Believe It Or Not.....

Some people reading the daily Metro newspaper will have seen this article yesterday. India's "emerging comics industry" is mentioned though it is far from "emerging" since it has existed for decades -even if some companies lagged behind the times a little.

So, what is this new phenomena from Stan Lee (Look ye 'pon his works and tremble) that is going to "bring comics to life"?

An animated TV series to be followed by a comic version later this month. Another friggin sub-anime with big bug eyes.  But, you might ask, "how does Stan Lee know what it is like living the life of a 14 year old living in Mumbai along with the daily grind?" Good question. He doesn't.  Everyday life India is far removed from everyday American life. I'm guessing Lee created the character and a plot and locals then filled everything else in.

To me, when India has great heroes such as Nagraj, Dhruva and many others, just adding the name "Stan Lee" to Chakra is not going to make it a major hit.

But what do I know? I had my go at India as mentioned in a previous posting. So, here is the article.

....Chakra the Invincible: Stan Lee’s new Indian superhero storms comic book world

Chakra: The Invincible, created by Stan Lee, has just made his TV debut (Picture: Graphic India)

With great power, comes great responsibility.

And when it comes to comic book heroes, that power could be shifting from the west to the east.
Figures such as Spider-Man, Batman, Superman, the Avengers and the X-Men are US-based superheroic giants who tower over the comic book planet.

But the man behind many of those good guys has turned his attention away from America in search of a new kind of superhero. Stan Lee, who gave us Spidey, the Hulk, Iron Man, Thor and many others, has created a new character that fights injustice in India.

Lee has gone back to the formula that made Spider-Man such a hit – exploring what it is like to be a teenager with special powers – with a bit of Iron Man thrown in for good measure. Move over Peter Parker and Tony Stark, as Lee has come up with Raju Rai, a 14-year-old tech whizz in Mumbai, who gets his powers from a special suit created for him by his scientist mentor. The suit activates the centres of life force in his body – known as chakras in Hinduism – allowing him to fight crime.

Appropriately for a thoroughly modern superhero, his adventures have been available to download on web and mobile apps, but at the weekend Raju was the hero of his own 66-minute long cartoon, Chakra: The Invincible, which premiered on India’s Cartoon Network. It was the first step in a campaign which is about to go global.

A physical Chakra comic will appear in India this month and in the US next spring, while the hero’s animated adventure will also be part of the expansion of online channel ToonsTV, run by Angry Birds creator Rovio, in 2014.

Lee believes Chakra can be bigger than Spider-Man, but can an Indian superhero really cross over and take over the world? One of India’s biggest comic book heroes is Nagraj, known as the Snake King, but he doesn’t have a global identity. Can Chakra break the mould?

Lee worked with Graphic India to bring Chakra to life and its chief executive, Sharad Devarajan, said the experience was like watching Leonardo da Vinci make a painting.

‘I bet more people can recognise the face of Spider-Man than that of the Mona Lisa,’ he said.
Chakra is illustrated by renowned Indian artist Jeevan J Kang, hailed for his work on the Indian version of Spider-Man. Devarajan says Chakra has the potential to be a global hit. The long-term plan is to build the character’s popularity until there is enough clamour for a full-length feature film.

‘I’d love to see an Indian super-hero get popular internationally,’ said Jatin Varma, founder of Comic Con India, launched in in 2011. ‘With Stan Lee’s involvement, Chakra just might.’

Varma hopes the hype around Chakra will help shine a spotlight on Indian comic book talent.
‘The industry is still quite small compared to its counterparts internationally,’ he said. ‘It’s dominated by mythology and history. However, in the past decade, a lot more people have been experimenting, with some really interesting and unique content being produced. It’s not an easy trade to be in, but we are certainly in the midst of exciting times, with a lot of new content being created and more new comics being published each year.’

If marketed correctly, Varma believes an Indian character could follow in the footsteps of Batman, Superman and the rest of the big superhero hitters.

‘It would require the right type of partners in those markets to bring this content over,’ he said. ‘Most of the comics published in India are in English as well, I won’t be surprised if fans in the US and UK should start seeing Indian comics at their local comic book stores in the near future.’

Indian comic book and graphic novel publisher Vimanika has been running for five years and has a British base in Leicester, specialising in stories based on ancient Indian gods and goddesses.

‘Our stories are based on the popular gods and how good overcomes evil,’ said Minesh Pankhania at Vimanika, which has five different titles and has published 20 comics so far, including its Shiva: The Legends of the Immortal series.

He welcomed Lee’s move into India, where there is already a rich heritage of heroic characters.

‘It contributes in its own way to our Indian comics industry through the fact that Stan Lee recognises there is a market in India who have been following his characters and comics for a long time now,’ he said.
‘It’s nice to see a character created that combines important spiritual systems such as the chakras, which can further open our deep spirited Hindu practices to all.

‘We are familiar and have grown up with aspects of super powers in forms of our own ancient scripts and texts. I’d push to say maybe our gods were the original superheroes.’

Fittingly, given Chakra’s setting, the next Comic Con event in India is in Mumbai on December 21 and 22 and will be the group’s biggest convention to date, with more than 100 exhibitors and guests. Earlier this year, more than 50,000 fans went to the flagship annual Comic Con India event.