Comic Sans Influence

For a generation that grew up on Amar Chitra Katha comics that made our mythological stories ‘cool’ and accessible, the visual narratives are starkly telling of the ideologies that persisted then, and because of the timelessness of stories continues to persist today

- Suzanne McNeill

The vegetable stall that I frequented in Delhi was embellished with two prints that were taped to the wooden partition. One was the movie poster for Dhoom 2, with the five honed, buffed and lithe superstars gazing at the viewer with varying degrees of attitude. The other showed the divine family of Shiva, Parvati and Ganesh, set against the snowy mountains, hands raised in blessing, with sweet, benign expressions. It was a mass-produced generic image that, in its many variations, was ubiquitous in homes and offices around the city, stuck to the dashboards of rickshaws and taxis, pasted onto walls and framed as objects of veneration. To me as a visitor, the image seemed exotic, if kitsch, and its presentation of the gods and their attributes provided a means to understanding India.

Image-based storytelling has existed for centuries in India but the emergence of the comic book with its layering of visual and text offered new ways for that vast body of stories to be reimagined and re-presented to new audiences in the modern era. Amar Chitra Katha (ACK) modelled their publications upon the format of American superhero comic books with their panel divisions, dialogue balloons and redemptive storylines, yet they stood apart in their cast of heroes. ACK’s ‘immortal picture stories’ looked to the protagonists of India’s myths, who possessed the extraordinary talent, the supernatural phenomena and the powers that typify a modern superhero, as well as the moral ideology that is integral to the hero’s character.