The Indian Graphic Novel has come a long way - from only Sarnath Banerjee ruling the roost at one point, the genre is slowly being added on to by other cartoonists/creators. It is surprising to note how the category is growing day by day and writer by writer. The graphic novel that I just finished reading yesterday was, "Sudershan (Chimpanzee), written by Rajesh Devraj and illustrated by Meren Imchen.
"Sudershan (Chimpanzee)" is as the title suggests, about a chimpanzee. So what makes it any different? What makes it different is that the story is set around B-grade Bollywood film industry, in times when animals were at the center of the story. I definitely remember such movies being released in the 80s, where there was the famous Moti (the dog) or an elephant that would kill the villain or the snake that would feature in every serpent film. That is exactly how the way it was.
The book cleverly tells the tale of a chimpanzee who was once a superstar in the industry and his journey from becoming a superstar to his downfall and what redeems him at the end of it all. I did not find the book extraordinary; however I did laugh in most places and also empathized with Sudershan's situations - right from becoming popular to becoming nobody. At a point, I also thought that maybe the "chimpanzee" is just a metaphor for human beings caught in their lives; however I don't think it
07:23 PM, Nov 27, 2012
When Alison Bechdel wrote, 'Fun Home', a graphic novel about her closeted gay father and her relationship with him, it was received with great aplomb. Critics loved it and so did the regular readers. I read it last month and was in absolute love with it. At the end of the book, I wondered, What about Alisons mother? What about her point of view and her life? and the wonder...
01:57 PM, May 22, 2012
New Delhi: Four men meet under the cover of anonymity at a pub perched on top of a hill at Jungfrau, in the Bernese Alps, accessible only by a malfunctioning cable car. They order their drinks (single malt, on the rocks, gin and tonic, vodka, neat and lager) and decide on not revealing their real identities. The story of the graphic novel Agent Vinod - The Jungfrau Encounter lurches forward...
11:37 AM, Apr 10, 2012
Los Angeles: Stieg Larsson's novel 'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo', about computer hacker Lisbeth Salander, is getting a graphic makeover by Vertigo. The company is planning to publish a graphic novel based on the original in November. The first book from the best-seller trilogy has already been adapted on the big screen in Hollywood, starring Bond actor Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara in lead roles. The series also has...
01:31 PM, Jan 14, 2012
London: Stroll the grimy backstreets of Dickensian London and experience for yourself the sights and sounds which inspired one of the greatest writers in English literature. Computer tablet users can now travel to the darker side of London as Charles Dickens knew it, with an interactive novel-cum-app launched on Friday by the Museum of London that is the next best thing to having your own time machine. The graphic novel,...
08:02 PM, Dec 09, 2011
![Jhinuk Sen]( "Jhinuk Sen")
I think Phoenix from X-Men is one of the most brilliant comic book creations in the super-hero universe. I wish Storm had more screen time ...
06:45 PM, Oct 07, 2011
"It was a dream of mine to have 'The Alchemist' as a graphic novel" - Paulo Coelho. Well, The Alchemist - A Graphic Novel is pretty much about Coelho's personal legend than anything else. One of the most inspiring and fascinating stories told in more than two decades, The Alchemist did not require such a version to say the least. The graphics are absolutely beautiful and technically everything is good...
02:03 PM, May 31, 2011
After writing Corridor and The Barn Owl's Wondrous Capers, Sarnath Banerjee went through a period of silence, wondering about the point of it all. Having promised his editor never to write another graphic novel, he returned to her office three years later with a manuscript of 'loosely bound graphic commentaries.' He claimed to have moved away from the form of graphic novel and figured out a more imaginative way to...
07:54 PM, Feb 02, 2011
Washington: New age guru Deepak Chopra is all set to publish a graphic adaptation of his New York Times bestselling novel "Buddha: A Story of Enlightenment" in collaboration with Liquid Comics and Dynamite Entertainment. The 160-page, hardcover graphic novel will be available in bookstores across the US Dec 14 with a digital Apple iPad version also available before the end of the year, Liquid Comics founded by three Indian American...
11:02 AM, Dec 06, 2010
New York: Liquid Comics, an entertainment company founded by three Indians, has announced the digital iPad release of "Untouchable", an original graphic novel exploring various themes of racial prejudice during the British Raj with a supernatural horror twist. A printed edition of the novel by acclaimed writers Mike Carey (X-Men, Lucifer, The Unwritten) and Samit Basu (Devi, The Tall Tales of Vishnu Sharma, The Simoqin Prophecies), will also be released...
08:09 PM, Nov 22, 2010
New Delhi: Graphic novelist Sarnath Banerjee, who wrote a new chapter in pictorial story-telling with his novels Corridor and The Barn Owl's Wondrous Capers, is now ready with his third pictorial work Harappa Files, which he says is the "story of the nation". In his new book, the Great Harappa Rehabilitation, Reclamation and Redevelopment Commission, a watchdog and assessment panel constituted by IAS officer Sudarshan Mittal, is conducting a survey...
11:44 PM, Oct 10, 2010
It is a new 246 page graphic novel written by graphic designer Vishwajyoti Ghosh. ...
03:03 PM, Jul 18, 2010
The Anne Frank House Museum launched a graphic novel version of the teenage Jewish diarist's biography. ...
04:11 PM, Jul 12, 2010
London: England captain Andrew Strauss acknowledged on Monday that his team had not responded well to the challenge of defending their world number one Test ranking. By contrast his South Africa counterpart Graeme Smith, whose side displaced England when they won their three-Test series 2-0 at Lord's, said he believed the Proteas had what it took to stay on top. South Africa jumped ahead of England in the rankings after...
03:20 AM, Jun 18, 2008
Hyderabad: A gutsy cameo by Kolkata's Dutch all-rounder Ryan ten Doeschate helped them qualify for the group stage even though Kolkata Knight Riders lost the match to Somerset by 11 runs at Hyderabad on Wednesday to end the qualifying event. Chasing 167,KKR finished at 155 for eight in their allotted 20 overs. Kolkata made heavy weather of the of their chase to be reeling at four for 47 at one...
10:47 PM, Mar 01, 2008
The novels of Agatha Christie have taken a comic turn. ...
06:00 PM, Aug 02, 2007
Writer Naseer Ahmed & illustrator Saurabh Singh have come up with the first of its kind graphic novel on Kashmir. ...
02:58 PM, May 19, 2007
