Graphic novels are like creating a movie with an unlimited budget—a place
where you can literally destroy the universe in a page and recreate it in the
next. It’s a visual storytelling medium that levels the playing field for creators
around the world where all you need is paper, pencil, and an unbridled imagination.
(Varma 2014)
A clear picture of the origin of the comics in India could not be traced. The first
cartoon seems to have been introduced in an Urdu newspaper known as Oudh Punch.
In Malayalam, it was Vidushakan in the year 1919. Amrita Bazar Patrika of Bengal
brought out its first cartoon in the year 1872, foreshadowing the sociopolitical situation.
The scenario of comics changed in India with the advent of Amar Chitra Katha or Immortal
Picture Stories in 1969, created by Anant Pai, telling the stories from Indian mythology,
history, culture, legends, and classics. During the 1970s, the country was emerging from
the shadows of colonial influence; the dreams of Nehru seem to be fading away in the
winds of disillusionment (Aravind 2009, 70). The government could not live up to the
expectations of the masses as it failed to ensure economic growth. The country’s rich
cultural heritage and ethical values were getting carried off in the storm of changing
socioeconomic scenario. Anant Pai attempted to reintroduce the teachings of the cultural
past through the graphic book adaptations of Indian classics, myths, history, and legends.
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