Bengaluru-based graphic artist George Mathen (who goes by Appupen), known for his debut graphic novel Moonward, has come a long way into solidifying his career as one of the country’s pioneers in the genre. His dreamy, often eerie, sketches may remind one of the raw deftness of Sukumar Ray’s HaJaBaRaLa, where detail and danger lurk within scathing satire.
Co-written with Perumal Murugan, Vaadivaasal, a recently-published graphic-novel translation of CS Chellappa’s novella (of the same title), is now set to get a Bengali translation, allowing Mathen to reflect on the project and the country’s current state of graphic art.
Speaking of Vaadivaasal, Mathen shares, “It has been a kind of dream project actually. I went and saw jallikattu, [the tradition at the centre of the novella], and then Perumal explained the whole thing to me. I heard him reciting the Tamil lines to me, and I replicated it in English; moreover, I had a real nice time drawing,” he says.
Compared to other genres, graphic narratives have suffered from a lack of attention, Mathen points out, “I love making comics. But it doesn’t make financial sense; it’s not just an Indian thing. Many European creators that I follow, I learnt, had day jobs supporting them,” he says. It is important to consider that lack of attention has done little to dampen morale; graphic artists, even as they see it as vocationally unsustainable, have come up in scores in the country, vying for recognition. Mathen comments, “There’s a lot of clutter out there. If you are adding to it, make sure that there is something that you are really convinced about; approach it with some depth and conviction.”
When someone thinks about Indian comics, it is hard to go beyond Chacha Chowdhury, Tinkle, and the creations of Narayan Debnath. “There was a boom in the ’70s to the ’90s, something happened. Then came a subsequent gap. But it’s a nice time now to think of what we’re building with Indian comics, because the craft has caught up. We have the internet through which we are exposed to new art. Earlier, Indian art looked dated. Now we’re caught up because we’re seeing new styles immediately.”
While the internet is a viable medium for artistic influx, there is a tangible gap. “An industry is dependent on the demand. Now they are teaching comics everywhere; that’s because it is being used in advertising, in many forms of outreach; simplifying complex data using graphics and words.” Demand, in ideological terms, of course, can hold a sinister connotation as well. As Mathen points out, “Nowadays, if you make some fake history which makes a golden period sound a little more plausible, then you’ll get platforms welcoming you and you’ll get offers,” adding, “But overall, I think the field will grow.”