Saturday, September 10, 2011

India gets comic relief


We explore how worldwide comic favourites have been given a desi flavour 

When film-crazy Raj Patel showed up in Riverdale four years ago, little did Archie Comics fans realize that their favourite freckled redhead and his pals would soon make a trip to India. In issues No. 9 and 10 of World of Archie, the gang travels to Mumbai with Raj, where they have a brush with Bollywood, get a taste of samosas and vindaloo and wear kurtas, saris and lehengas. Archie and Co. aren't the only iconic comic book characters to get an Indian flavour. Last year, the entire Tintin series was translated into Hindi; and in 2004, Spider-Man came to India in the form of Pavitr Prabhakar. But how well does giving comic characters a desi twist work?

Maha market
Suresh Seetharaman, CEO of an animation company, says this is a smart way for Archie Comics to tap into a country like India, where they have a huge presence. "I assume that India is a key market for them. It looks like Archie is aggressively getting their product out and making inroads into different markets where they have a brand presence. Moreover, one of the most influential communities in the US is the Indian diaspora. So if you've introduced an Indian character to the series, it makes sense to have the characters travel India," he says.

Full report here Times of India 

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