New Delhi: Comic books and India have an old and faithful friendship, that transcended not just time but also geographical differences. They provided themes associated with extensive religious myths and folklore which appeared as children’s comic books for decades.
The comic industry was at its peak in the late 1980s and early 1990s and during this period popular comics were easily sold more than 500,000 copies off shelves over the course of several weeks.
Currently, it only sells around 50,000 copies over a similar period.
India’s once-flourishing comic industry is in sharp decline because of increasing competition from satellite television (children’s television channels) and the gaming industry.
NewsMobile brings you some of the most loved comic books of all time
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Panchatantra
The stories of Panchatantra are some of the oldest tales in Indian history. Panchatantra consists of five parts and tells about five ways that help the human being succeed in life. The stories mostly revolve around animal characters.
The most common themes are:
The Separation of Friends
The Gaining of Friends
Of Crows and Owls
Loss of Gains
Considered Action
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Tenali Raman
Tenali Ramakrishna was a famous poet of the Vijayanagara Empire in the 16th century CE. He was full of wisdom and had a good sense of humour.
Over many decades, his stories have inspired several TV shows and movies. His witty and clever responses would impress everyone around him and leave readers with a broad smile
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Vikram-Betaal
The Vikram-Betaal series is based on Betaal Pachisi, written nearly 2,500 years ago by Mahakavi Somdev Bhatt. The stories revolve around advices given to a wise king by a ghost Betaal.
The premise was very interesting. On the way through the jungle, the ghost would narrate a story to the king, at the end of which Vikram would have to answer a moral question about the story’s characters, or risk his own death.
If Vikram succeeded in answering the question, Betaal would return to his tree, and Vikram would again start his journey from scratch.
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Chacha Chaudhary
Chacha Chaudhary is a very popular Indian comic book character, created by cartoonist Pran.
Chacha Chaudhary is a middle class Indian, frail but an extremely intelligent. The short old man assisted by Sabu from Jupiter would make even the strongest of men run for their lives.
The books did teach a lesson too – a lesson of intelligence and how a strong mind is more powerful than a strong body.
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Amar Chitra Katha
It is one of India’s largest selling comic book series, with more than 90 million copies sold in 20 Indian languages.
Founded in 1967, the imprint has more than 400 titles that retell stories from the great Indian epics, mythology, history, folklore, and fables in a comic book format.
The comic series was started by Anant Pai in an attempt to teach Indian children about their cultural heritage, and covers various topics including mythology, ancient history and traditions of India.