The Shifting Goalpost

Lie is a graphic novel in the form of miniature paintings with an intent to provide a satire on politics, religion, film, cricket and family and how they contribute to the corruption, greed, caste prejudice, materialism, communalism and gender inequalities. The two lists in the preceding sentence are from the narration at the back of the book. Well, if one had to cover all of these in a 180-page book, it cannot do justice to all the points. And indeed that is the case.

As opposed to the original intent, the book is more focused on political characters and ignores many of the other areas. And obviously then, it deals more with corruption and greed.

Somehow, I felt a case of missed opportunity here. The author may have had some unavoidable format constraint (180 pages) and hence tried to tell as much as possible within this constraint. But in doing so he has definitely compromised on the complete message that he had in his mind. A free hand on the length could have led to a magical tome of a graphic novel (maybe similar to Vikram Seth’s ‘A Suitable Boy’). In the current form, it leaves you wanting more. Somehow I don’t think that (to leave you wanting more) was an intention, but I maybe wrong.

The author has selected two political characters Bhola Mishra and Rekha who are much more than loosely based on Lalu Prasad and Indira Gandhi. Not sure why their supporters have not targeted this book to demand a ban. Of course, not a single supporter has read it or even read it in the future. You have got the idea so it becomes very predictable as well from here.

I am interested in knowing how well this book does as it could provide an indication of whether the comic book generation (I just made that up) which has grown up now will lap up mature content in graphic form (wow, the last phrase will bring up anything but mature ideas in a dirty mind - I am sure you are not one of those).

Last few points - the drawings are an interesting style (cannot work mainstream except for shock treatment like South Park but it will take at least 100-200 years more for that to be acceptable in India). The style works very well for the content. And once you start reading Lie, it is very difficult to put it down till you reach the end. We want more.

I am taking liberty to post one page from the book. Enjoy.

After 20 years, he gives an interview through email and answers 6 questions. What a recluse?!

Slashdot discussion and
The interview on Cleveland.com

Calvin and Hobbes - one of my favourite comics characters.

If you find the following funny, then you should buy The Complete Calvin and Hobbes.

—
Calvin: “Dad, are you vicariously living through me in the hope that my accomplishments will validate your mediocre life and in some way compensate for all of the opportunities you botched?”
Father: “If I were, you can bet I’d be re-evaluating my strategy.”
Calvin, later to his mother: “Mom, Dad keeps insulting me.”
—
This one’s tricky. You have to use imaginary numbers, like eleventeen …
—
Ms. Wormwood: Calvin! Pay attention! We’re studying GEOGRAPHY! Now what state do you live in?
Calvin: Denial.
Ms. Wormwood: [sighs] Well, I don’t suppose I can argue with that…
—

I was excited like a kid finding a new toy when I read an article about the upcoming graphic novels based on Ratnakar Matkari’s Marathi stories (the comics are in English) in today’s Loksatta. Now, I consider Ratnakar Matkari as the Marathi Stephen King. And being an ardent fan of S.King and Graphic Novels, I am not able to contain my excitement.

Is this the beginning of getting something similar to 100 Bullets, V for Vendetta, Sin City and Sandman from India? Wow.

Please visit The Feast and other visions of malevolence to get a glimpse of these comics. Ashish Padlekar and Saumin Patel are the people behind this. Congratulations and Best of Luck to them!

As a comics fan - maybe not as much as those who attend the Comic-Con, I was very interested in the two unconventional super-hero movies, Hancock and Unbreakable. Both the movies are very different but both portray super-heroes facing problems similar to ordinary human beings. The very conventional Peter Parker/Spider-man faces human problems but he faces those as Peter Parker not as Spider-man. Hancock faces a drinking problem. And David Dunn (Unbreakable) doesn’t even know that he has extraordinary powers (the whole movie is based on how he is made aware of that). Both have relationship issues.
Shyamalan’s every movie is compared with The Sixth Sense and then criticised how it fails to reach that level. I think that is very unfair. But compared to Signs and The Village, Unbreakable might be (or have been as I am watching it after 9 years of its release ) more likeable to The Sixth Sense fans. It has a very similar beginning and tries to have a similar shocking ending. But if you are a comics fan and a Shyamalan fan, Unbreakable is a fantastic treat.

I used to cringe whenever I heard/read comics being referred as Graphic Novels (I thought that term was redundant). But then I came across the fantastic Sandman and I can say that comics and Graphic Novels are two different entities. There is no superhero by the name Sandman (at least not in the two volumes I read in last couple of weeks). It is a “a comic book for intellectuals.” See the Wikipedia entry for more details.

I was a huge fan of Indrajal comics during my school days (and Phantom was the favourite). And if you were too, this article will bring back some old memories.

I received the Mahabharata, a complete 3 volume hardbound set of Amar Chitra Katha comics and am very impressed with the details of the epic that these comics go through.

The story is told as it’s first recital in public - by Vyasa’s disciple Vaishampayana in the presence of King Janamejaya, the great-grandson of Vyasa’s grandson.

The set is made up of 41 comics totaling more than 1300 pages. For anybody who wishes to dwell in the great literature that is Mahabharata, these comics should certainly be considered as a first step.

Here are some pictures to check how the set looks.

You know how when you get too close to the edge of a rooftop, you can feel your mortality?
Or when you’re driving and you wonder, just for a split second, what would happen if the oncoming lights swerved into your lane?

If you are interested in comics, I would suggest you go and read the webcomic, Outside The Box by Brendan Cahill. The story, artwork and dialogues are thoroughly enjoyable.

is the company (or the sister company) which produces Amar Chitra Katha. Though a bit basic for a media company, their website looks good and developing, but more importantly they have an online shop where you can buy comics and collections including Tinkle.

I was introduced to the wonderful world of comics by my cousin, Vibhav. Amar Chitra Katha was not on the top of the list, Indrajal Comics was. Each of the Indrajal Comics characters had their own world and of course the biggest was Phantom. But Rip Kirbey, Mandrake, Flash Gordon and our own Bahadur were also the favourites. Of course, the graduation to DC and Marvel Comics did not take a long time - Superman, Spider-man but the favourite was always the Dark Knight, Batman (I think he was the favourite because he didn’t have any special powers) and there were so many others - Green Arrow, Fantastic Four, Incredible Hulk.

Indian comics had their own charm and USP and I think Amar Chitra Katha with their comics based on Mahabharata and Ramayana were the best. Diamond Comics, with their flagship character Chacha Chaudhary, were also very entertaining.

Surprisingly, I never read Tintin and Asterix in my school years but caught up with them later.

Sometime back I came across the adult comics world in 100 Bullets and also cases where I have never read the comics but watching the movies Sin City and 300 was very much a comics world experience as opposed to some other movies inspired from other well-known comics.