Comically curious

From folklore to mythology, supernatural to realism, comics have witnessed waves of transitions, creating a visual world for children of all times
Comically curious
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CHENNAI: “The children of today will make the India of tomorrow. The way we bring them up will determine the future of the country.” — Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. The first Prime Minister of Independent India considered children as the most precious resource of any country.

A child’s first introduction to art is commonly through the imaginary world of comics and picture books. With moving images entirely taking over the visual language in the form of cartoons and animations, static images that tell a story on print may seem outdated.

Pre-independence India, however, was still new to the ‘comic’ experience. Celebrated artist and cartoonist Aabid Surti recalls the first time he ever saw a comic book.

During the Second World War, foreign troops landed in Bombay and from the dockyard, were taken by train to another place. The trains being slow, Aabid and his friends ran along and on one such day, a soldier, kindheartedly threw them a Mickey Mouse comic book.

Aabid had never seen anything like it and the book was ripped apart by the children in all the excitement that ensued. Aabid was left with just one page, which fascinated him so much that it paved the way in his later years for creating many lovable characters through his art.

THE MAGIC OF CHANDAMAMA

As India was inching towards freedom from colonial rule in 1947, two doyens of the Telugu film industry felt the need to connect young Indians with their rich history and thus was born India’s first children’s magazine, Chandamama. Through folklore and mythology, the duo, Nagi Reddy and Chakrapani, gave millions of Indian children in those pre-television times, a pathway that led to a world of fantasy and magic.

The first issue that was published in July 1947, was an instant hit and sold out all its 6,000 copies. At the peak of its popularity in the 1980’s, it proudly boasted of a circulation of two lakhs. In 1981, the magazine even launched a Braille edition. When changing times caught up and television slowly took over, the magazine could not sustain itself anymore.

The demise of the founders dealt a severe blow and like all good things that once had its glorious moment, the much loved children’s magazine died a slow death.

THE WORLD OF INDRAJAL

Indian comics started off on a serious note in the 1960’s with the launch of Indrajal Comics, which had many Superman/ Spiderman-style superheroes like Phantom, Mandrake and Flash Gordon. The first issue that was published in 1964 captivated Indian children and since then, the comic series went on to be published to a total of 805 issues before meeting its painful end in 1990.

THE RIPPLES OF PARTITION

Several comic book creators were so deeply affected by the horrors of partition that they lived through during India’s Independence, that they were most often averse to portraying blood in their comics. In 1971, Pran Kumar Sharma created his famous Chacha Chaudhury, published in Diamond Comics, inspired by village elders, who typically had a lot of worldly knowledge to offer.

In an attempt to break the stereotypical image of the muscular superhero, old man Chacha was short and he used his wit along with a bamboo stick to outsmart his enemies. Although the series was a spectacular success among children, the artist Pran, whose father served as a police officer, had seen the bloodshed and the brutality of the nation’s Partition when the family moved from Pakistan to India in 1948 and this made him shy away from visually illustrating blood. He always made sure it had a tinge of blackness to it.

Similarly, Gulab Kapoor, the publisher of the mystery comic series, Babloo, which often featured a murder or two, gave strict instructions to his artist to avoid colouring blood, thanks to which the comic only had white blood!

Comics may belong to simpler times, when children had time to kill and imaginations to be fired without the intervention of a myriad coaching classes. But, the enchantment will always continue and someday soon perhaps, children may return to this mystical, incredible world!

THE GREAT INDIAN COMIC REVOLUTION

The true revolution in the Indian Comic industry happened with Amar Chitra Katha’s first publication in 1967. It all began with one man’s dream. Anant Pai, fondly called Uncle Pai and the Father of Indian Comics, witnessed a quiz show on one of his visits to Delhi, where most of its young contestants could deftly handle questions about Greek mythology but fumbled when the topic shifted to stories from Indian culture. Pai yearned to bring out comics drawn by Indian artists, which revolved around the nation’s history and culture.

He was lucky enough to garner the support of the publishing house, IBH, to make his dream come alive and after a long search for the right artist to work on his vision, he found cartoonist Ram Waeerkar, whose ornamental style was exactly what Pai was looking for. Together, they released the first Amar Chitra Katha comic, titled Krishna, which invaded the hearts of not just the children in India but the adults alike.

The book still remains their best selling title till date. Amar Chitra Katha went on to feature India’s indestructible heroes — from Gods to political leaders, saints and social reformers, as their protagonists and a nation that wasn’t as yet introduced to the internet, simply lapped it up and the book was soon a household name. The publication is still available even after the founder’s passing in 2011 — a true indication of its immense impact.

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