Pulp Quarterly Issue 2

Received my copy of Pulp Quarterly 2^nd Issue few days ago and the book/magazine maintains the high standards of print and design quality seen in the debut issue. Lovely cover art by Tarun Padmakumar is attractive yet mysterious in its concept. 

The book is low on comic strips this time but the articles showcase a level on analysis and in-depth study which few can boast of in the Indian scheme of things. The lead feature is on Hyderabad Graphic Novel, with an interview with the creative team (Jai Undurti, Harsho Mohan Chattoraj) and a review. The interview takes us behind the book and tells an interesting story of the book’s conception (through a workshop, how the process was funded and realized). Sumit Ray is insightful in his observations and intersperses the article from the eye of someone who knows what he is talking, and that is a welcome change from articles put together post a handful of internet searches. 

The book itself has strong roots in journalism and looks inspired by the works of likes of journalistic comics of Joe Sacco and Art Spiegelman. As of my take on the book, I borrowed it from Leaping Windows comics library (not sure if it’s commercially available yet) sometime last month and while I loved the art, I had issues with the convoluted story-telling and the odd size that makes it look like a confused child of a graphic novel and a coffee table book. 

I expected vignettes spun around the folklores of the city but after 1-2 stories, the book takes huge tangential leaps into obscure literature. I am not saying it’s a bad thing but personally I lost interest and couldn’t find the flow that usually would keep me hooked to a comics. Couldn’t agree more with the review by Adhiraj Singh when he says that the book has little connection with Hyderabad and might as well be <insert city name> Graphic Novel.

Next comes the wonderful art of Bhanu Pratap in a section called Field notes and observations from a park bench in Delhi- highly individualistic free-strokes of social commentary through art, the last strip goes nicely meta and one can see the artist has a world of inspiration which only makes one look forward more to his comics. 

The Indie Spotlight this time is on Chaitanya Modak of Won-Tolla. Again the story is told beautifully with how the eclectic writer and creator started with newspaper strips (cartoonist) and went on to create more personal work with the creator-owned Won-Tolla label. I loved how the illustrations are juxtaposed with the article that makes the reader visualize the stories and facts given here. 

Sumit Ray reviews the Won-Tolla books(A Parrot’s Tale, Et Tu Brut and I’ve Got A Bike) and gives the stories/comics their due in terms of their abstract genre through Modak’s insights from interviews and tries to connect the dots. Another well researched and written piece.

Adhiraj Singh reviews Oracle of Tripe and Manual of Love (two more Won-Tolla books)and talks about the art aesthetic and the obtuse-ness of the books. I am yet to read these books, but they sound like an interesting addition to the experimental Indian comics scene.

Next comes the comics Fetish by Tarun Padmakumar, which tells the story of a guilt-ridden protagonist and his love-hate relationship with sexual escapades. The comics nicely portrays the inhibitions one practically lives while growing up in typical middle-class Indian suburb. I felt the piece sets up a nice premise but ends abruptly.

Next indie spotlight is on Raveesh Mohan, the writer of Parshu series(Orange Radius). Kailash Iyer interviews Raveesh about the genesis of the character and its development and future. It was nice to find out that the writer is expanding the story with more characters in the upcoming issues, as I found the origin story to be quite hackneyed.

Another nice little comic follows by Bhanu Pratap called A day in the life of a meta side villain, which is quite a self-explanatory title.

The last piece read sleepy ruminations called From Pai to Pao by a certain Tushar Shukla is poorly written and makes me wonder what it’s doing in this otherwise high quality magazine.

Great job again, Team Pulpocracy!

Do NOT Open This Comic! An Indian Horror Anthology

A Horror anthology in comic books is not a normal occurrence, so it becomes even rarer if it happens in India. Being a fan of horror as a genre, I kicked myself for not hearing about it earlier and immediately got my copy. The cover artwork by Devaki Neogi is great, the B&W tones and the Creep New Roman font lend a nice eeriness to the mood. Another achievement here is smart editing which lends a coherent look to all the stories, as if they were written specifically for this anthology and were not standalone pieces.  On to the stories now…

The Call by Ashwin Kalmane & Pia Alize Hazarika

A moody, wordless story of hieroglyphics travelling from the habitable land to ...(won't spoil it). Some great water-color-y artwork here, and the B&W just so complements the juxtaposition of the mundane with the supernatural. Great opening piece.

Rickshaw Raj by Sudeep Menon & Ghanshyam Bochgeri

A werewolf story told with a touch of realism and humor, I love how Sudeep Menon always makes the stories and dialogs closer to home, yet makes them highly engaging and entertaining.

Hazard Pay by Ashwin Kalmane & Charbak Dipta

This one requires a couple of readings, to understand the layers of horror and ghastliness of one human being against the other. Elements of body horror and abject neglect of human rights collide in this moving story of a firework factory employing kids.

Behind Closed Doors by Ram V & Nitin Veturkar

A story built on the ‘don’t open the door’ premise, that demands you to do the thinking and appreciate the mood brought in here through sometimes expressive sometimes hazy panels, with a nice Nietzsche reference thrown in too.

Vermin by Sudeep Menon & Vinay Brahmania

A nice breather and action-oriented short, this one portrays the workmanlike horror with a rat as a central cause of disturbance and destruction in the life of a comic-book artist(!) who is already haunted by non-paying clients. Personally, give me the rat anyday!

Man Walks into a Bar by Ashwin Kalmane & Arun Kumar Kaushik

Sell your soul to the devil stuff here mixed with the angst of a daily job, all happening in a bar standing on the gates of hell and redemption. I didn't quite like this story but loved the dialog, which was more funny than frightening, but then I have always loved RGV’s horror-comedy films. 

The Masterpiece by Sudeep Menon & Shishir C Naik

Another transformative horror wordless piece, this one nicely concludes the anthology with expressive artwork and a twist towards the end of the classic human subject theme.

The book also has a nice insight into the making of all the stories at the end, which gives a unique touch and a greater sense of satisfaction to the reader. I would love to see the alternative/variant covers designed for the book, the sketches of which are given towards the end. Get this horror anthology!

Pulp Quarterly : A Journal of Indian Comics

Pulp Quarterly is a journal of Indian comics, and a welcome addition to the growing community of Indian comic creators. I got the first issue thanks to a friend, and loved the cover art instantly(drawn by Abhishek Singh). It was a mythological monster I hadn't seen before, and there was something about the green background that went with the Pulp theme. I have been following the Indian comics off and on and have been pretty critical of it, to be honest. But this magazine puts an effort in the right direction and can be quite effective if it continues with the same energy and spirit of collaboration.

The journal showcases comic book strips, interviews and articles. Not too fond of few existing books that were profiled, I went straight to the interviews and loved them a lot. Here are my thoughts on some of the pieces in the first issue:

Review of Mumbai Confidential : I agreed with the reviewer even though I haven’t read the book apart from few pages. The concept felt too Bollywood to me, although I liked the noir-ish art. 

A Post Modern Double Talk- The now famous secret identity for real guy Gokul Gopalakrishnan writes an intellectual piece on Manjula ‘Suki’ Padmanabhan’s Double Talk strip. Though the genre does liken to a self-referentiality characteristic of some great indie writers, the strip could not hold my interest and I gave up after a few panels. The writing felt unfunny and forced to me.

Terror with a tail: A small comic strip with overall nice, kinetic work on all departments. The strip captures the surreal adventures of the working class. Although I could do without the random Salman Khan reference, but definitely, give me more of this!

The Last of its Kind: Drawn well(Abhijeet Kini), but pretty random writing, and what was the point?! The 2 page comic felt more like a creator's in-joke to me. 

One Man Show: Captures a day in the life of a writer/creator, and the mundane-ness of it all, reminded me of both Harvey Pekar and south Asian cinema.

The Sage & The Settler: Headless imbeciles! Who writes like that?! Sounds like a News reporter reviewing a Bollywood movie.Though the comic tried to elicit a funny response, the Sadhu cliche kept me away. 

The House my Grandfather Built: A melancholic account of a house, family tree and stuff. Yawn. Nice art though, with pleasing blue, green hues and confidently drawn panels. May be enter a murder mystery in the nostalgia?

Article- Defining Comics: Sumit Ray writes a nice piece on the age old debate over comics vs graphic novels. There are some interesting insights into the genesis of the Graphic Novel, and one can recall the famous examples fitting in with the topic very well.  

Indie Spotlight: This was my favourite section, showcasing the tough process of how two Indian creators have come to write their books so far, what’s in the pipeline, how do they collaborate etc. And it gives a general good sense about future of Indian comics. I had not heard of Akshay Dhar before, so that was quite an eye opener. It was nice seeing that Indian creators are going all out in supporting the scene and pulling in resources to produce better and better comics. And I had loved Vidyun Sabhaney’s work on Mice will be Mice(and had reviewed it earlier) so was great reading a well detailed and in-depth interview of her. 

I feel the biggest success of the book was it made me Google all the profiles mentioned in it and read up few Indian comics online. I will soon be sharing my views on some. 
Also very excited for the next space-themed anthology-Antariksh Yatra!

Links:
Comix India
Level 10
Graphic India
Abhishek Singh's Art

Meta Desi
The Pulpocracy
Bhanu Pratap
Kailash Iyer
Do NOT Open This Comic!