcomics can reach large audiences in India when shared through social media
.

History

Though webcomics have been a popular medium since the establishment of the World Wide Web in the early 1990s, the first Indian-centric webcomics started being published at the start of the 21st century. Early Indian webcomics, such as Sandeep Sood's 2003 webcomics Badmash and Doubtsourcing, were primarily written by Indian people living outside of India. These webcomics expressed the stark differences in culture between India and the country of inhabitation.[1]

According to Sreejita Biswas of

The Hindu Business Line described India as going through digital comics "renaissance" in 2016.[4]

Economics

Traditional

comic books were a lucrative business in India until cable television became prominent in the early 1990s. Rahul Vikram, creator of India 2047, described in an interview that he attempted to reach out to publishing companies to distribute his comic, but eventually realised he could save money and reach more people by releasing India 2047 on the Web. Vikram also described interaction with readers as a "bonus". Webcomics in India are greatly affected by online virality: according to Hemantkumar Jain, "the viral effect on websites like Twitter is strong [as] things get retweeted pretty fast and reach more people."[1]

Success of Indian webcomics is frequently measured by a

T-shirts.[1] However, very few webcomic creators in India are able to do so professionally: most Indian webcomic creators work on comics in addition to working their day job.[5]

Themes

Tarishi Verma of the Hindustan Times stated that the young generation of Indians use webcomics as a tool for "underlining their absurdity [of] current ills of Indian society." Usually of a

social norms.[3]

For example,

Some Indian webcomics present traditional aspects of the country's culture. Meenakshi Krishnamoorthy's

Kinnari is highly influenced by Indian mythology, creating unusual spins on ancient literature. To involve foreign readers more, Krishnamoorthy incorporates footnotes explaining the source material of her comics.[2] Aarthi Parthasarathy and Kaveri Gopalakrishnan's Urbanlore, meanwhile, highlights the culture and history of urban Indian cities.[6]

American influences

American webcomics such as

References

  1. ^ a b c d Arora, Kim (5 September 2010). "Strip tease: Indian webcomics make a mark". The Times of India.
  2. ^ a b Biswas, Sreejita (24 January 2016). "URLs of mass distraction: Five Indian webcomics to be read regularly". Scroll.in.
  3. ^ a b c d Verma, Tarishi (26 April 2015). "Laughing through our worries: The Indian web comics". Hindustan Times.
  4. The Hindu Business Line
    .
  5. ^ Bangeera, Aneesha (20 March 2016). "The new online avatar of today's comics". The Hindu.
  6. ^ Kumar, Shikha (19 October 2015). "Urbanlore, a new webcomic series traces a changing urban India". The Indian Express.
  7. ^ Arora, Kim (7 December 2015). "City in pursuit of dark humour with Cyanide and Happiness". The Times of India.
  8. IBN Live
    .
  9. ^ Joshi, Sonam (7 December 2015). "India gets its own 'South Park' with 'SikhPark'". Mashable.