Comic books have to keep pace with the times: Aalok Joshi

The Comic Con Express in Mumbai last weekend was attended by independent artists displaying their work, publishers releasing new titles and selling attractive merchandise and the comic book fans who showed up to lap it all up. DNA spoke to some of the participants and asked them to give their opinions on the the comic book scene in India – what’s working, what’s not and what else needs to be done.

Aalok Joshi is a certified comic book fan and has nearly 8,000 comic books to testify to the fact. Studying to be a dentist, Aalok’s passion for comic books is evident in his in-depth knowledge of the genre and its history, both in India and abroad

Tough competition
The Comic Con Express turned out much better than I expected. Some people at the convention are comparing it to comic cons overseas which I think is brutal. Comic Cons in the US and UK have been around for nearly 20-30 years. This is only India’s second comic con.

Comic books in regional languages
It’s not like they haven’t existed. In the 80s and 90s, homegrown Hindi comic book publishers like Raj Comics and Diamond Comics had a considerable following. In fact, these were translated into English. But many of the major players closed down. Diamond Comics is now surviving on reprints but that can’t last forever. Imagine if DC Comics would just keep reprinting their issues from the 40s to the 70s. Comic books have to evolve and keep pace with the times.

The independent scene is restricted in this regard. If an artist can’t find an audience for his works in English, then other languages are a far cry. But it is being done. Lion Comics publishes Tamil titles which are sold exclusively in Tamil Nadu. But these are not shipped to Bombay and other places, and are too concentrated in their home niche.

Who will save the day?
Intense efforts need to be made. For eg, a local publisher can put up a Facebook poll and ask how many takers there really would be for, say, a Marathi comic book. He could print 100 copies and distribute them in stalls for visibility. It will definitely need to be a grassroots effort since I don’t see big publishers taking any interest in this. They are happy doing their own stuff. In this regard, Bollywood presence can be beneficial because it will help prop up the comic book medium and extend its reach.