Social themes, Sufi verses inspire comics

While comic books based on action and fantasy continue to enchant children, themes and topics as wide-ranging as international politics, women’s issues and even Sufi verses are now finding their place in various new series of comics and graphic novels.

“People new to the industry are choosing varied themes to create their own space in the market. Social issues, or topics of day-to-day importance are increasingly being portrayed through comics,” says Jatin Verma, founder Comic Convention. that concluded here recently.

Increasingly welfare groups and NGOs have been seen using the medium to spread awareness about the social issues.

“We conduct workshops in different parts of India and the world to enable people to tell their own stories via comics, especially those who don’t have a voice. In a workshop conducted in Pakistan, we encouraged people to create comics about the girl child, early marriage, floods, issues which were important to them,” says Sharad Sharma, cartoonist and founder, World Comics India.

“The mainstream media often hesitates to show issues like underground movements and this is where comics play an important role,” says Sharma.