KOCHI: Scripting a graphic novel at the age of 11 is no small feat. Especially when it is born on a hospital bed.
‘The Ultimate Hercom’, the digital comic by Aadil Bin Falaque, a Class VI student at Rajagiri Seashore CMI Public School based in Kochi, narrates a tale of grit and gumption.
Aadil decided to spend his time writing a 32-pages-long story after he had an appendicitis operation at the beginning of the 2020 lockdown.
“The Ultimate Hercom is the culmination of my years of reading. I was always fond of fiction. I was working on another detective novel. But the surgery put a pause to that plan. While resting on the hospital bed, Hercom, the superhero came to my mind. I translated those thoughts into a paper as images and text,” he says. Hercom is a superhero who tries to catch a clever burglar who escapes from New York City.
The budding talent who idolizes Roald Dahl and J K Rowling have bigger plans. “I want to explore all genres of writing. I started writing when I was nine. More than structure and visuals, I was interested in putting my thoughts down. I want to expand all my skills further,” he says.
Aadil is also the fifth rank holder at National Mathsbee challenge and an avid learner of Keyboard. “Aadil is very fond of books. He started reading at a very young age and has an interest in painting. Even for ‘The Ultimate Hercom,’ he drew the entire characters and scribbled the script during the treatment period. A family friend helped us make it digital,” said Muhammed Falaque, Aadil’s father.
Filmmaker Siddique launched the comic book in March 2021. “Aadil will probably be the youngest Comic writer in south India. We are discussing with a few international publishers to launch the book. As it is planned as series, we are planning to partner with a globally recognized publisher to take the work to readers around the globe,” said Falaque.