A new Indian super hero
An encounter with a sage in Bihar took Karan Vir Arora, the conceptual director of Vimanika Comics, on a journey through Mahabharata. It was through the pages of this epic that he came across Karna, the sun warrior, who really inspired him.
After working with an intensive research team and historians, he launched the graphic novel, The Sixth: The Legend of Karna.
“I was totally bored with the same old Batman, Spiderman and Superman kind of comics. There’s actually a whole genre of comics that people have not even heard of so when I came across Karna, I thought he would be a new and colourful character for the Indian reader. Moreover, each time we hear only Krishna’s version. Through this novel, we would like to show people Karna’s version,” said Karan, who recently launched the book at the Oxford Bookstore.
What intrigued him was the lack of Indian super heroes. “Shaktiman is really passe. Children are bored with him and I feel it’s high time an Indian hero who is practical, action-oriented and does not fly comes into the picture,” he said while adding, “Karna is a forgotten hero who is good looking, athletic and very practical in his approach. Not many know that he had a lot of women followers in his time.”
Even though the book is primarily based on the mythological character, Karan has also tried to portray life in today's world with the help of another character Karna, the business tycoon. The occasion also witnessed the screening of the video adaptation of the novel and the book was officially launched by N S Rajaram, a historian. “There is a lot in our own epics that many people are so unaware of. I hope through these books, with its attractive and colourful package, a lot of youngsters would get informed,” he said.
Karan plans on writing 15 more books to cover the whole story of Karna’s legend. “Through this book I want to tell children to have courage, hope and be proud of your mythology,” he said.
