Attend a festival in Mumbai dedicated to self-published comic books

GraphicBharath MurthyA gang of boys who go picnicking in a comic book store wait with baited breath for movies on their favourite comic characters and dress up as superheroes to win contests at comic conventions mdash popular culture will have you believe that this in a nutshell is the world of comic books and their fans It might come as a surprise then that the worlds largest comic event held in Japan is a congregation of over 30000 indie artists whose selfpublished comics are perused and bought by five lakh visitorsThis departure from the mainstream mode of publishing goes with the fact that the topics they tackle are not mainstream either mdash and superheroes are certainly not the mainstay of their works It was on one such visit to Tokyo Japan that filmmaker and artist Bharath Murthy witnessed the phenomenon up close while shooting his feature documentary on the comics subcultures of the country The event called Comiket has more women than men and beats every stereotype there is about comics says Bharath Murthy associate professor of film direction at FTII PuneAacircu00c2u0080u00c2u0088workshop from the first edition of the festWhile Comiket has no parallel in India even when it comes to mainstream comic conventions it did sow seeds for something similar on a smaller scale The Indie Comix Fest which Murthy organised with writer and comics collector Aniceto Pereira advertising professional Kailash Iyer and graphic designer and comics artist Chaitanya Modak in October last year for the first time in Mumbai is now back with its second edition And through the month of May it will also debut in Delhi and Bengaluru There are online selfpublishing platforms which several Indian artists are using to put up their comics and print them on demand We had always wanted to promote comics as a way of artistic expression The fest is a celebration of selfpublished comics where the idea is to bring the artist and reader face to face explains MurthyWhen asked how the festival is different from Comic Cons now regularly held across India he says while the latter are doing a great job in promoting comics they tend to be focussed on merchandise and creating a buzz about movies related to comics They are like a big Hollywood juggernaut which doesnt leave space for individual expression This event is to promote zero censorship in your drawing and writing he addsOne of the entries for Blue Jackals situation comics series on Rohith VemulaWith close to 30 artists participating in the fest visitors can expect to lay their hands on anthologies serialised floppies handpressed zines foldout comics posters and screenprinted comics The topics range from gags on working in the creative industry and movie and TV series spoofs to moments of selfrealisation in the rat race of urban metrosShrabani Dasgupta and Manmeet Sandhu from Delhi specialise in onepage stories that deal with love angst anxiety gender issues and crowd mentality The duo take permission to display their work by pasting it like posters at tea stalls on neighbourhood walls etc We are participating for the first time and we are happy to know that we dont have to worry about going the populist way shares Sandhu Another participant is Bengalurubased platform Blue Jackal where creative practitioners come together to contribute comics and graphic narratives It has recently started a series of situational comics where a call for entries is made based on a particular topic The first series was dedicated to the suicide of student Rohith VemulaThe democratic space for selfpublishing however does come with the challenge of funding But that doesnt seem to deter the artists most of whom take on other financially viable creative projects while the comics survive on pure passion What lies at the heart of it is you say what you want to say and have fun while doing it Murthy sums upOn May 1 10 am to 6 pmAt YMCA ColabaLog on to indiecomixfestorgCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates