JOIN USWho doesn’t love superheroes? From prancing around in capes to brandishing wooden swords, we have imitated them ourselves, swayed by their hearts of gold and brooding good looks. And more often than not, we met them through comics. Those brightly coloured, illustrated pages of sheer excitement that were any child’s friend — at least before the internet became all-pervasive. And as we got increasingly entangled in the world wide web, opinion is divided about the future of this industry.
Says Nidhi Srivastava, a die-hard fan of comics and graphic novels, “Today's generation might be a bit too restless to sit down and appreciate a comic book. Contrary to popular belief, comics are not light reading. You have to take in the nuances and intricacies of the drawings as well as the words.”
She adds, “These days, the natural progression for anything that is graphic is animation. I don't think that is necessary or a very welcome trend. Comics are meant to be read and not watched.” Among her personal favourites is the American teenage heartthrob Archie Andrews and his gang. “I was fascinated with them. It allowed us a chance to explore America through the eyes of a teenager and brought to life a world of friendship, rivalry, parties, studies and everything else. It was a scenario that we could relate to but yet it was foreign enough to be exotic.”
The fan base for comics is wide and diverse. It is not just children or teenagers; even adults can keep their love for comics alive in their hearts. Remember Deepika Padukone’s character in the movie ‘Tamasha’ — who set off on a trip to Corsica to relive her favourite ‘Asterix’ comic? That is the kind of sway these literary friends have on us.
Says G Arjun, “I love comic books. Tintin, Asterix, Calvin & Hobbes and Amar Chitra Katha were the comics I started with. Later, I got into superheroes and started reading material from the DC and Marvel universe and then expanded into a bunch of other comics, graphic novels and ‘Manga’ too. It is true that comic books sales are on the decline in the past few years. But there are many independent artists and writers who publish their material online and are doing really well. Young people may find access to comics difficult currently but there is a new breed of fans who like the superheroes they watch on screen and hopefully will take up reading comics.”
Affordability is a main issue for comic book aficionados. Says Utkarsh Bansal, “In the early 2000s, Gotham Comics brought Marvel and DC comics to India at incredibly low prices. For the few people who were actually interested in comics, this was a great time.
Unfortunately, Gotham Comics didn't continue very long. Now we have Marvel and DC publishing graphic novels in India at outrageous prices such as Rs 1,200 for a 6-issue collection.”
Pricing is indeed a deterrent but contrary to popular belief, technology may have actually helped the cause of furthering interest in comics, as some enthusiasts say.
“With the rise of superhero movies, interest in comics is greater than it has ever been before. 10 years ago, I'd be hard-pressed to find one person who could tell me that Stan Lee created Spider-man but not Batman. Now that superheroes are the in-thing, a lot of people want read Batman or Avengers comics,” says Utkarsh Bansal.
Says Valiullah Hashmi, “I don’t think the internet, or for that matter anything else, will kill the comic book. The very experience of seeing drawn images is a different one altogether. The feeling that is communicated to us when holding a physical copy is something that cannot be replicated in the electronic world.The internet has helped take the realm of comics online which I think is a huge step. The comic doesn't die, rather it lives a new life online.”