With Indian comic market regaining people’s interest, here are some of the comic publishers who helped in kickstarting this journey decades ago.
Chitrakatha are Indian comics or graphic novels that are available in a number of Indian languages. In India, comic book fans have a long history. Some comic book publications have made a strong presence in the industry during the last few decades. While there are many who love to read Indian comics, only a small percentage are aware of the publications that make their day by publishing them. Here's a list of notable comic book companies through the years.
Amar Chita Katha
Anant Pai started Amar Chitra Katha in 1967, and it is now a household name in India. The publishing house focuses on giving a comic touch to Indian stories from epics, mythology, history, literature, oral folktales, and a variety of other sources. Amar Chitra Katha is now a global phenomenon, with over 400 comics in 20+ languages and over 100 million copies sold to date. It is India's unchallenged leader in the children's publishing category, selling over 1.5 million copies per year.
Indrajal Comics
When Lee Falk's Phantom comic strip became immensely popular in India in the 1960s, Anant Pai and colleagues at Indrajal comics collected it and published it as a comic book. Over time, other King Features characters such as Mandrake, Flash Gordon, Kerry Drake, Buz Sawyer, Rip Kirby, Mike Nomad, Garth, Phil Corrigan, and others began to feature in the comics, with 803 issues produced in full colour, with the Phantom appearing in 414 issues. Indrajal Comics were also released in Hindi, Bengali, Kannada, and Marathi, among other Indian languages. There were a total of 803 Indrajal Comics printed, with the exception of #123 and #124, which were not printed owing to industrial action. Phantom stories appeared in more than half of these issues.
Raj Comics
Since its founding in 1984 by Rajkumar Gupta, Manoj Gupta, and Sanjay Gupta, Raj comics has published a line of Indian comic books through Raja Pocket Books. Nagraj, Super Commando Dhruva, Bhokal, Doga, Parmanu, Tiranga, Bankelal, Shakti, Inspector Steel, Ashwaraj, Bheriya, and Anthony are some of the most well-known characters. Raj Comics is regarded as one of India's premier comic book distributors. The firm primarily publishes four categories of comics: mediaeval fantasy, horror, mystery, and superhero comics, with a strong emphasis on the latter. The majority of their comics are released in Hindi, with a few exceptions and special editions in English.
Diamond Comics
Mr. Gulshan Rai launched Diamond Comics, India's largest comic book distributor and publisher, in 1978. Diamond Comics is based in Delhi, India, and is home to some of India's most popular and well-loved comic characters.Original Indian comic characters such as Chacha Chaudhary, Billoo, Pinki, Motu Patlu, and others were created by Diamond Comics to provide high-quality entertainment to Indian fans. In addition, the business began publishing foreign comic books in Hindi, including Phantom, Mandrake, Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, He-Man, and James Bond. In India, the publishers have the largest distribution network. All of the publications are available in Hindi, English, and many regional languages, even in the most remote corners of India.
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