Reader Blaine Moore sent me a really nice birthday card that I wanted to share with you. I’m always touched by the generosity and kindness of my readers.

Thanks, Blaine!

-Krishna

I recorded a show with host Jerzy Drozd on today’s Art & Story Extreme.

You can listen to the episode here. We talk about my experiences at MiniMegacon, dealing with how spoiled Krishna gets on his birthday, and my “American” name.

Aarti

Check out the amazing flexibility of Yogi Sumit Sadhak. Quite impressive!

-Krishna

My sister in law, Lucy, is staying with us for a few weeks, before the girls pack their bags and head out for India in early October. I’ll be joining them in December, when the Fall quarter is over. It’s going to be lonely for the next few months, but somehow I’ll manage. The good news is, thanks to webams and Skype, I’ll be able to see Aarti and Sonia every day.

Lucy brought me a few Amar Chitra Katha comics, which I’m always appreciative of… (My family knows I love comics!)

ACK’s are of equivalent stature to Marvel comics for Indians – they’ve been around since 1967 and are one of the (if not the) largest comics distributors in India! Amar Chitra Katha comics focus on the stories of Indian heroes, both mythological and famous figures from Indian history.

Compared to their Western counterparts, the artwork in all Amar Chitra Katha comics is flat color. The drawings are all competently rendered. There is no panel experimentation, but, nevertheless, the stories are told in a clear and deft fashion. Another interesting point: the comics are pencilled and inked by the same person in each case. (There is no separate penciller and inker.) Also, each Amar Chitra Katha comic is self-contained – meaning no need for back-issue bin hunting. These comics have influenced at least 3 generations of Indian kids – they help keep Indian culture alive and relevant to kids. No small feat!

Virgin Comics, a few years ago, tried to revitalize and retool Indian heros by making them more palatable to Westerners. Their effort was met with luke-warm interest.

Instead of Virgin’s approach, I’d like to see a strict retelling of the stories, with gorgeous artwork in a variety of styles. The stories, as told by the writers of Amar Chitra Katha, are interesting, historic and compelling. I think there’s a lot of untapped potential in Indian comics – I’d love to see how today’s artists would illustrate these stories…

-Krishna

As promised a few days back, I wanted to share a sampling of the interior art found within a typical Amar Chitra Katha comic book. This particular page scan was taken from “Ashoka”, vol. 536.

Apparently, over 90 million copies of ACK comics have been sold since 1967. And there are 400 titles to choose from. But each title is self-contained, and not numbered as a continuing series.

The art is clearly staged – and always confined within a panel. The colors are flat -with no tonal shading. Backgrounds are simplified, but convey enough information for the story to be understood in its context.

Interestingly enough, there are no half-tones or any other Western design elements found within. The printing also does not appear to be the typical ‘dot-print’ offset kind, that is typical of most comic books from the 80’s and earlier.

The book credits Meena Talim for the script, Ram Waeerkar for illustrations, and Anant Pai as editor. I am assuming that Waeerkar lettered the comic as part of his illustration duties.

Hope this sheds a little insight into Indian comics!

-Krishna

This is what happens when little kids get their hands on mamma’s favorite lipstick. May I present the evidence?

-Krishna