Tag Archives: india

Around the Tubes

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It’s a new week and you probably missed last nights great episode of Graphic Policy radio.  You should absolutely check out the archived episodes, and while you do that, here’s the news you might have missed.

Around the Blogs:

Hero Complex – Aquaman’s 70th birthday celebration surfaces at the Shrine –  Happy birthday!

Fan Service – Catwoman, Starfire, blah blah blah – Another take on the Catwoman and the “woman issue” DC has.

The National – Egyptian graphic novel rekindles an art form – It’ll be fascinating to see how the art form evolves in the new Egypt and what is produced.

Bleeding Cool – Dwayne McDuffie, Write-In Candidate For Writers Guild Awards – Hopefully folks will get the message.

Kotaku – Sunday Comics: Elitism Isn’t Free – Each week Kotaku brings some great web comics.

Con Coverage:

Comicsgirl – Kazu Kibuishi at the National Book Festival

Detroit News – Comic book fans turn out in droves for Detroit Fanfare at Cobo

Hindustan Times – Mumbai to host its first convention on comic books

Around the Tubes Reviews:

Boing Boing – Habibi

World Comics India and Grassroot Comics

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Sharad Sharma and World Comics India is a grassroots comics movement in India.  The concept allows common people great comic books to “express their own self.”  According to Sharma:

This has served as one of the most popular communication tool in peoples’ movement.

The workshops involves a trainer teaching people basic techniques in creating comic books.  The success of the grassroots comic movement in India is thought to herald from the wealth of story telling in Indian culture.  Unicef has used the technique there.

The project works by pasting comics up in all possible locations like villages, meeting places, bus stops, shops, offices, schools, on notice-boards and electricity poles or even on trees, creating an awesome string between the creator and his reader.

Replicated in South Asian, African and Latin America countries, the Middle East and Europe, grassroots comics originated in India in the 1990s.  The credit goes to a group of like-minded cartoonists, development journalists and activists who aimed to use their skill for betterment of the society.

Sharing HIV Stigma Through Comics

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AIDS Ribbon40 children born to HIV positive parents have shared the stigma the comes with being in that position in India through comic strips.  Some of these strips are being shared and displayed by the Red Ribbon Express (RRE).  The comics were created at a workshop by World Comics India and was supported by Unicef, the workshop was held at the Nehru Yuva Kendra.

Parents are often thrown out of their villages forcing hardship on the families and children and children who themselves are HIV positive are driven from their jobs.

The project not only creates awareness but also allowed the children to escape from their harsh reality.

Archie Coming to India

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FBI Does ArchieArchie, Betty, Veronica and the rest of the rest of the Riverdale gang are taking a trip to India.  Kids Media India, which owns Spacetoon Kids TV channel, has bought the rights for the licensing, merchandising and promotion of Archie Comics in India.

This brings Archie comics and licensed items like games, puzzles and more to the Mumbai for sale.  You can expect to see clothes, shoes, back-to-school items, handbags, sunglasses, mugs and make-up, and so much more bearing the likeness of the Archie gang to be hitting store shelves.

The CEO of Kids Media India, Rajiv Sangari, says there are potentially 800 categories of Archie merchandise that could be sold as a result of the deal.  Kids Media India will give out licenses to Indian companies to either import or produce the merchandise.  From Sangari:

We have already given the rights to one company for Archie puzzles and games and we intend to import or produce Archie stationery ourselves.  We are also looking at bringing out an Archie magazine here.  There are a couple of players in India who are keen to take up the license for that.  It would be about the characters’ fashion and style.

Western and American culture have been an area of fascination with Indian teenagers.  And even though lives are different, that’s part of the appeal.  One million Archie comics are sold in India every year and while there is no Hindi version there are discussions to translate the comics into regional dialects.

Indian Students Make Comics On Disaster Awareness

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In the Assam province of India, students are learning how to make comics.  But these are comics with a purpose.  The goal is to raise awareness about disasters through comic books.

Guwahati University and World Comics India are working together to make this project a reality.  World Comics India is a collection of artists, activists, celebrities and journalists aiming to bring about social change through the medium of comic books.

By sharing their experiences with disasters, such as flooding, the hopes is to bring a more realistic feel as to what people can expect.  It’s a true “grassroots” movement.

You can see some of these people’s experiences on Facebook.

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