Reviving Indian comics: From print to smartphones and beyond

New Delhi: From being aces of the comic trade, Indian superheroes such as Nagraj, Super Commander Dhruv and Chacha Chaudhary were pushed to the back of the bookshelf as other kinds of entertainment invaded the mind space but are now on their way back – on mobile apps, animated TV shows and even 3D films.

Television, online platforms, smartphones and social media, the challenges came singly and collectively, pulling readers away from comic books. But industry leaders have also learnt to adapt and say the way out is to keep up with the times, both in terms of delivery and content.

"In the last 10 years, sales of printed comics have declined at the rate of 10-15 percent per year. After 2015, that gap was covered when we launched e-comics on our mobile app. This is now helping our sales graph grow," said Manoj Gupta, president of Raj Comics, which publishes Nagraj, Dhruv and Bhediya among other action heroes.

Backed by a cult following of "over a million people", there are plans to face the challenges head-on, Gupta told PTI. The other biggie in the business, Diamond Comics, the brand behind Chacha Chaudhary, Billu, and Pinky among other characters, is also innovating with the times.

According to Narender Kumar Verma of Diamond Comics, interest is being recreated through the very foe that made the medium go almost extinct - television. "Despite the decline in the salespeople are still reading Chacha Chaudhary, Pinky and Billu the most. And after we launched the Chacha Chaudhary animated series on Hungama TV a few months ago, we have started gaining the interest of the newer generation," Verma said.

The ever-so-wise old man, Chacha Chaudhary, along with his sidekick, Jupiter-born giant Sabu, is known for solving social issues and terrorist ploys using his brain that "runs faster than a computer".

While Billu is a teenager who loves to play cricket, Pinki, a five-year-old girl, always gets in trouble while trying to help her neighbour. Gupta and his brothers, under the guidance of their father Raj Kumar Gupta, launched Raj Comics in 1986, have diversified into varied avenues.

The company has a collection of over 3,000 titles and a devoted fan base that has helped business survive, said Gupta. After a failed negotiation with director Anurag Kashyap to make a film on the Indian antihero Doga, the publication ventured into its self-funded production of the film, which will be teased at the Comic Con this year.

The forever conniving character of "Bankelal" is also expected to be turned into an animated show for kids. What's more, reptilian superhero Nagraj may soon appear in a 3D animation film. "We are also in discussion for a live-action web-series with various producers. The trailers released on YouTube were for pitching purposes and have been pitched to various big studios and channels of India," Gupta informed.

The lack of revenue from comics also led Raj Comics to diversify in 2010 and start publishing education books under the imprint Tricolor Books. "We use earnings from this division to fund Raj Comics and keep the passion alive," he said. Raj Comics and Diamond Comics have been updating their repertoire with new comics.

While the more action-oriented Raj Comics has moved to creating multi-starrer epic comic book series like "Balcharit", "Nagayan", and "Sarvanayak", Diamond has focused on topical issues based on the government's schemes as "Swachh Bharat", "anti-open defecation campaign" and "Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao".

Comic book publishers also have to battle nostalgia. While online sales have indeed helped the company, there are those like college student Saurabh Kumar who feels it is not always convenient to buy and read something on the mobile.

"I don't think anyone uses a mobile looking at one single thing in a stretch. With all the notifications and so many other apps installed, I keep getting distracted from reading. I would rather buy a comic book and read. But then all of them are so expensive nowadays," Kumar said.

And then there's IT professional Sumit Rawal who would like to rewind to the past. The 36-year-old remembers summer holidays when he spent entire days lying on his stomach, reading colourful comics, which he rented for Rs 1-5 per day.

"Those were the days. A book worth Rs 10 could be rented for Rs 1, Rs 20 book for Rs 2, and the digest, which would cost Rs 45-50 could be rented for Rs 5. Each month, or fortnight there would a new set of comics, so we had to finish the earlier set before we could read the sequels," Rawal said.

After going to college, priorities changed along with the means of entertainment. Soon enough, smartphones followed and there was no looking back to the sepia-tinted nostalgic afternoons.