Illustrated comics - India's signature style
Just like Japanese Manga, French Bande desinée and UK's British comics; India has long had a signature comics style - 'The Illustrated comics' or 'Chitra Katha' (Pictorial stories).
Over the years, the Indian market has been flooded by millions of comics created in this format, making it the most recognizable and influential comic book style in India. Major publications like Amar Chitra Katha and Campfire Graphic Novels have contributed in popularizing illustrated comics. Numerous small-scale prints and regional publications have created comics in this format as well. From time to time, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting have also been publishing illustrated comics through their publications division.
These comics contain stories belonging to but not limited to the following sub-genre:
- Mythology: Stories from the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, etc.
- History: Biographies of historical figures like Chhatrapati Shivaji, Rani Laxmibai, etc.
- Freedom fighters: Inspirational tales from the era of the Indian freedom movement.
- Modern figures: Life and times of the visionaries like Verghese Kurien, Maharshi Karve, etc.
- Folk tales: Collections of traditional tales depicting the culture and beliefs of the common people.
- Moral stories: Fables from the Jataka, the Panchatantra, etc.
- Adaptations: Graphic adaptations of classic novels and plays like The Blue Umbrella, Oliver Twist, The Three Musketeers, Hamlet, etc.
- War heroes: Wartime stories about the bravery of the military personnel.
- Educational: Promotional stories about campaigns started by the government.
Illustrated comics were mostly standalone stories. Often, the books used to be of 32 page-length in size (later increased in some cases) and thus had hyper-compressed storytelling. Ample use of caption boxes ensured a big story or a person's biography could fit in such a limited space. These comics were primarily story-driven with artwork playing a supporting part. Rarely were there any dynamic action sequences. The panel-to-panel and page-to-page transitions were achieved through captions and scene changes. A lot of research went into the writing, making the storytelling succint, interesting, error-free and factually accurate.
Image credit: Amar Chitra Katha
Although the panels predominantly had mid-shots and stationary scenes, the artwork of Indian comics artists blossomed through illustrated comics. These books gave us an array of legendary artists like C. M. Vitankar, Dilip Kadam, Ram Vairkar, Pratap Mullick and many more. Therefore, we get to see a variety of artwork quality ranging from basic sketch-like art to clean pencilled and inked figures; from flat coloured panels to beautiful hand-painted covers. Many latter-day comic book artists have cited these comics as their inspiration.
Some tropes of Illustrated comics are:
- Stories about real personalities, events or adapted from existing classic literature
- One-off stories
- Fast-paced storytelling
- Narrative caption boxes in most panels
- Almost non-existent sound effects
- Mid-shot camera angles with multiple characters in frame
- Flat-colours
- Captivating hand-painted covers
These comics were aimed at children and primarily focused on value education, life lessons, character building, public awareness along with entertainment. This is the key reason illustrated comics were immensely popular among children as well as elders.
Today, even though the Indian comic book industry has nosedived, illustrated comics are fondly remembered for their impact and remain highly sought after.
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