Pao: The Anthology of Comics 1

I had been wanting to get to Pao ever since I heard about the initiative and the people behind it, which is basically the whole modern Indian comic-generating intelligentsia/janta, except the superhero-variety.

Reading through the 12 stories, I was surprised with some while some left me rather cold. I would say it is certainly an effort worth spending an odd Rs 700 for, as the stage it offers to independent creators gives  us hope for these individual stories turning into full-fledged books/graphic novels of their own.

Here are my thoughts about the stories:

Tattoo: More of a small installation project, this is a good starting point for the compilation. A tattoo parlor that becomes an extrapolation of structures, is a smart satire on pop culture itself.

Plasmoids: This tongue-in-cheek personal take on sci-fi lightens the heavy uncleji mood that most of the stories suffer from, but gets over a little too soon. A few more pages and a longer finale would certainly benefit the pulp reader.

The Pink: A good idea(corporate satire on businessman types) stretched too far.

RSVP: Oversmart in a good way, bourgeois satire that has an oft conflicting tone. Could do with more humor, but a fine distinctive piece nonetheless.

Print Screen: Great slice of life work, something you don't often see in Indian comics. The story, much like the self-doubting protagonist, doesn't really take off anywhere, but it's a good thing at times.

Hindus & Offal: This is a wildly drawn theoretical gyaan session on Offal food and its etymological and sociological connections. Gets a bit too... theoretical at times but has some great art for keeps.

Sleepscapes: Reminded me of the Bizarroworld comic strip. I liked Parismita's book The hotel at the end of the world, and this one is good stuff too, with a single recurring image of a man carrying a dead body amidst paranoid visions of war in Delhi suburbia, a giant TV screen and indifference, by the gallons.

The Afterlife of Ammi's Betelnut Box: This is a highly nostalgic take on old havelis, and how a central female character forms the spine of the rather confusing and global family tree. It does have some laughs in the beginning but gets rather meloncholic as it progresses. Some great art here, the story and the narration reminded me of Sardari Beghum and a play I saw long back(Khatijabai of Karmali Terrace).

Helmetman in Zamzamabad: This is a reprinting of the project known as 'Raj Comics for the Hard headed'. Having enjoyed the pulpy Raj Comics through the ages, I wouldn't really bargain it for any other version, but this is good stuff. A fast read, well drawn and some interesting concepts that come and go. Left me asking for more.

Tito Years: Sarnath Bannerjee as his usual cheap-thrillery. Low on the sexual references than his previous works though.

Hair Burns like Grass: A philosophy-heavy piece on Kabir.

Chilka: I was rather disappointed with this one, having enjoyed the same team's Mice will be Mice. May be they will do better without a mythological connection.



An image I bumped into while searching for Pao. Long live, Google!

The Obliterary Journal(Part I) & The Epic Misgivings of Blaft

The Obliterary Journal(Part I) by Blaft is a welcome addition to the little less ordinary publishing house’ well, convention-obliterating repertoire. I have been a fan of Blaft books since I laid my hands on the then-revolutionary Tamil Pulp Fiction Anthology Part I. 

Those were the days of Quick Gun Murugan, bad books and free-flowing alcohol, not in any necessary order, and Blaft was the new kid in town, the proverbial ray of hope that would transform the world as we know it. As fate would have it, alcohol started damaging kidneys(of no particular gender, religion or political belief), Quick Gun disappeared from theaters before you could say Mind It!, and Blaft, among other things, released a smaller version of Tamil Pulp Fiction hiding beneath rows of emo-blood-sucking-teen vampires and self-consciously-conscious-IT-type-urban-indian-fellows. 

Alcohol sales dropped but the flame of revolution did keep burning, thanks to landmark books from Blaft that shook translated fiction and its abusive cousins to no end – Zero Degree, Where are you going, you monkeys!, Insects are like you and me except some of them have wings, Ibne Safi Series, Surender Mohan Pathak’s 65 Lakh Robbery and Day Light Robbery. I was away from Blaft books after I left the Ibne Safi series midway and never could pick up again somehow. You know, just like that.

Now, The Obliterary Journal brings back happier times, in lush color and youthful fountains. It fits in perfectly with these graphic-friendly times. Excerpts and one-shots, “art projects”, Rajini-friendly autodrivers, depressing old-age home residents, forgotten aliens all enthuse and abuse your sensory perception of the world in this oddly-graphic novel.

I flipped through some pages faster than others, and it had nothing to do with my racial prejudices or contempt of growing old. Loved the urban satire by Amruta Patil, an old Bengali detective pulp, and dystopian science fiction-weird mythology smatterings. Again, nothing to do with my apolitical leanings.

 Pick up this book, you must, for sake of your kidneys. No, seriously, in pure unbiased recommendation, TOJ is made for your shelf, put it between a vintage Thomas Hardy and MAD.

Preview

Interview at NH7

Mug Shot - This is what you get for plugging Blaft books

Mice Will Be Mice(Captain Bijli; 2012)

Mice Will Be Mice is a self-published/creator owned one shot comic created by Shoei Emura(cool name #1) & Vidyun Sabhaney(cool name #2). I picked it up at the Blaft stall at the recently held Bangalore edition of Comic Con India. There was something about the cover and the hint of sarcasm that appealed to me.

I was pleasantly surprised by the art and the energy of the comic, there is some great thoughts at work here, a literal lab-rat undergoes a monstrous transformation and wreaks havoc on the unsuspecting city only to meet a hilarious climax. I remembered Rat Bastard but our lab-rat had other fate awaiting him. The book is pleasantly giant-sized(monster reference #3) which makes it scream "pick me up"!

I liked the perspective/zoom-in shots on the first page. There is some cool satire going on on the cruelties of human race leading to its own demise. 

I would to see a longer version for this but this is quite a little visual beast. I should be getting to more of the creators'works in Blaft's Obliterary Journal and The Pao Collective's Anthology Part I(Chilka).
More power to indie comics!