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India Authentic and the Eagle Awards
First, a big woot to Virgin Comics for having titles and creators nominated in multiple categories for the 2008 Eagle Awards. And a shocking observation: None of the titles or creators from Virgin's Shakti line have been nominated yet. You know, the Shakti line? The series of fantastic titles with Indian creators that Virgin launched with? Yeah. Guys, this is a crying shame. Because seriously, India Authentic and Devi are the best two things that I have in my longbox right now. And Virgin is probably the only mainstream comic house out there that's really truly been a champion of bringing more diverse artists and writers into the fold. FORTUNATELY, you can still submit write-in nominations for the Eagle Awards, until March 22nd. You can submit nominations based on any works published in the US and Canada during 2007.
SO. I'm going to be writing in nominations for Saurav Mohapatra and some of the India Authentic artists. How about you?
The modern heir to Amar Chitra Katha, India Authentic comics are effing fantastic: A combination of spiritual lesson, high adventure tale, and artgasm after artgasm. All are fronted by Deepak Chopra's poetic introductions. But the best part is the writing by Saurav Mohapatra. Mohapatra gets inside the heads of the gods and gives them voices that sound all-too-human; which is exactly what the Hindu gods, flawed and imperfect as they sometimes are, should sound like.
Plus, Virgin has practically all of their best artists working on it. ARTGASM AFTER ARTGASM (with clickable thumbnails!):
There's a lot of pretty in these comics. A LOT of pretty. And it's hard for me to pick a favorite style or artist. I'm really fond of Abhishek Singh's unique style, of course. I love the way that P.K. Manu gives his gods and demons realistic-looking, human anatomy. (Realistic anatomy in a comic book?! I KNOW!) Satish Tayade's painted pages are just wow. And nobody can paint a lionman ripping out an asura's intestines like he can. (See above.) I love the bold, thick, dynamic strokes of Shounak Jog's brush. It was torture picking out only one page from the Garuda issue to scan and post here, because they were all so awesome-looking.
And I completely skipped over the Ganesha and Kali issues, but that's because I only have those issues in trade, and I didn't want to break the spine of my trade just for scanning purposes. Not because I didn't love the artwork.
The introductions by Deepak Chopra also feature some fairly awesome artwork too. Here is my personal favorite, from #9 Kartikkeya:
Well, actually, the introductions to #8 Garuda and #4 Uma are also tied for my personal favorites, but I can't exactly start scanning and posting every single introduction that I like, or it would just never stop. ;)
I can't rec this series enough. It is absolutely fantastic. Each issue is beautiful, meaningful, and a ripping good read. That's a rarity in the comics world.
And coming down the line in March: HANUMAN.
'Nuff said.
Footnote: I would like to see more titles about the women of Hindu mythology. So far we've only gotten two issues (Uma and Kali) out of eleven. Well, maybe three if you count the Yama issue, because it was more about Savitri than Yama. Come on, guys. There's more than just Uma and Kali out there.
So. The Eagle Awards. I think these folks deserve some nominations, don't you?
EDITED TO ADD: And now we've got Follow-up!
SO. I'm going to be writing in nominations for Saurav Mohapatra and some of the India Authentic artists. How about you?
The modern heir to Amar Chitra Katha, India Authentic comics are effing fantastic: A combination of spiritual lesson, high adventure tale, and artgasm after artgasm. All are fronted by Deepak Chopra's poetic introductions. But the best part is the writing by Saurav Mohapatra. Mohapatra gets inside the heads of the gods and gives them voices that sound all-too-human; which is exactly what the Hindu gods, flawed and imperfect as they sometimes are, should sound like.
Plus, Virgin has practically all of their best artists working on it. ARTGASM AFTER ARTGASM (with clickable thumbnails!):
 |  |  |  |  |
 |  |  |  |  |
There's a lot of pretty in these comics. A LOT of pretty. And it's hard for me to pick a favorite style or artist. I'm really fond of Abhishek Singh's unique style, of course. I love the way that P.K. Manu gives his gods and demons realistic-looking, human anatomy. (Realistic anatomy in a comic book?! I KNOW!) Satish Tayade's painted pages are just wow. And nobody can paint a lionman ripping out an asura's intestines like he can. (See above.) I love the bold, thick, dynamic strokes of Shounak Jog's brush. It was torture picking out only one page from the Garuda issue to scan and post here, because they were all so awesome-looking.
And I completely skipped over the Ganesha and Kali issues, but that's because I only have those issues in trade, and I didn't want to break the spine of my trade just for scanning purposes. Not because I didn't love the artwork.
The introductions by Deepak Chopra also feature some fairly awesome artwork too. Here is my personal favorite, from #9 Kartikkeya:
 |  |
Well, actually, the introductions to #8 Garuda and #4 Uma are also tied for my personal favorites, but I can't exactly start scanning and posting every single introduction that I like, or it would just never stop. ;)
I can't rec this series enough. It is absolutely fantastic. Each issue is beautiful, meaningful, and a ripping good read. That's a rarity in the comics world.
And coming down the line in March: HANUMAN.
'Nuff said.
Footnote: I would like to see more titles about the women of Hindu mythology. So far we've only gotten two issues (Uma and Kali) out of eleven. Well, maybe three if you count the Yama issue, because it was more about Savitri than Yama. Come on, guys. There's more than just Uma and Kali out there.
So. The Eagle Awards. I think these folks deserve some nominations, don't you?
EDITED TO ADD: And now we've got Follow-up!
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I'd like to see something abt saraswathi tho'
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It's funny, we've always talked about the fact that gods and goddesses are the epitomes of human qualities (Parashurama = revenge, Kartikeya = being a warrior, Garuda = a son, Vishnu = protector, etc.), and now, we've got comics that say precisely that. Amar Chitra Kathas were great when you were young (well, no, they're still rather fun to read), but, in a sense, I think India Authentic, Devi, and Ramayan are becoming the thinking person's Amar Chitra Kathas... if that makes any sense.
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