This article was downloaded by: [117.211.86.235]On: 27 March 2012, At: 02:51Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registeredoffice: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

Journal of Graphic Novels and ComicsPublication details, including instructions for authors andsubscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rcom20

Comicology: comic books as culture inIndiaRitu G. Khanduri aa Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Texas,USA

Available online: 15 Dec 2010

To cite this article: Ritu G. Khanduri (2010): Comicology: comic books as culture in India, Journalof Graphic Novels and Comics, 1:2, 171-191

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21504857.2010.528641

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Anysubstantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing,systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden.

The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representationthat the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of anyinstructions, formulae, and drug doses should be independently verified with primarysources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings,demand, or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly orindirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.

Journal of Graphic Novels and ComicsVol. 1, No. 2, December 2010, 171–191

Comicology: comic books as culture in India

Ritu G. Khanduri*

Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Texas, USA

(Received 18 June 2010; final version received 10 October 2010)

Building upon the intersection of anthropology’s and Indian comic books’ focus on‘culture’, this article addresses two questions: How do comic books in India repre-sent culture? And, what insight about mass media, representation and interpretation canbe gleaned with the comic book reader’s emerging role of creator? To trace continu-ities and shifts in comic books’ engagement with culture and to convey the ‘differentscene’ contemporary readers’ experience, this article focuses on the comic brands AmarChitra Katha, Indrajal Comics, Liquid Comics and Vimanika. Indian comic books high-light distinct cultural globalization processes and social media networks as a space forhistory, and for pedagogy that teaches how to read comics and how to make comics.

Keywords: comic books; blogs; convergence; culture; digital; fans; history; India;internet

Introduction: historiphoty

In 1988 Hayden White, who coined the term ‘Historiphoty’, persuasively argued the ideathat visual narratives are as much historical truths as historiography. This was echoed byJoseph Witek’s influential Comics Books as History (1989). Meanwhile, in India AmarChitra Katha (ACK), Indrajal Comics, which began publication in the 1960s and 1970s, andDisney comics were already firmly grounded popular comic book brands narrating historyand replete with adventure. Drawing their plots from myths, religion and contemporarybattles of good over evil, these comic books were available in English and also translatedto Hindi and other regional languages.1 Although ACK continues to hold sway in India andamong the Indian diaspora, it vies for readers’ attention along with the ‘new generation’comic brands in contemporary India, such as Liquid, Vimanika (Ancient Indian Aircraft),and Level10.

In ACK and the ‘new generation’ comic brands in contemporary India, ‘culture’remains a resilient organizing principle. Culture offers a route to frame India’s past andpresent while also staking claims for the Indianess of their plots and narrative. Indiancomic book proprietors’ engagement with culture forges a kinship with anthropologists,who study the human experience as culture.2 Visual culture in all its facets, as symbols,art, and media images, holds a particular interest for anthropologists. Despite this attentionto visual culture, anthropological interest in comic books remains scant. Building uponthe intersection of comic books, history and anthropology, this paper addresses two ques-tions: How do comic books in India perceive culture? And, what insight about mass media,representation and interpretation can be gleaned with the reader’s emerging role of critic

*Email: khanduri@uta.edu

ISSN 2150-4857 print/ISSN 2150-4865 online© 2010 Taylor & FrancisDOI: 10.1080/21504857.2010.528641http://www.informaworld.com

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

117.

211.

86.2

35]

at 0

2:51

27

Mar

ch 2

012

172 R.G. Khanduri

and creator? To trace continuities in comic books’ engagement with culture and to conveythe ‘different scene’ contemporary readers’ experience, I focus on ACK, Indrajal Comics’Bahadur (Brave) series, Liquid Comics and Vimanika Comics, while also referencing othercomic book brands such as Raj Comics, Diamond Comics, Manoj Comics, Vivalok andLevel10.3

Although culture, superheroes and mythology are among continuities since the 1960s,digital media and the increasing interface with fans mark India’s new generation comics.There is also a strong presence of alternative comics that focus on development,Christianity and sexuality – space constraints prevent me from dwelling on this theme inthis article and I have explored it elsewhere.4 The comics scene today includes new super-heroes, transnational collaborators, digital media, manga stylistics, comic books-basedanimation films, readers in the diaspora and a growing youth and adult readership. It alsoincludes a vibrant constituency of fans and collectors who grew-up on comics in the 1980s.The ongoing trend of downloadable comic books as iPhone content, translation into ani-mation film and the participatory role of fans through blogs (Figures 1 and 2), Facebook,

Figure 1. Phantom and the Pirates (issue number 51). Indrajal Comics’ Phantom series was trans-lated in Hindi and various Indian languages. It was also exported to neighboring countries such asSri Lanka. Fans blogs such as Comic World upload old issues and comic book covers to generate ahistory of Indian comics and a social network of Phantom enthusiasts. © King Features, reproducedhere with their kind permission. Source: Comic World Blog. http://comic-guy.blogspot.com/

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

117.

211.

86.2

35]

at 0

2:51

27

Mar

ch 2

012

Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics 173

Figure 2. The blog Comicology has a busy traffic of fans and discussions on comics of all genres.Source: http://www.comicology.in/, with permission.

Twitter and social media websites, makes comic books in India an entry point to analyzeculture as ‘convergence culture’ (Jenkins 2006).

Two aspects of India’s comic book culture help to situate my article. First, a titlesearch for ‘comics’ in the Registrar of Newspapers for India records yields a substan-tial list in various languages. Given India’s linguistic diversity, this should not surprise:The Indian Constitution recognizes 22 official languages. This regional language-basedprint culture, defies attempts toward a single narrative history of Indian comic books.Furthermore, regional language comics also had their own distinct mix of indigenous andof licensed comic books from the West. For example, Muthu Comics in Tamil, which syndi-cated from the British Fleetway Publications was popular in Tamil Nadu and among Tamilreaders.5 Beginning in 1964, Indrajal Comics began marketing in various Indian languagescomic books of King Features Syndicate’s comic-book heroes Phantom, Mandrake, FlashGordon and Buz Sawyer (Shedden 2006). In 1976 it introduced the indigenous comic bookBahadur created by Aabid Surti and Govind Brahmania. Comicology and Comic World,popular discussion forums for fans and collectors, are among sources that evidence thediverse regional comic books culture in India and its multiple trajectories connecting USand British comic book syndications. Due to the multiple linguistic and regional contexts,a history of India’s comic books culture would require several beginnings, which is beyondthe scope of this article. Secondly, scholarly interest in comic books in India is recent anda potential area for further research. My more modest goal in situating ACK as a historicalprecursor to new generation comics is to analyze the pervasive sentiment about a ‘change’in India’s comic books culture. As a contribution to scholarship on Indian comic books, thisarticle also serves to connect with literature on the subject in other socio-political contexts.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

117.

211.

86.2

35]

at 0

2:51

27

Mar

ch 2

012

174 R.G. Khanduri

This article proposes the concept ‘convergence history’ to mark the multiple formsof historical writing central to my research. It highlights the disparate online and offlinesources that include interviews, blogs and writings by fans, journalists, comic book pro-ducers and artists – critical for accounting for the diversity of comic books in India. Apart of the analysis draws upon my interactions with Aabid Surti and Karan Vir Arora ofVimanika Comics. Additionally, my own reading of ACK and Indrajal Comics’ Bahadur,Mandrake and Phantom series when growing up in India, configure the contours of thispaper. This combination of sources echoes the anthropologist Ruth Benedict’s preferencefor texts to constitute a ‘scrappy ethnography’, which feminist anthropologists situate as acritique of anthropology’s fetishism of fieldwork (Babcock 1995, p. 210).

To situate the links among comic books culture in India in a historical context, I beginwith a discussion of culture – a concept evoked by leading comic book brands in India.Next I elaborate on the popular and successful ACK and Indrajal Comics brands that madetheir mark in the 1960s and constitute the old generation of comic books. While ACK wasan indigenous production, Indrajal Comics was owned by India’s leading newspaper press,the Times of India and included both indigenous series such as Bahadur and licensed seriessuch as King Features’ and Lee Falk’s Phantom (Figure 1). ACK continues to be popular inIndia and abroad, among the diaspora. Thereafter I discuss Liquid Comics and the mythol-ogy oriented Vimanika to illuminate the ‘cool’ vibes of new generation comics in India.Finally, I explore digital comics to signal new modes of reading and the participation offans.

Comics as cultureBut comic books are not a global medium; they have very different niches in the culturalecologies of every region where they are found, and they rarely translate well.

(Historian Anne Rubenstein 1998, p. 7)

Comic book producers in India pay particular attention to culture.6 To authorize the culturalclaims of their comics, Indian publishing houses frequently inform readers of a histo-rian or cultural expert among their staff, who ensures the accuracy of the research fortheir narratives. As early as 1967 Anant Pai, the founder of ACK comics presented hiscomics for children as a ‘route to your roots’. Pai emphasized that its comics were aproduct of ‘primary’ research and the script was not arbitrary (Figure 3). ACK’s scriptswere based on the publications of Gita Press in Gorakhpur, the foremost press for Hindutexts. Critiquing ACK’s narrow perspective of a mainstream Indian culture and genderedstereotype, Vivalok, an alternative comics brand present a subaltern perspective – folkstories and local plots that present India’s diversity.

Shekhar Kapur, a co-owner of Gotham Comics envisioned his collaborative initiativewith the spiritual healer and medical practitioner, Deepak Chopra, as a response to culture:‘Comics are becoming the new pop art. The new pop communication. The new drug. Thisis not just comics, but a breathtaking new multi-media format. Comics are the new culture’(DeMott 2004). Gotham Comics (now titled Liquid Comics) tapped into Indian mythologyto articulate a new pop art and culture that included readers in the diaspora. For Arora’srecently-launched Vimanika, culture rests in pride in Indian mythologies. Constantly com-pared to ACK and Liquid Comics, Vimanika distances itself from both and strives for‘authenticity’ in its representation of India’s Hindu culture and history. Such imbricationsof culture and religion and nostalgia for authenticity as a hallmark of the modern self, echoscholarly recognition of distinct forms of modernity, namely, ‘specific cultural histories thatmake for necessarily “other” modernities’ (Rofel 1999, p. 15).7 Accuracy is key to claim

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

117.

211.

86.2

35]

at 0

2:51

27

Mar

ch 2

012

Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics 175

Figure 3. In an earlier version of its website, Amar Chitra Katha deployed the comic book formatto illustrate the integration of research and primary sources when producing their comics. © ACKMedia. Reproduced here with their permission.

authenticity, a point Arora repeatedly emphasized in our conversation (phone interview,9 June 2010). Vimanika Comics boasts of Deepam Chatterjee’s counsel: ‘Deepam has morethan 15–20 years of experience and is considered among one of the hundred odd scholarsin India who actually know The Mahabharata’ (Madhukar 2009).

Amar Chitra Katha: immortal tales

Due to the tremendous success since its launch in 1967, which boasts of a print run of80 million copies in 38 Indian languages, and 400 titles,8 scholarly attention to Indiancomics has focused on ACK (Hawley 1996, Pritchett 1996, Nayar 2006). Two significantstudies highlighted ACK’s historical narrative construction (Chandra 2008, McLain 2009).Chandra unravels the interesting problematic that in ACK comics ‘the classic became thesource of the popular’ (2008, p. 3). Pictorial representation of the ‘classic’ and its circu-lation as a comic format endeared ACK to a wide-reading public as well as a pedagogicaltool for children. McLain approaches ACK comics as a form of public culture that are,‘a crucial site for studying the ways in which dominant ideologies of religion and nationalidentity are actively created and re-created by ongoing debate’ (2009, p. 22). Thus ACK is asource to tap culture as a process of active production. This framework complements recentwork on Latin American comics and extends Jesús-Martin Barbero’s concept ‘mediation’,as a ‘space where it is possible to think the relationship between production and reception’(Barbero 1993, L’Hoeste and Poblete 2009, p. 2). Such attention to the social production ofmeaning contrasts with Ariel Dorfman’s and Armand Mattelart’s (1991) influential polit-ical economy framework that emphasized Disney’s ideological apparatus in Chile. This

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

117.

211.

86.2

35]

at 0

2:51

27

Mar

ch 2

012

176 R.G. Khanduri

analysis fruitfully extended to the post-war context of Disney Comics to show that ‘for-eign challenge to US hegemony was met with military force, economic sanctions and theexportation to Third World countries of US capitalist values and artifacts, even as the cul-ture of those countries was appropriated by means anthropological, ethnographic, artistic,touristic, etc.’ (Kunzle 1990, p. 159).

The story of how Pai first thought about ACK is now legendary and encapsulates thecultural gap comics brands in India posit as the logic for their business:

I have great reverence for India’s heritage and culture and I am deeply rooted in its rich tra-dition. Once while working for The Times of India, I had the opportunity to witness a quizcontest on Doordarshan. There I saw that the participants could answer questions on Greekmythology but could not tell the name of Lord Ram’s mother. I was baffled and it is then thatthe seed was sown. Now my aim was to acquaint Indian children with their heritage.9

Critics have responded to Pai’s perspective by pointing to the Hinduization of Indian her-itage as well as reinforcing stereotypes about good and evil, beauty and gender. SandhyaRao, a publisher of children’s books questioned ACK’s cultural project: ‘The worst blow,however, is that Amar Chitra Kathas make the readers, young and old, feel they knowit all, they “have” culture’ (2000).10 Rao’s critique is problematic as it does not interro-gate the mediation of culture. The dissonance among Pai and his various critics offers anopportunity to reflect on the claims on culture. It also invites thinking about pleasure asan analytical space, which makes it difficult to dismiss readers’ claims of acquiring cultureand experiencing pleasure through comics.

But plotting Indian heritage was not an easy task. Pai began with an issue on the Hindudeity Krishna followed by another on the historical figure Shakuntala. Although sinceits first appearance, approximately a million copies of various editions of Krishna havesold, the initial reception was not encouraging. Since 1969 the titles grew to encompass abroad range of individual biographies and events that included myth, religion and history.However, in the earlier years, Indian heritage was framed within a Hindu context. Even thisapproach to heritage was not without complexity. When approving scripts for ACK issues,Pai remained acutely conscious of multiple textual and oral narratives in Hindu texts thatmake it difficult to claim one correct rendering. Acknowledging the challenge, Pai admitsto his own role in deciding the version he felt best suited his comics. But Pai quicklyasserted his attention to historical facts and details by citing several examples, includingthe dilemma he experienced about representing Swami Vivekananda’s famous address inChicago:

In the story of Vivekanand, his address to the Parliament of Religions was readily available,but when we got down to doing the illustration of the time when he rose from his seat to speak,we realized that we did not know who was sitting to his left or to his right. We could not haveput illustrations of just random people there. Now began the challenging of finding out exactlywho he was sitting beside at that time and in what order were they seated.11

Two years following Indian-American astronaut Kalpana Chawla and her crew’s tragicdeath in the Columbia accident in 2003, ACK issued a comic on Kalpana (Figure 4). Thiswas the first time ACK issued a title on a contemporary happening. I was in India duringthis episode. Chawla’s death ignited public sorrow and shock; it also blended pride andhonour. The story of a modest girl from Karnal, Punjab making it big in NASA and herlife ending in a heroic death, gripped public imagination.12 ACK’s Kalpana issue becamenews:

‘I knew Kalpana Chawla just like anyone else did – through the media – and I was zapped byher’, says Margie Sastry, author of Amar Chitra Katha’s latest offering, Kalpana Chawla. A

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

117.

211.

86.2

35]

at 0

2:51

27

Mar

ch 2

012

Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics 177

newspaper photo of Chawla, soon after she died, had Sastry wondering how someone so petitecould undergo the rigorous training required of an astronaut. ‘But now after researching her, Ifeel I know her better than a lot of other people I’ve met.’ The book on Chawla was inspired bya press conference held at Nehru Centre by the families of the seven astronauts, a few monthsafter the tragic Columbia space shuttle crash (Mumbai Newsline, 12 September 2005).13

A few years ago, I began my faculty appointment at the University of Texas at Arlington,Chawla’s alma mater. The newly-established student dormitory, Kalpana Chawla Hall,

Figure 4. The Kalpana Chawla issue, introduced the idea of a “citizen of the universe,” therebyreconfiguring Amar Chitra Katha’s project “route to your routes.” © ACK Media. Reproduced herewith their permission.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

117.

211.

86.2

35]

at 0

2:51

27

Mar

ch 2

012

178 R.G. Khanduri

reminded me of the force of Chawla’s biography on the UTA campus – an institution pop-ular among students of science from India and more broadly, South Asia. By producingthe Kalpana comic book, ACK appropriated Chawla as a part of its repertoire of greatand heroic biographies which include Mahatma Gandhi, Indira Gandhi, Rani Lakshmibai,among many other makers and markers of modern India. Simultaneously, this timely titleconstructed a particular biography which not only initiated the process of Chawla becom-ing a part of the Indian cultural memory but also promised a long shelf life in the culturalmemory of the Indian and diasporic public. Adult readers repeatedly observe ACK’s cru-cial role in shaping their cultural knowledge. The memory of reading ACK during one’schildhood intimately connects to an acknowledgment of its role as a form and source ofknowledge. ACK’s fan base is well-represented on its new Facebook page. Anil C.S. Rao’spost is among several that point to the emotional entanglement of memory, knowledge andACK14:

God! (s)Where would I be without ACK – my aunt bought me several mythological and historical titlesto me when I was a 9 y...living in Toronto Canada – the story of Buddha made me weep, thestories of Prithviraj Chauhan and Rana Pratap were educational – and entertaining to the pointI wore out the pages after rereading at least a zillion times...

With the Kalpana Chawla issue ACK’s motto ‘Route to your roots’ and avowed goal of‘bridging a cultural knowledge about the past’ took a new dimension. Chawla’s comic bookmade new bridges connecting a present to India’s past. By celebrating Chawla as ‘a truecitizen of the universe’, the source of India’s immortal tales shifted to include a diasporicand global context (Khanduri 2005).15 Charukesi, a fan, notes in her blog indsight.org,featuring the ‘real’ and the ‘present’ marks a shift in ACK and is a signature of the Kalpanaissue:

It is very interesting to see the way Amar Chitra Katha has kept in touch with the changingrole models for kids of this generation; no longer kings from the distant past or even freedomfighters from the recent past but real people with real achievements (I also noticed on their listJRD the quiet conqueror). I wonder what other titles they will come up with in future.16

After a time of financial uncertainty in 2003, ACK is now a part of ACK Media led bythe CEO and Founder Samir Patil, a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Although ACK enjoys extreme success and now resides as a part of ACK Media, its criticshave responded by designing their own comic brands. ACK’s critics sit broadly in twocamps, proponents of activist comics such as Vivalok that focus on subaltern plots andlocal stories critical of an overarching Hindu paradigm and the new generation comicssuch as Liquid and Vimanika that focus on Hindu mythology, digital interface and ‘cool’stylistics that endear readers in India and abroad.

Phantom and Bahadur: India’s superheroes

Among Indrajal Comics’ various series, Phantom and Bahadur have an eager fan follow-ing. The Phantom comic book’s plots drew upon on imagined hybrid location of India andAfrica. References to Bengalla and Singh Brotherhood were soon modified to appeal toIndian readers.17 Built around the adventures of Mr Walker, who in his role as Phantomprotects the inhabitants of a dark continent, the comic book is replete with colonial perspec-tive of a civilizing mission and orientalism. Despite this framework, which postcolonial

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

117.

211.

86.2

35]

at 0

2:51

27

Mar

ch 2

012

Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics 179

theorists critiqued, paradoxically fans embrace Phantom as a pleasurable childhood mem-ory. Fans’ comments suggest that despite his super human powers, a ‘close examination’revealed that Phantom exemplified Indian culture:

If we closely examine Phantom then he is a perfect Indian role model having all those qualitieswhich we Indians adore. For example Phantom is a complete teetotaler, strictly one womanman, never kills anybody, always ready to fight for justice, never abuses or mouths foul words,a loving and caring father, honest, brave and just and above all he is a common human withoutany imaginary super powers due to which a common man identifies himself with Phantommore rather than with any other so called super heroes.18

Indrajal Comics’ series based on the character Bahadur (brave) was created by AabidSurti and Govind Brahmania. The comic book launched in 1976 with Jagjit Uppal asscriptwriter. During our meeting in Mumbai in 2003, Surti informed me that during theyears when Bahadur became popular, there was no copyright. Explaining the team-work,Surti told me that he was busy and collaborated with Brahmania. Surti used to conceivethe idea, divide the shots and give directions. Based on the bandits and cops theme, thiscomic book emerged from the context of the 1970s, which was a time of intense crime incentral India.19 The comic book narrates tales of Bahadur, the son of a slain dacoit (Figure5). Upon realizing the heinous ways of the Chambal Valley bandits, including his owndead father, with the police officer Vishal’s timely intervention, Bahadur resolved to be agood citizen and formed a Citizen’s Security Force (CSF) to combat crime and violence.Attired in jeans and a saffron kurta (tunic) – symbolizing the fusion of modern Indian ide-als and sacrifice denoted by the saffron color – Bahadur’s karate chops, his companion and‘love interest’ Bela – also skilled in the martial arts – Vishal, the village headman, Mukhiaand CSF members Sukhia and Lakhan coordinated their efforts to maintain peace in theirvillage, Jaigarh (Figure 6).

Figure 5. As part of their recent efforts to revive Bahadur, Aabid Surti and Pramod Brahmanialaunched a website with digital uploads of old issues. © Aabid Surti and Govind Brahmania,reproduced here with their kind permission. Source: http://www.bahadur.in/

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

117.

211.

86.2

35]

at 0

2:51

27

Mar

ch 2

012

180 R.G. Khanduri

Figure 6. Bahadur and Bela. An autographed sketch by the artist Govind Brahmania. Reproducedhere with the kind permission of Alok Sharma.

Although the Bahadur series was not based on a mythological theme, it evoked asensibility of Indian culture. For fan-blogger DesiGuru, Bahadur exemplified an Indiansuperhero. Blogging on an issue Seeds of Poison that was scanned and posted in the ComicBook Project blog, DesiGuru noted:

Just finished the comics, and would like to comment on the story too. This is so far one of thebest Bahadur Comics I read. The story is touching and in true Indian tradition, involves humanemotions too. Bahadur is the first Indian Super Hero to appear in a comic. And he is sure oneof the best. I don’t like the current trends of Super Commando Dhruv or Nagraj, etc., as likePhantom, Bahadur does not have any super power, but still he is a Super Hero. Now, he is nomore published, but somehow I think they should revive him again into Comics or maybe aTV Series.20

Although with Indrajal Comics’ closure in 1990, Phantom was marketed by DiamondComics, Bahadur ceased publication. Nevertheless the series continues to have a strong fanbase and is a collector’s item. Triggered by an attractive website, Bahadur’s Facebook, anenormous fan-following and through the interest of both Aabid Surti and the late GovindBrahmania’s son, Pramod, Bahadur comic books are witnessing a revival; there is growinginterest in reviving the series both in animation and in print. A recent poster of the firstBahadur comic book cover signals a new beginning with Pramod Brahmania collaboratingwith Aabid Surti (Figure 7).

New generation comics: Liquid Comics and transcreation

Spider-Man, they call him. But the next time he unmasks, an Indian boy named PavitrPrabhakar will be revealed (Srinivasan 2005).

The guy is a mind-medicine smoothie for the Oprah set. What is he doing in a genrethat (a) targets young men, and (b) is filled with pain and ultra-violence and a whole lot of‘Thwackkkk’? (David Segal, Washington Post, 2007).

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

117.

211.

86.2

35]

at 0

2:51

27

Mar

ch 2

012

Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics 181

Figure 7. A recent poster featuring the first Bahadur issue cover. © Aabid Surti and GovindBrahmania, reproduced here with their kind permission.

Media analysts share growing enthusiasm that after a ‘dark age for Indian comics’between 1997 and 2003, a dramatic change is underway. This dark age symbolized a bleaktime for Indian comics when declining sales forced established brands such as ManojComics to cease production. The sentiment of those years is well-conveyed in the words ofDarshan Singh, proprietor of the Ludhiana-based Jyoti News Agency (Bhagria 2005):

Earlier we used to receive large number of children fond of reading Chacha Chaudhry, Billu,Pinky, Amar Chitra Katha, Parbhat Comics and Tulsi and Manoj Comics, etc. Along withthese, there was also a great demand for Champak, Nandan, Lot-Pot, etc., but now childrenhardly know their names. They just ask for Batman and Superman.21

Considering the projection for Asian entertainment to be a significant generator of rev-enue, Liquid Comics, a collaborative venture between spiritual healer Deepak Chopra,his son, Gotham Media producer Sharad Devarajan, and Hollywood/Bollywood direc-tor Shekhar Gupta, intended to produce a fusion comic book brand that would connectwith a global readership. They achieved this goal with Spiderman Peter Parker’s reincar-nation as Pavitr Prabhakar in Mumbai. The Indian Spiderman marked a twin process ofmaking a global superhero a local while simultaneously taking a local hero and makinghim global (Khanduri 2005). Gotham Comics foray into comics was as a South Asianpublishing licensee of several comic book brands such as Marvel, DC Comics and KingFeatures. Moving beyond their role of translation, with Pavitr Prabhakar Gotham Comicsintroduced a ‘transcreation’. This fusion superhero drew upon magic and mythology to

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

117.

211.

86.2

35]

at 0

2:51

27

Mar

ch 2

012

182 R.G. Khanduri

unfold the Mumbai-based Pavitr Prabhakr’s adventures. Explaining his notion of transcre-ation, Devarajn noted: ‘For Indian readers to see for the first time, this new version ofSpider-Man bouncing off rikshaws and climbing local monuments like the Gateway ofIndia will be great fun and hopefully bring in many new readers to experience this greatcharacter for the first time’ (Singh 2004).

Liquid Comics (now owned by Marvel) and its earlier incarnations Gotham Comicsand Virgin Comics, in partnership with Richard Branson, might offer a persuasive casefor thinking about the global traffic in cultural forms mediated by large corporations. Castagainst Indian comic books’ longer history of alliances with Western comic book syndi-cates, a closer look at Liquid Comics’ foray into mythology and comics would complementIan Condry’s call to recognize the ‘diversity of paths that can lead to global cultural connec-tions’ (2006, p. 207). Despite its unexpected slow-down and change in proprietors, LiquidComics marks a new generation of comics in India. Recent additions to this genre includeVimanika. Pavitr Prabhakar has also morphed into a reference point against which readersand comic book producers such as Vimanika imagine authentic Indian comics.

Vimanika: cool comics inspired by the Vedic text Vimanika Shastra, a treatise onaeronautics

Look at the breathtaking artwork exhibited in Issue 1 of the series. The plot-work follows thestoryline, as it is told either by the protagonist or the narrator. Thus we get a chance to peekinto the minds of the character which gives us a first-hand account of the action as it happens.The plot is aptly assisted by the artists, who breathe life to the concept with the exhibition ofart, color and inking, not seen so far in Indian Authentic Comics. (It was once promised byerstwhile Virgin Comics, before it was reduced to a state of oblivion.) (Blogger Rafiq Raja,Comicology, 2008.)

Vimanika’s USP is authentic (Vimanika co-founder, Karan Vir Arora, 2010) (phone interview,9 June 2010)

Arora and Kanika Choudhary co-founded Vimanika in 2008. It aims to create storiesbased on characters related to Indian, Asian and Celtic mythology. It also aims for the ‘por-trayal of virtues that were common during that era but are looked upon with amazementand fear today’.22 When Arora and I spoke about his comics brand, he informed me that hewas never really into comics; he is really a movie buff. However, upon hearing about VirginComics coming to India, he wondered at the paradox of a UK-based business promotingmythology and comics in India. This left him to consider the potential of Indians them-selves creating authentic and beautiful comics about their own mythologies and heritage.To refute what Arora perceives is a mistaken but popular notion in India, that comics areabout comedy, Vimanika demonstrates that comics, in particular, mythologies are a seriousbusiness.

In an interesting twist to Pai’s description of ACK’s pedagogical role, for Vimanikamythologies are history and scientific: ‘we should focus on the past to learn about thefuture’ (phone interview, 9 June 2010). Citing archaeological claims about the Ram Setubridge and scholarship on the Mauryan empire in India, Arora believes the past wasscientific – the weapons and physical abilities of the people of the past attest to that truth. Toensure the veracity of the history depicted in their comics, Vimanika is guided by two schol-ars, Dr Deepam Chatterjee and Dr Rajaram. Arora informed me that Chatterjee is among 37scholarly experts on the Mahabharata. Rajaram is a scientist who has worked with NASAand has collaborated with Dr David Frawley in writing about India’s history. Frawley, also

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

117.

211.

86.2

35]

at 0

2:51

27

Mar

ch 2

012

Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics 183

known as Pandit Vamadeva Shastri, is the founder and director of the American Institute forVedic Studies in New Mexico. Spiritual healer Deepak Chopra, the co-founder of GothamComics, is among individuals who endorsed Frawley’s expertise.

Claiming that ‘past conquerors have changed our history into myth’ Vimanika comicsre-connects myth as history. But this history holds import for Arora because the valuesand character of people from the past serve as role models. Those values are eternal, yetforgotten today and realizing ‘where we come from’ connects us to culture. Arora wantshis comics to reawaken these values. Comics offer an ideal medium for education. WhenArora read the Gita, there was some to which he could not connect. Comics will forge thatconnection. So is Vimanika another version of the successful ACK? Arora dismisses theidea and insists his comics are ‘cool’ (phone interview, 9 June 2010) (Figure 8).

For Arora, his comics provide a foundation for a longer term plan to transition to ani-mation films. When Vimanika comics are ‘thrown out in the market, there will be a marketfor the film even before it is launched’. Negotiations are also underway for licensing withmobile phone providers in India, signaling the logic of multiple formats that mark con-temporary comic book production. The comic book’s website features photographs of aprominent Bollywood actor, Milind Soman, in a launch of his comics. Arora informed thathis friends in Bollywood appreciated his comic book, indicating a wider ambit of readersand the endorsement of media workers in the film industry. Vimanika readers are referred

Figure 8. Cover of Vimanika’s graphic novel, Dashavtar. Vishnu is shown with two-arms insteadof four as is the convention in popular iconography. Arora pointed to me his emphasis on Vishnu’sface being handsome, and his gaze: ‘he is looking at you’. Marketed as the first Indian graphic novelthe U.S., Vimanika aims to reach Indian Americans and a broad readership in India through its claimof authentic renderings of Hindu mythology. © Vimanika, reproduced here with kind permission.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

117.

211.

86.2

35]

at 0

2:51

27

Mar

ch 2

012

184 R.G. Khanduri

to as Vimaniks and Arora reaches out to his readers through blogs such as Comicology andthe Vimanika Facebook page. Participating in online forums that accommodate anonymouscomments means Arora receives both public praise and criticism.

Arora situates his comics as ‘re-tellings’ which ‘create evolution’ and ‘not a revolu-tion’. Vimanika Comics’ insistence on a heritage, history and culture built around Hindumyths and comments on Comicology’s readers’ forum suggesting a toning down of theHindu mythology ethos prompted me to ask Arora about his comics reflecting Hindutva, acontroversial brand of Hindu politics in India with strong transnational links (KhanduriForthcoming). In response, Arora criticized the association people made between hiscomics and Hindutva because he felt such critics have a wrong impression about religion.Such reactions to religion are becoming a ‘mind set’. To clarify, Arora asserted that hiscomics are not about politics, mythologies are written universally; he was a proud Indianrather than a proud Hindu (phone interview, 9 June 2010). Such articulations of ‘mind sets’bring into sharp relief that the notion of religion as a comfortable aspect of secularism andmodernity is deeply enmeshed in public conversations about comics of Hindu mythology.‘Cool’ identities are in a comfort zone where manga stylistics, the historical context ofHindu mythologies, the depoliticization and authentic culturalization of nation creates adistance from the not-cool ACK. This implicit re-classification of ACK by critics rests onthe renewal of the category of the authentic with a new graphic style.23

Digital comics and cyberspace

Siddhartha: wow everyone is a critic!Akshay : well...yes. that is the beauty of the internet :)(Readers’ review of Level 10’s Shaurya, 2010, see note 27)

Since 2008, leading comic publishing houses Diamond Comics and ACK media haveturned to transforming their popular comic brand into animation films. Vimanika Comicstoo has potential collaborations brewing. In the face of scant competition, proprietors suchas Gulshan Rai of Diamond Comics believe they have a promising future: ‘Till now, wehave seen only foreign characters on cartoon channels. There is no Indian character thatIndian children can relate to. Our desire is to create an Indian channel, which will show con-tent of Indian relevance and stories of Indian culture through Indian characters’ (Turakhia2008). Once again, culture is evoked as the social and capital logic for animation films.

While animation invites considerable attention, digital comics and the internet openedup new possibilities for comics. Business analysts estimate that the comic publishing mar-ket in India is worth 300 crore Indian Rupees (3 billion USD).24 This projection is expectedto grow dramatically over the next decade (Vats 2010). New business models and verti-cal formats extend comics as digital media accessible through cell phones, iPods, Kindleand computers. Comics have become a multimedia: their digital files are popular as VAS(value added service) for cell phone subscribers of Airtel, Vodaphone and iPhone and canbe downloaded or purchased online via Kindle. For Raj Comics, the leading Hindi comicbook brand, collaboration with digital providers has opened new opportunities. Not onlyare their comics downloadable on the internet and on cell phones but also the publisher isdigitizing older issues and re-inking them for a fresh look.

Digital comics hold promise; their future is being tracked in the US too. VerizonWireless, Sprint Nextel and AT&T offer GoComics, owned by Uclick. These providersoffer a separate subscription for manga and their comics include, ‘the Hindu folkloreinspired Devi’ (Twiddy 2007). The economies of production, distribution and VAS make

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

117.

211.

86.2

35]

at 0

2:51

27

Mar

ch 2

012

Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics 185

digital comics a potentially viable business. According to Robert Hernandez, the seniorvice president of Disney Publishing Worldwide, digicomics will become the new goldstandard.25 However, in India’s expanding market, digitization produces uneven accessto technologies and media forms. Publishers are eager about the process but its resultsare yet to be seen. iPhones and Kindle are expensive gadgets and as Raj Comics readersnoted in their messages on the publisher’s forum, these cater to the NRIs (Non-ResidentIndians) and people who travel – they can afford expensive gadgets26:

Moreover these are not targeted on us readers, who can easily purchase paper-comics but thosewho are either don’t get these due to non availability (like NRI’s), or those who travel a lot, orthose who have a love for gadgets, and such people are usually capable enough to purchase, a12,000rs devices (iPod touch). For others paper comics are good enough as after all, a personused to reading paper comics can not get the same pleasure while reading an e-comic...(RajComics reader, Abhi9, 2009).

The class dimension of digital comics and the gadgets which channel this content isunmistakable. Readers’ forums frequently observe the disjuncture between a passionatefan following at home and the comic books producers wooing a global audience i.e., thediaspora. Abhi9’s comment about the ‘good interface’ digital devices and e-comics offeralso reminds everyone that the pleasure of digital comics is not comparable to readingpaper comics. Such critique of digital texts also constructs a new category of the authenticand truly pleasurable: paper comic books.

Comics producers now boast attractive websites and readers’ forums. Through suchforums readers can express their candid observations about specific issues and generaltrends. These forums signal the shift from individual media consumption to consumption asa ‘networked practice’ (Jenkins 2006, p. 244). In addition to comics brands own websites,fans also host independent blogs and create a social network. Among these Rafiq Raja’sComicology has a strong following and is an excellent archive of comics. This forum servesas exchange about comics and their history in India as well as the world of comics morebroadly. For proprietors of new comics brands, browsing Comicology can offer insightfulperspective on their productions. Comics proprietors engage in these forums by respondingto readers’ comments. For example, Arora of Vimanika is active on the Comicology blog.Readers have offered their appreciation and criticism of Vimanika comics, pointing outamong other things an over-reliance on religious themes. When inviting reviews, comicbook producers also have to be welcoming, engaging and appreciative of the feedback. Ontheir public interface through Facebook, Level10 asked viewers to comment on the ‘prosand cons’ of their Shaurya issue. To a particularly in-depth response which scored the issue3/5, Rajesh, the artist, had to engage the critique27:

What’s with the coloring issue? Well if you read the issue more carefully you will notice thatthings are happening in different timelines and we are looking at different characters. So wethought it was prudent to have the current timeline of the narrative in color while the flashbacksin thematic tones for each character. It was done to make a clear distinction to avoid confusion.(Rajesh Sharma 2010)

Two themes are predominant in Indian comic book websites that invite readers’ partic-ipation: Indian artists for Indian comics and the reader as potential artist and co-narrator.Various comics invite readers to submit their artwork to harvest the possibility of launchinga career as graphic artists. Comix, an independent comics-related website keeps fans andartists posted about opportunities.28 With Vimanika’s Sketch Karna contest, Arora wantedto encourage people to draw mythology. Furthermore, with the winning drawing becom-ing part of Vimanika’s repertoire, the winners would get a start to a career in comic book

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

117.

211.

86.2

35]

at 0

2:51

27

Mar

ch 2

012

186 R.G. Khanduri

Figure 9. Vimanika’s Sketch Karna Contest’s winning entry by the reader Dildeep Singh. For Arorathis was a winning entry because of the movement and emotion depicted in the scene. Vimanikadraws upon the Manga style and fuses it with Indian mythology. © Vimanika, reproduced here withkind permission. Source: http://www.vimanika.com/

art. The winning entry and a few deserving a special mention are hosted on their website(Figure 9). To get a sense of cool graphic sensibility, I asked Arora how he picked thewinning entry. Arora identified three elements: anatomy, style and emotion and explained,‘Anatomy – basic anatomy we look at has to be good. Artwork has to connect with thedilemma of the character. [In the winning drawing] Indra is in tears’ (phone interview, 14June 2010). Compared to other submissions to the Karna contest, Arora clarified, ‘thosedrawings were all posing – they had style but were missing emotion and authenticity’.Authenticity was a key theme for Arora because he believed it was critical for specificcomic book genres, namely, mythology.

Conclusions: a new scene

Complementing the proposal that comics merit critical analysis as history and culture(Witek 1989, McKinney 2008), this paper situates shifts and continuities in comic booksin India. Comics as mass media embody a creative space and show the pedagogical pro-cesses at work and the imbrications of culture with profitable business. Thinking throughthe conceptual lens of culture – a framework shared by comic book producers, and readersin India and the anthropological perspective, I show the multiple ways in which cultureis constructed and serves as a sign for claiming identity and difference in new generationcomics such as Liquid and Vimanika. Due to its linguistic diversity, in India comic bookshave carved distinct regional histories. A review of discussions on India’s comic bookscene suggests diverse opinions: on one hand, a need to bring more energy into indige-nous comic books and on the other hand to encourage emerging artists and comic bookproprietors to address regional markets of non-English readers. Alok Sharma of the comicblog Chitrakatha, summarizes it eloquently:

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

117.

211.

86.2

35]

at 0

2:51

27

Mar

ch 2

012

Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics 187

There are couple of players in Indian market even now, but all of them are busy playing intheir niche markets – Raj Comics still has a grip on the northern and central belt, Diamondhaving a wide distribution across India concentrating on kiddie stuff, Vimanika and others arestill confined to big cities, thanks to the language of publication – English. To have a widerreach in India, publishers have to publish these comics in Hindi.29

The comics landscape in India, which scholars tended to prioritize through the popularACK (1976–present) and Indrajal Comics (1964–1990) comic books, is fast-changing. Asurge of new series that marks the change in comic books culture ties to the liberalizingof India’s economy in the late 1990s, emergent technologies, transnational productionnetworks, and adults in a growing middle-class market. Transnational business andartistic collaborations, the emerging market in graphic novels and digital formats of printcomics – all indicate a growing visual literacy in and market for comic books, which isgeared toward adult readers. In this new moment, the more successful brands ACK andDiamond Comics also re-invent themselves by morphing into digital comics and exploringanimation films. For struggling brands such as Raj Comics, the digital interface mightprovide a new lease of life.

In particular, I offer three perspectives on India’s comic scene: First, I show that begin-ning with the earliest comics in India – ACK, ‘culture’ continues to be a central conceptproviding creative, social and capitalist logic for comic publishers and readers. Readers’engagement with comics as culture offers a space to think through the ways in whichdominant frameworks of race, gender, and Hindu culture are re-interpreted. For example,readers’ enthusiasm for Indrajal Comics’ Phantom series shows that fans interpret colonialnarratives’ civilizational mission to construct positive images of Indian culture. Similarly,though analysts critiqued ACK’s overarching Hindu framework as part of a process thatmarginalizes other cultural experiences, readers remember these comics among their plea-surable childhood moments. The duality between textual analysis and readers’ reception inthe context of Indian comics echoes a persistent anxiety about the role of comic books.30

Newly kindled debates on the social role of comics in India as well as its growing relevanceas adult reading material that involves diasporic audiences and transnational production,further extends the use of culture as focal concept for addressing comics. Recently, uneasewith the anti-Semetic tones of the re-issued 1930–1931 comic book, TinTin in the Congoled the British Commission for Racial Equality to consider it unsuitable for children.31

Secondly, I contend that the current digital scenario will need new analytical frameworkfor studying media production, reception and mediation. The plethora of readers’ forumsemerging either as an element of comic book publishers’ websites or as individual blogs hasresulted in an unprecedented engagement among readers as well as with comics produc-ers. Blogs such as Comicology, the Comic Project, Comic World, Indsight, Phantomhead,ACK-India, World of Devil, Indrajal Comics Club, Chitrakatha, flickr images of Indiancomics, and Facebook pages of Raj Comics and Bahadur are among the several fan sitesthat attest to the internet as the medium for networking about all things cultural.

Finally, comic book readers now have an interesting array of roles: they review comics,engage with other fans and submit their own artworks and scripts. Comic brands such asVimanika invite the public to contribute scripts, drawings and their own comics to heralda new generation of Indian comics. Through their acuity, analysis and immediacy, comicbook readers in India critique scripts and artwork and present themselves as potential comicbook artists. Mediated by the internet, as part of fan network, readers publicly share theirinsight and are attuned to comic trends and its diverse history in India. In India’s new comicscene, blogs such as Comicology are a space for pedagogy, teaching how to read comicsand how to make comics. This makes the internet an ethnographic site for studying India’scomic book culture.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

117.

211.

86.2

35]

at 0

2:51

27

Mar

ch 2

012

188 R.G. Khanduri

Acknowledgements

A version of this paper was presented in 2005 at the South Asia Institute, University ofTexas at Austin. In past years, several individuals related to the world of Indian comicsengaged with me and shared their thoughts. In particular, I thank Aabid Surti for aninformative conversation about his creation Bahadur and Karan Vir Arora for sharingdetails about his publication, Vimanika. For their generosity in permitting use of theirimages, I thank Aabid Surti, Pramod Brahmania and the management at Vimanika. NiaParson, Sharada Sugirtharajah and Alok Sharma offered valuable comments for which Iam grateful. Time constraints prevented a discussion with Nandini Chandra and I wantto thank her for informing me of her recent article and for her support. I am gratefulto Savio Joseph, Manoj Gujjaran and Savita Pai for their help with obtaining permis-sion to use ACK Media images. Special thanks to Alok for permitting me to use thelate Govind Brahmania’s sketches of Bahadur and Bela. I am grateful to two anonymousreviewers for their comments and helpful suggestions. Finally, I want to acknowledgeand thank the many bloggers who recorded their memories of the early years of Indiancomics.

Notes1. For a fascinating selection of comics in India see the Comicology blog: http://www.

comicology.in/2009/04/media-article-disney-comics-bACK-in.html2. For a perspective that critiques the culture concept, see Abu-Lughod (1991). For a succinct

summation of the debate, see Allison (2000, pp. 5–9).3. Each of these comic brands deserves attention. I do not discuss these brands in-depth due to

space constraints. I am grateful to Alok Sharma for alerting me to the fact that Raj Comics’sales are larger than all Indian comic book brands added together. While researching for hisdocumentary on Indian comics, Sharma observed that Raj Comics usually published 50,000copies of their A-list characters (Nagraj, Super Commando Dhruv and Doga among others)and 30,000 copies of their B-list characters (Bankelal and Parmanu among others). However,other comic brands barely crossed the 10,000 copies mark. (Personal communication).

4. Khanduri 2010a and 2010b.5. Comicology blog.6. Drawing upon Anne Rubenstein’s critical reading of anthropological studies of culture and its

impact on popular and official perception of the social role of comics (1998), I discuss linksbetween anthropology, culture and comics in more detail in Khanduri 2010b.

7. Rofel’s analysis highlights the contributions of postcolonial scholarship in formulating the mul-tiplicity of modernity. Space constraints limit me from including a substantial body of literatureon this subject.

8. These statistics are from a 2004 report cited in Nayar (2006, p. 116).9. Ahuja (2007).

10. Rao (2000).11. Ahuja (2007). In various interviews Pai often recalls ACK’s beginnings and the Vivekananda

episode.12. At the time I was in India for my fieldwork. Newspaper accounts and television coverage

attested to the emotional response to Chawla’s death.13. http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=14817314. http://www.Facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1015024&fbid=1337439151296&op=2&o=

global&view=global&subj=75907274697&id=109064381915. Chandra (2008) has written in-depth about the diasporic market, which preceded the Kalpana

issue. McLain’s insightful discussion of the Kalpana issue situates ACK’s script within theVirangana tradition of sacrifice (2009, p. 86).

16. http://indsight.org/blog/2006/01/06/immortal-picture-stories-or-amar-chitra-katha/17. Friese (1999) details this dimension of Phantom comic books.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

117.

211.

86.2

35]

at 0

2:51

27

Mar

ch 2

012

Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics 189

18. Comment by Comic World in http://indrajalbengali.blogspot.com/2010/06/why-i-read-indarjal-comics.html#more

19. In our 2003 meeting Surti informed me that he also worked with the artist Pratap Mullick forthe series on Inspector Azad. Chandra (2010) discusses aspects of Bahadur in comic realism.

20. http://thecomicproject.blogspot.com/2005/05/comic-9-bahadur-seeds-of-poison.html21. http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=14096522. http://www.vimanika.com/aboutus.html23. Here I am drawing upon Shelly Errington’s analysis of the commodification of art through

categories such as authentic and primitive (1998).24. India does not match the numbers John Lent noted for East Asia (1995). India’s recent boom

is connected to digital media and devices, especially cell phones.25. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=avSQbBUEODks. In the US

context, Schott (2010) notes the role of the internet in the readers’ interface with comics.26. http://www.rajcomics.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=124&t=276127. http://www.Facebook.com/topic.php?uid=371500427252&topic=1631128. http://www.comixindia.com/blog/. In the US context, Schott (2010, pp. 20–21) also points to

the internet’s role in diversifying fans’ activities.29. http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?vid=153893846552&topic=10963.30. Rubenstein (1998), Friese (1999) and Chandra (2008) discuss this problematic. I explore this

theme in detail in Khanduri (2010c).31. McKinney (2008, p. 4) elaborates on the recent debate regarding the re-issued TinTin in the

Congo.

Notes on contributorRitu Gairola Khanduri is an assistant professor of cultural anthropology at the University of Texasat Arlington. Her research foci include media, history, colonial and postcolonial India and the dias-pora. Supported by the Wenner-Gren Foundation’s Richard Carley Hunt Postdoctoral Fellowship,Khanduri is currently working on her book manuscript titled Caricaturing culture: cartoons, historyand modernity in India.

ReferencesAbu-Lughod, L., 1991. Writing against culture. In: R. G. Fox, ed. Recapturing anthropology: working

in the present. Santa Fe: School of American Research Press, 137–162.Ahuja, A., 2007. Audience with Anant Pai [online]. Available from: http://www.readingrainbow.

in/interview-pai.shtml.Allison, A., 2000. Permitted and prohibited desires: mothers, comics, and censorship in Japan.

Berkeley: University of California Press.Babcock, B.A., 1995. ‘Not in the absolute singular’: reading Ruth Benedict. In: R. Behar and D.A.

Gordon, eds. Women writing culture. Berkeley: University of California Press, 104–130.Barbero, J.M., 1993. Latin America: cultures in the communication media. Journal of

Communication, 43 (2), 18–30.Bhagria, A., 2005. Cosmopolitanisation of comics too: Indian ones edged out [online]. Available

from: http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=140965 [Accessed 10 June 2007].Chandra, N., 2008. The classic popular: Amar Chitra Katha, 1967–2007. Delhi: Yoda Press.Chandra, N., 2010. Comic realism [online]. Available from: http://www.hardnewsmedia.com/2010/

09/3680 [Accessed 11 September 2010].Condry, I., 2006. Hip-hop Japan: rap and the paths of cultural globalization. Durham, NC: Duke

University Press.DeMott, R., 2004. Spiritualist Chopra and director Kapur form comic book company [online].

Available from: http://www.awn.com/news/business/spiritualist-chopra-director-kapur-form-comicbook-company [Accessed 5 June 2010].

Dorfman, A. and Mattelart, A., 1991. (1971) How to read Donald Duck: imperialist ideology in theDisney comic. New York: International General.

Errington, S., 1998. The death of authentic primitive art and other tales of progress. Berkeley:University of California Press.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

117.

211.

86.2

35]

at 0

2:51

27

Mar

ch 2

012

190 R.G. Khanduri

Friese, K., 1999. White skin, black mask. Transition, 80, 4–17.Hawley, J.S., 1996. The saints subdued: domestic virtue and national integration in Amar Chitra

Katha. In: L.A. Babb and S.S. Wadley, eds. Media and the transformation of religion in SouthAsia. Philadelphia, PA: Pennsylvania University Press, 107–135.

Jenkins, H., 2006. Convergence culture: where old and new media collide. New York: New YorkUniversity Press.

Khanduri, R., 2005. Comic culture in India: the local and the global. Paper presented at the SouthAsia Institute Outreach Conference, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX.

Khanduri, R., 2010a. Shades of blue. Under review.Khanduri, R., 2010b. Alternate comics: religion, development and grassroots politics in India.

Unpublished paper.Khanduri, R., 2010c. Sense and sentiment. Unpublished paper.Khanduri, R., Forthcoming. Does this offend you? In: P. Kanungo, D. Reddy, M. Warrier, R. Williams

and J. Zavos, eds. Public Hinduism. New Delhi: Sage.Kunzle, D., 1990. Dispossession by ducks: the imperialist treasure hunt in Southeast Asia. Art

Journal, 49 (2), 159–166.Lent, J.A., 1995. Comics in East Asian countries: a contemporary survey. Journal of Popular Culture,

29 (1), 185–198.L’Hoeste, H. F. and Poblete, J., eds, 2009. Redrawing the nation: national identity in latin/o american

comics. New York: Palgrave.Madhukar, J., 2009. Tryst with graphic Karna [online]. Available from: http://www.bangaloremirror.

com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=Entertainment-Etc&sectid=31&contentid=20091208200912081858378578aa26d3c [Accessed 5 June 2010].

McKinney, M., ed. 2008. History and politics in French language comics and graphic novels.Jackson: University Press of Mississippi.

McLain, K., 2009. India’s immortal comic books: gods, kings and other heroes. Bloomington:Indiana University Press.

Nayar, P.K., 2006. Reading culture: theory, praxis, politics. New Delhi: Sage Publications.Pritchett, F.W., 1996. The world of Amar Chitra Katha. In: L.A. Babb and S.S. Wadley, eds. Media

and the transformation of religion in South Asia. Philadelphia, PA: Pennsylvania UniversityPress, 76–106.

Raja, R., 2005. Comicology [online]. Available from: http://www.comicology.in/ [Accessed 12 May2010].

Rajan, A., 2003. A question of discrimination [online]. Available from: http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mp/2003/05/22/stories/2003052200760300.htm [Accessed 12 May 2010].

Rao, S., 2000. Amar chitra katha comics: a quick-fix culture course for kids. Bookbird: World ofChildren’s Books, 38(4), 33–35.

Remondini, C., 2009. Disney to sell digital comics on iPhone, other devices [online]. Available from:http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=avSQbBUEODks [Accessed 12May 2010].

Rofel, L., 1999. Other modernities: gendered yearnings in China after socialism. Berkeley:University of California Press.

Rubenstein, A., 1998. Bad language, naked ladies, and other threats to the nation: a political historyof comic books in Mexico. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

Schott G., 2010. From fan appropriation to industry re-appropriation: the sexual identity of comicsuperheroes. Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics, 1 (1), 17–29.

Segal, D., 2007. Deepak Chopra and a new age of comic books [online]. Available from: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/02/AR2007030201862.html [Accessed15 July 2009].

Sharma, M., 2010. The return of India’s superheroes [online]. Available from: http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/newdelhi/The-return-of-Indian-superheroes/Article1-508873.aspx[Accessed 5 June 2010].

Shedden, B., 2006. The Phantom: a publishing history in India [online]. Available from:http://www.deepwoods.org/indrajal.html [Accessed 5 June 2010].

Singh, A., 2004. Eastern swing: Sharad Devarajan talks Indian Spiderman [online]. Available from:http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=3682 [Accessed 5 June 2010].

Srinivasan, S., 2005. Spiderman spins a magical web in India [online]. Available from:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43491-2005Jan2.html.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

117.

211.

86.2

35]

at 0

2:51

27

Mar

ch 2

012

Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics 191

Turakhia, S., 2008. Indian characters get ready for cartoon wars [online]. Available from:http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/corporatenews/Indian-characters-get-ready-for-cartoon-wars/Article1-318198.aspx [Accessed 5 June 2010].

Twiddy, D., 2007. The call of comic books reaches a new level – cellphones [online]. Available from:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2007/09/10/AR2007091002288.html[Accessed 5 June 2010].

Vats, R., 2010. Comic punch [online]. Available from: http://www.hindustantimes.com/rssfeed/[Accessed 5 June 2010].

White, H., 1988. Historiography and historiophoty. The American Historical Review, 93, 1193–1199.Witek, J., 1989. Comics books as history: the narrative art of Jack Jackson, Art Spiegelman, and

Harvey Pekar. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi.

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

117.

211.

86.2

35]

at 0

2:51

27

Mar

ch 2

012