PRAKRITI ROY visits Delhi Comic Con to find out the latest changes in trends happening in popular culture today with the launch of new kinds of graphic novels, games and merchandise
Comic Con has been the hub of popular culture in western countries for quite some time now. In India, too, it is slowly carving a space for itself. With the fifth edition of Delhi Comic Con, the scale of the show definitely appears to be on a rise, in terms of guests as well as participants.
Popular culture in India has always been heavily inspired by the West. But it seems that the trend is on the way to change. This year’s Comic Con has participants who are looking beyond western culture and imbibing tropes, history and themes into their works of art that are typically and quintessentially Indian, things that any Indian can easily relate to.
A company like Campfire Comics has been working on graphic novels that depict stories from Indian history and myths for quite a while now. Some of their titles are about Shakuni, Ashwathama, Draupadi and Eklavya from the epic text Mahabharat; Sita from Ramayan, and Sundarkaand about lord Hanuman. At a time when western influences are getting stronger on today’s generation, it is these kinds of innovative comics that can help the present and next generation to hold on to their culture and history.
A very interesting comic was launched at the Comic Con called Super Sikh. The story is about a Sikh superhero living in the United States whose tagline is ‘loves Elvis. Hates Bad Guys’. While the punchline of the graphic novel may appear to make it seem like a light-hearted comic, the seed of the idea emerged from something much more serious. Supreet Singh Manchanda, a venture capitalist in the Silicon Valley, developed the idea of this comic. Explaining why he picked a Sikh protagonist, he says, “After 9/11, Sikhs in America were facing a lot of discrimination and bullying. We were being equated with Talibanis. I felt that I needed to do something to change that perception. And hence, Super Sikh.” The first issue is being launched in India at this year’s Comic Con, having done quite well in the western markets.
Supreet feels that it is a good time to enter the Indian market with this comic. This is a time when a lot of Indians are doing innovations in the pop culture genre to make a greater connect with today’s generation. But what is surprising is that all these people with very Indian comics and games at the Comic Con are NRIs.
Vansh Games is a Singapore-based start-up with an oncologist as its marketing director. But their work is all about creating extremely innovative card and board games (they are also working on a virtual game now) based on Ved Vyas’ Mahabharat. The unique card game is called legend of Vyas and has two sets of cards pitted against each other — Karan’s team and Arjun’s team. The inspiring artwork on the cards is nothing short of the best that the West has to offer and is indeed a great way for young people to know about the characters and the war of Mahabharat. To make sure that they get noticed at the convention, they even have two people at the venue dressed up as Karan and Arjun who stick out beautifully in the sea of people dresses up as western characters.
Cashing in on the opportunity are companies which sell quirky merchandise, usually through their website. T-shirts, posters, coasters, bags with conventional designs like superheroes sold by global companies are, of course, a great hit at places like this. But what is selling like hot cakes are the merchandise that is inspired from popular urban Indian culture.
It is quite unusual to find a set of coasters with the four words — akkad, bakkad, bambe, bo — on one coaster each. But at the Comic Con, you can find many stores like Keep Calm Desi, Dhappa and Fukwaas who are selling things with the most interesting and the most desi catchphrases and slogans.