As I’ve been looking out across the web for information and reactions to the Diamond Comics state of affairs, my searches regularly give you the OTHER Diamond Comics. Located in Delhi, India, it claims to be “the largest comic book distributor and publisher in India.” Founded in 1978, it publishes such native favorites as Chacha Chaudhary, Billoo, Pinki, Motu Patlu and plenty of extra. They are also official Hindi language licensees of Phantom, Mandrake, Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, He-man and James Bond.
As official as they might be, a few of the comics that got here throughout our feed are fairly startling.
These are the Bengali editions of Spider-Man, and the covers are clearly redrawings of beloved and famed points – though Red Hulk could have had his secret debut at Diamond, and likewise, the nefarious YELLOW Goblin.
This one has me stumped although:
At first the unusual perspective and odd cropping made it appear to be TWO individuals had been in the mattress….however it seems to be a household anxiously gathered round a sick-bed…whereas Spider-Man performs Peeping Peter from above. I admit, I don’t know what well-known Spider-Man story this is from so assist me out in the feedback.
While looking out for more information I discovered this informative blog post (bear in mind these?) from Abhishek Kumar, protecting all the foremost comics publishers in India. According to Kumar,
Diamond Comics a Delhi based mostly writer acquired the rights to publish Spider-man in 1994, These had been digest format books utilizing well-known Amazing Spider-man books as covers.
Here’s yet one more variant version:
Although the tough lettering and dialog are amusing, there’s additionally one thing very endearing about this….the facility of comics and their finest recognized characters to seek out audiences across the globe, and morph into totally different variations by no means fails.
Comics are fairly widespread in India, Wikipedia tells us, beneath the title Chitrakatha (which means image story) and sometimes protecting mythological themes. In the late 80s-early 90s the preferred titles “easily sold more than 500,000 copies over the course of its shelf life of several weeks.” Under competitors from video video games and TV, titles now promote solely 50,000 copies. However, per my very own reporting through the years, comedian cons are actually main occasions in India, and it’s not unusual for North American creators and publishers to be company (together with the requisite nerdlebrities, in fact.) India has the second largest inhabitants of English audio system globally (preceded by the US and adopted by Nigeria) so it’s straightforward for US-based leisure to cross over, and naturally, we’ve seen a number of US comics publishers try to cross over to the massive potential viewers in India – and produce Indian comics expertise to the US.
Like each tradition, India has its personal comics icons. For occasion, Chacha Chaudhary by the late Pran is Diamond’s hottest character, described as a clever previous man who helps different solves their issues whereas cracking jokes. The final low idea, however it’s all in the execution. When you throw in a low priced automotive, it’s irresistible.
I might spend hours taking a look at these covers with their quirky method to composition and unfamiliar characters. For occasion this is some sort of vampire comedian, apparently:
And in fact there’s the favored “lion bites off a man’s arm while another guy jumps into flames on his motorcycle” style.
Anyway, Indian Diamond Comics is nonetheless going strong. If you understand extra about all this than I do (a really low bar) be happy to present extra information in the feedback.
