Now, comics mean business

Interesting experiments are happening with the comic book in India with a graphic novella being done on the Godhra riots, writes Vijaya Sharma.

It seems to be the season for comic book superheros in India what with Spider-Man-2 all set for a big launch in India on July 23 and Bollywood superstars Shahrukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan reportedly being wooed by directors to play Superman in a movie.

Spiderman, who recently beat the Simpsons as the dream dad in England, will also take a bow in Hindi. Pavitr Prabhakar - that's what he will be called. Marvel Comics will give Spidey a complete makeover - he will be seen careening and swinging around Mumbai skyscrapers in a dhoti!

Pavitr Prabhakar will be the young Indian boy from Mumbai fighting the Green Goblin to be called Rakshasha in Hindi. His lady love Mary Jane will be called Meera Jain and his uncle Big Ben will now be called Uncle Bhim. The comic series is being written by Jeevan Khang and is slated for release in August.

Well-known director Shekhar Kapur's prophecy seems to be coming true quite soon. Talking about the rapid strides made by the Indian animation industry, he had remarked at the recent IIFA Awards ceremony in Singapore that Spiderman will still exist but when he takes off his mask he will probably be an Indian or a Chinese. Sooner done than said?

While we are on comics, interesting experiments are happening in India on this front. A Mumbai writer Rohit Gupta has done a graphic novella on the Godhra riots. Comics have for long been the favourite and staple diet of children in India and have a booming market. We have all grown up reading Amar Chitra Kathas, Diamond Comics or Indrajaal Comics. These comics have a huge following in India. But none have ever tackled serious social issues and this initiative is certainly a welcome effort.

What this graphic novella will do then is take issues such as the Godhra riots to a wider audience. Children might not be able to comprehend the gravity of these riots when they are talked about widely in newspapers. There are also many children who do not want to read newspapers and develop a distaste for news as they are overwhelmed by the immensity of it flowing out of endless 24x7 news channels and papers.

Such a graphic novella will then be a good medium to inform the young audience of the horrific injustice perpetuated by the post-Godhra riots and the travesty of justice which has followed in its wake.

Comics as a medium in tackling larger issues is still at a nascent stage. The only other graphic novel published recently was Sarnath Bannerjee's Corridor which did find many takers in the market.

Comics have even been used by some NGOs in India to disseminate information on the dangers of alcoholism, corruption, on dispelling superstition and the importance of education. One such instance is the VCDS (Village Community Development Society) and SAG (Social Action Group), who have trained their activists in the use of comics since1997. The cooperation partners are two Finnish NGOs: the Finnish Comics Society and World Comics-Finland. Each year (up to year 2000) a one-week workshop was held in VCDS' Training Centre in Karasanoor, Tamil Nadu

There is hope that the role of comics in dealing with issues of wider interest than just superheros and acting as agents of social change by reaching out to a larger audience has a future.