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Copyright of Indialogs, Spanish Journal of India Studies is the property of Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Virgin Comics (subsequently known as Liquid Comics and Graphic India) was founded in 2006 as a comic book publisher that aimed to market Indian comics to a global, cosmopolitan audience. This article focuses on their Shakti line, which draws upon Hindu narratives about gods, goddesses, and holy people. In order to market these narratives, Virgin Comics unsettled them from their contexts using creative forms of transcultural intertextuality and secularizing apologetic. The resulting product illustrates the tensions of globalization in the early 2000s: optimism about a shrinking world together with the pressures of global financescapes and the harbingers of resurgent nationalisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Indian adolescents experience body dissatisfaction. However, empirically supported interventions are lacking, particularly in lower socio-economic regions of India. This paper describes the acceptability testing of a six-session teacher-led comics-based intervention, aiming to improve body image and related outcomes among adolescents in Indian Hindi medium schools. Methods: Thirty-five students (50% girls; M age, girls = 12.3 years; M age, boys = 13 years) and nine teachers (11% women) from Hindi medium schools in Rajasthan, India, completed a quantitative acceptability questionnaire regarding comics that target body dissatisfaction and associated risk factors. They also participated in online or telephone semi-structured interviews to share in-depth feedback, with teachers providing additional feedback on an accompanying teacher guide. The quantitative data were analysed descriptively, with the interviews analysed using qualitative codebook thematic analysis. Results: Quantitative analyses revealed that 73% of students felt the comics made them feel good about themselves. Qualitative analyses revealed four themes: (1) body dissatisfaction is a concern; (2) the comics are powerful; (3) increasing ease of understanding; (4) a teacher guide to aid delivery. Conclusion: This study demonstrates acceptability of a novel teacher-led comics-based body image intervention for adolescents in Indian Hindi medium schools from lower socio-economic settings. These findings are currently informing intervention optimizations, which will be evaluated in a randomized controlled effectiveness trial. If found to be effective, this intervention will be disseminated across eight Indian states by UNICEF. Trial registration. This trial has been registered with ClinicalTrials.gov; a database of privately and publicly funded studies conducted around the world. Registration date: 2nd May 2020; Registration ID: (NCT04317755). https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04317755?term=NCT04317755&draw=2&rank=1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background:In the past, much study has been undertaken on comics' cognitive and affective impacts. Few of these studies, however, sought to broaden our understanding of readers' perceptions, interests, and prior knowledge in educationally generated comics. As a result, this article analyses the motivation, obstacles, and requirements for implementing and designing additional marketing tactics for Indian comic book producers. Objectives: This article is part of a broader study that looks into the general perception of comics reading as an information resource in establishing the prospective prospects of the Indian comics industry. This study proposes mental health and social care and serves as a focal point for both defining future strategies for Indian comic book companies. Methods:The researcher conducted a survey of 100 Indian comic book readers across India. The study found that most participants agreed that comics might play a role in mental health care training. However, there are still obstacles in getting comics interpreted in ways that are not limited by existing prejudices or socio-cultural assumptions. Results:Among other findings, the study discovered no significant relationship between the perception of participants' parents and their attitudes about comic book reading in acquiring the habit. Conclusions: Participants ranked Hindi as the most preferred media for comics. Even though the sample was not dominated by people who reported reading comics daily, the study found that recent comic-reading experiences appeared to influence how comfortable participants felt about using comics as an alternate source of amusement and learning. This study's findings contribute to the literature by giving important information for publishers and instructional designers in developing methods for maximizing the potential of comics in the Indian market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the 1980s to the early 2000s, Raj Comics went from selling 3 lakh copies a year to adorning railway bookstalls in Central India. Despite being absent from the multimedia convergence moment enjoyed by comic book characters worldwide in the first two decades of the 21st Century. Nagraj, their most successful superhero character boasts a dedicated fanbase that continues to engage with the rapidly vanishing superhero Nagraj. This paper focuses on 'Khajana', the Nagraj mini-series, to study the technique of serialisation and its contribution to the creation and endurance of such a fanbase online. The paper examines 'Khajana' by locating it at the intersection of the commercial superhero genre in India and the interactive felicity of millennial Nagraj fans. Such an intersection conceives serialisation and interactive felicity as the conditions of possibility for a fandom around an absent commercial entity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The essay traces the growth of comics anthologies in India after Independence to the present time. The post-millennial works are particularly interesting as they break away from conventional subjects and experiment both in terms of content and form. The ideological trigger that most often draws the collaborators together results in subversive shorter pieces that allow the creators to express themselves in an unfettered way. This trajectory of evolution also provides a context to the personal experience of the author, a key member of the Longform Collective. The journey from Drighangchoo, a comics magazine that originated in Jadavpur University, Kolkata to Longform: An Anthology of Graphic Narratives Vol 1 is a long one, full of trials and tribulations. The processes and the work-flows that are involved in the making of Longform while it sought to cater to readers across the country and abroad are discussed here which in turn provide a robust template of how such potential collaborations can happen in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The comic book industry in India began in 1950. Back then leading American comic books like The Phantom, Flash Gordon and Rip Kirby started to be published in India and translated into local languages. Indian youngsters in no time became interested in the new medium, especially in superhero comics known from the American popular culture. The success of these translations encouraged local publishers and cartoonists to create Indian themed comic books, set in India with Indian heroes (and superheroes) − even though Indian comics were still strongly influenced by American ones, mainly in terms of esthetics. However, around 1950, American comics publishing companies also tried to attract adult readers by presenting more adult content in a form of horror and thriller stories. Publishers in India quickly adapted this trend launching a very popular comic book series in Hindi of thrill, horror and suspense. In this way horror - till then almost completely absent from Indian literature and popular culture - was introduced to the local audience. The question remains, how different are those local spooks from the American ones and finally: what are Indians afraid of ? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the role of comic book narratives in creating awareness and influencing attitudes about how society treats rape survivors, specifically in the Indian context. The gang rape of a young woman in New Delhi in 2012 inspired an Indian-American filmmaker to author the comic book Priya's Shakti, which was launched at the Mumbai Comicon in December 2014. The book uses Hindu mythology in its narrative to call for a change in existing belief systems about rape and rape victims. Twenty-four in-depth and ethnographic go-along interviews of informed participants were conducted to understand how they perceive the role of comics such as Priya's Shakti in affecting popular awareness and attitudes about rape and what approaches they feel are best suited to use comic books to bring about sustainable social change. Results indicated comics can play a significant role in creating awareness, especially among the younger audience but that changing attitudes is a more complex issue, demanding the active and engaged participation of other stakeholders. A culture-centred approach was the key emerging theme. Respondents believed comic books could be used to reach out to children in schools and to rural audiences via multiple communication methods but that engaged and involved participation of community stakeholders was essential if comic books were to drive home socially relevant messages and affect awareness and attitudes about rape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heroes form a part of most cultures, serving various social and psychological functions. Scholars studying the concept of heroes have emphasized that humans crave heroes. While Western comics have been widely studied and critiqued, Indian comics have not received much scholarly attention. In order to contribute theoretically to hero and superhero literature, the conceptions of the popular cultural trope of superheroes in Western and Indian comics are examined in three ways. First, this article gives an account of the conceptualization of Indian superheroes, through a mythological-religious lens, and attempts to explain why Indian comics and its superheroes failed to achieve the popularity enjoyed by Western counterparts. Second, as characters from Hindu mythology largely make up the superheroes in Indian comics, the applicability of Campbell’s models of mythology and heroes, and Jungian archetypes to Hindu mythology is demonstrated. Third, the article also analyses the functional similarities and differences served by superhero comics in the West and Hindu mythology in India; conclusions about their cultural relevance are drawn. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article examines the syntax of sound symbolic words (SSW) in Hindi comic books in India. Topics discussed are the phonomime or onomatopoeia, phenomime and psychomime categories of SSW, stages of transformation of the origin of sound to its visual representation, as well as the relation of fonts and lettering, visual style, color, outer stroke, stroke color, drop shadow, grouping, shirorekha, word wrapping, and image positioning to SSW, and external supportive elements of SSW.

Comics are conventionally associated with fun and amusement in India. A majority of the people consider comics to be meant only for children. Hence, serious social issues are generally not taken into consideration by the comic writers. A discriminatory and unjust caste system has been prevailing in India for centuries now. Autobiographies, memoirs, novels, and testimonials are often considered suitable genres by Dalit writers to convey their struggle against oppression. This paper attempts to show how comics can be used as a visual form of literature in promoting social and caste equality. Popular comics generally exclude Dalits and other marginalized sections of Indian society. The paper takes a close look at some of the comic issues of Amar Chitra Katha and a few other publications to point out such bias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With a focus on the Hindi language superhero comics produced by Raj Comics since the 1980s, this article investigates instances of “modernities in the backyard” and their implications for studying postcolonial popular culture. The graphic narratives in the comic books are neither simply Westernized or transgressive, nor necessarily framed by a mythicized or Orientalised discursive framework. Instead, they register a distinctive heritage combining vernacular and mythic prototypes with hypermodern visions with which to imagine new powers for Indian men and women, even though women may continue to be shaped by the masculinist, desirous gaze and modulated by patriarchal expectations to do with female docility and marriageability. The enquiry provides unique material to chart out the lineaments of postcolonial culture, gender, and power in order to provincialize the scope of cultural studies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article examines the comic industry in India. Particular focus is given to the nation's shift from corporate to collaborative comics. Additional topics discussed include the work of writers, pencillers, inkers and others in the process of writing comics in India, screen printed comics in India and Indian comics creators including Shohei Emura, Vidyun Sabhaney and Tina Thomas.

The article examines litigations around cartoon characters, focusing on "Bobanum Molliyum," the longest running comic strip in Kerala, India. The article also debates on the copyright of artistic production, and its influence in the production, distribution, and reproduction of the strip. "Bobanum Molliyum" started in the journal "Malayala Manorama" and is now continuing through various issues of Toms Publications.

The article discusses the history and works of Pao Collective, a group of five creators who have been working to encourage the Indian comics culture. The members of the group are Orijit Sen, Samath Banerjee, Vishwajyoti Ghosh, Parismita Singh, and Amitabh Kumar, who are working together to support comics as a medium and a culture in India. Sen, the eldest member, was trained at the National Institute of Design in 1987 and has published one of the first long-form comics in India in 1994.

The article offers information on the photo-performance work titled "Phantom Lady or Kismet," by the author. He states that the work has been based on photo-romance, a photographic narrative in the style of a comic strip that is published serially in magazines, set in Mumbai, India. He comments on the characters and the role of phantom lady and also states that phantom lady is about modern Mumbai, India.

The article presents reminiscences of Indian cartoonist Abu Abraham. Much like an anthropologist, Abraham reportedly was interested in what people wore, their food, culture and language. Abraham's instinct allegedly took him on journeys, which helped him grow as a caricaturist and a political commentator. Abraham claims his favorite period art is the 20th century, which highlights the Cubism of Picasso and the graphic quality of Matisse. Abraham died in December 2002.

In the boom of recent comics scholarship, the comic art of India has received little attention compared to that of other nations, the United States, France, and Japan in particular. Through a basis in religious and folk narratives, Indian comics narratives, especially those published by the Amar Chitra Katha series, have worked to update folk tales, retelling them in a modern medium. By looking at the figure of Rama in the Amar Chitra Katha and other Indian comics, this paper will analyze the process and implications of this transformation. In particular, the analysis of Rama as contemporary hero will reveal how these stories help people to deal with daily life at the same time that they affirm another, older way of understanding the world. This paper will thus demonstrate how comics creators in India have adapted the comic book to effectively re-maneuver traditional tales as a modern, folkloric inheritance to future generations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides an overview of the birth of comics in India; a discussion of the available scholarship to date, which has focused largely on India's most prominent comic book series, Amar Chitra Katha, and its connections to classical Hindu mythology and modern Hindu nationalist ideology; a roundup of recent developments in Indian comics since the creation of Amar Chitra Katha; and briefly offers some suggestions for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author looks at the debut and history of comics and graphic novels in India. She discusses how visionary Anant Pai had contributed to the transformation of graphic novels as a truly Indian product through his comic strip series "Amar Chitra Katha." She provides examples of comics and graphic formats during the period from the 1960s to 2011. She also offers an overview of some comic series launched by Indian publishers.

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 represent culture? And, what insight about mass media, representation and interpretation can be gleaned with the comic book reader's emerging role of creator? To trace continuities and shifts in comic books' engagement with culture and to convey the 'different scene' contemporary readers' experience, this article focuses on the comic brands Amar Chitra Katha, Indrajal Comics, Liquid Comics and Vimanika. Indian comic books highlight distinct cultural globalization processes and social media networks as a space for history, and for pedagogy that teaches how to read comics and how to make comics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines representations of skin color and its symbolic affiliations with discourses of gender, class, and caste in the Amar Chitra Katha (immortal pictorial stories) comic series, the first indigenous children's comics to be published in postcolonial India. We draw on the concept of colorism as defined by Black scholars in the United States to explore the lessons on gender and skin color that these comics may communicate to Indian children. Our analysis shows that Amar Chitra Katha's stories of gods, goddesses, kings, demons, and historical events associate light-skinned masculinity with divinity, strength, virtue, compassion, and upper caste status. Comic book illustrations code dark-skinned masculinity through the semiotics of violence, brutality, stupidity, bestiality, and low caste status. Fashioning a similar set of symbolic oppositions, these pictorial stories link light-skinned femininity to beauty, wholesome family life, and happiness, whereas dark-skinned femininity manifests through embodiments of grotesque physical appearance, anger, promiscuity, and deviance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nineteen ninety-five was designated the year to celebrate the centennial of the first comic strip in the U.S. During the year, much attention was focused on U.S. comic art, with no mention of the origins of cartooning in other parts of the world. In India and Sri Lanka, comics elements figured in art a couple of thousand years ago. Among Indian examples were the patas from at least 140 BC, which were printed scrolls used by storytellers to illustrate a tale. Together, these articles fill a void in Asian mass communication and popular culture study. They are important because the field of comic an is short on scholarship and because they blend a mixture of genres, countries, research approaches, and primary and secondary data.