Manga comics, adult graphic novels and zombie stories are selling like hotcakes at the ongoing Comic Con India. Dressing as a zombie or as their favourite comic character is a latest fad with the guests. By Divya Kaushik
While some wandered around with blood stained sword, half black painted face and a hanging hand, there were a few spotted with faces covered in parts with sack, spooky masks and funny horns. It looked like a scene from some Halloween party with most guests dressed in dark robes and blood stained tees. It was a part of Thyagraj Stadium, packed with young crowd thronging the merchandise stores and bookstores. Fourth edition of Comic Con India had an exciting beginning with interesting with the presence of comic writers, artists and graphic designers from across the world.
Step inside and you will realise that the annual comic convention has focussed greatly on the quality and the popular demand. The reason why most college students and collectors flocked the venue was a good collection of merchandise and comic books. Zombie stories, merchandise with tongue-in-cheek, double meaning quotes and adult graphic comics were in great demand, thus highlighting the changing preferences of teens. “Most of the stuff displayed here targets people between the age group of 13 to 35. You will find that villains are the actual heroes here, selling like hotcakes. There is great fascination and interest in horror and zombie stories,” said Upasana Shukla, a graduation student from Delhi University, who came for the convention for the first time and was surprised by the turnout.
“People have moved away from the regular comics. Demand for horror books, thriller books and comics with some adult content is on rise. Comics are about interesting graphics and storytelling and dark characters and thrilling stories are picking up among the youngsters,” said a spokesperson at Crossword stall. He added that V for Vendetta was the most picked on day one. It is a graphic novel written by Alan Moore and illustrated mostly by David lloyd, set in a dystopian future United Kingdom imagined from the 1980s to about the 1990s. A mysterious masked revolutionary, who calls himself V works to destroy the totalitarian government, while profoundly inspiring a young woman named Evey who becomes his protégé. “You would find many characters dressed as V around the venue and that speaks volumes about its popularity,” he said.
Simon and Schuster is distributing Manga comics for the first time here and the response on the first day itself left the publishers pleasantly surprised. “We closed down the sale at Rs 80,000 on the first day with Death Note and Naruto mostly in demand from Manga. There have been collectors who are ordering in bulk. Keeping in mind the popularity of Manga we have worked a special price,” informed Rahul Srivastava, managing director, Simon & Schuster India.
Manga comic books came out in Japan in the late 19th century. Manga now covers a broad range of genres like action and adventure, science-fiction and fantasy, romance, historical drama, sport, food and the paranormal. Mayank Rajput, a product manager in Gurgaon started Indian Manga and Anime Fans (IMAAF) community on Facebook, which now has over 32,000 members worldwide. “The reason why Manga has picked up big time in India is that it is not restricted to good verses evil content. A lot of it has violence and sometimes nudity too, so it is an adult content and that makes it popular among youngsters ranging between 15 to 35 years of age in India. In Japan people above 50 years also read Manga. The other reason why it is so popular is because it is serialised, unlike DC or Marvel, where each series is exclusive, Manga follows a story so once you begin it, you are addicted to finish it entirely. Word of mouth helped in its popularity too. Now most cities in India have their anime club with members suggesting Manga comics,” said Mayank.
Blaft Publications is an independent publishing house in Chennai. They have brought their bestselling Indian and Pakistani crime novels, Nigerian fiction, experimental writing, pulp art, folktales, graphic novels and picture books about girls who are in love with monsters here. “It is basically pulp fiction and they are translated from many languages. The popularity for such content has surely increased,” said the spokesperson.
photos Pankaj Kumar