The trend of relaunching bestsellers as comics is not new-fangled, but the popularity of the latter surpassing the fame of the original is something new. From the The Manga Bible and Ashok Banker’s Ramayana series to Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist, Hosseini’s The Kite Runner and recently the famous Twilight series, avid readers and non-readers are instantly lapping up the graphic versions.
The latest to join the bandwagon is a comic book on Shirdi Sai Baba, which, if the publishers are to be believed, has already sold 20,000 copies before it hit the stores.
Says graphic novelist Sarnath Banerjee, “One needs the blessings of Shirdi Sai Baba to sell 2,000 comics, so 20,000 is a miracle. But I do have a sneaky feeling that it was the subject that sold that many copies, not the fact that it was comics. Nonetheless, telling stories through pictures can reach very high levels of sophistication, which miles and miles of word can only aspire to.”
Author Ahmed Faiyaz adds, “Graphic form brings the text to life and gives it flavour and colour, both of which are necessary to enthuse a reader in today’s world. I think it’s an interesting way to grow your audience base. There’s more appeal for something that’s more colourful and well-packaged.”
Anusha Jain, a school teacher has read The Alchemist in both forms and she believes that the pictures really help tell the story in a more convincing manner. “Kids usually struggle with reading and after a certain point it’s no longer fun. So, it’s a good way to hook them to books,” she says.
Vishwajyoti Ghosh, an author and illustrator, read The Bible only in graphic form. He believes that comics demystify the whole thing. He says, “It is an immensely strong medium. For example, understanding the budget can be really taxing. So to make it simpler, a Japanese newspaper reported about the budget in the Manga format.”
However, do the newer forms sometimes run the risk of making the original sound frivolous? “Like anything else it can be a disaster or it can be brilliant. It is a bit like cooking, things can go completely wrong with the slightest mistake,” explains Banerjee. In the past, theatrical texts have been transformed into comics but that hasn’t taken away the seriousness of Shakespeare, defends Ghosh.