The Four Encounters by Osamu Tezuka (Buddha #2)

Blurb (from the jacket):

Osamu Tezuka, the godfather of Japanese graphic art, brings ancient India to life, lavishly retelling the life and times of 'the enlightened one' in his critically acclaimed eight-book masterpiece: BUDDHA. The fates of real and imagined characters are deftly interwoven as they engage in fresh and unexpected adventures, playing out Tezuka's philosophical concern with overcoming fate and the uselessness of voilence.

In book two, The Four Encounters, Prince Siddartha – fated to become the Buddha – is confronted by the harsh penalties of social injustice within his own kingdom, fuelled by selfish warlords and villains like the depraved warrior, Bandaka. The tragic fortunes of his loved-ones, such as Tatta the rogue and Migalia the fierce female bandit, force the Prince to choose between love and destiny; Siddartha must forsake his heart and begin his pilgrimage.

Kapilavastu by Osamu Tezuka (Buddha #1)

Blurb (from the jacket):

Osamu Tezuka, the godfather of Japanese graphic art, brings ancient India to life, lavishly retelling the life and times of "the enlightened one" in his critically acclaimed eight book masterpiece, Buddha. The fates of real and imagined characters are deftly interwoven as they engage in fresh and unexpected adventures, playing out Tezuka's philosophical concern with overcoming fate and the uselessness of violence. 

In the first book, Kapilavastu, Chapra, an ambitious slave, spurns the caste system into which he was born and tries to become a nobleman. Tatta, the wild pariah child, communes with animals. And the monk, Naradatta, strives to uncover the meaning of strange portents surrounding the Buddha's birth.

400 BC by Lewis Helfand, Lalit Kumar Singh (Illustrator)

Blurb (from the jacket):

Fortune favors the bold...

They were an unstoppable force, hired to take the crown from the King of Persia. They were a fearless army of Greek soldiers, and one hundred thousand men fighting as one. They were led by the finest and most courageous generals in all of Greece. They were being led to unimaginable wealth, but that was days ago.

Now their leaders are dead and their army has scattered. Now their numbers have fallen to ten thousand and nothing remains but fear. Now they are men praying not for victory, but for the slim chance of living one more day.

Cut off by impassable terrain and pursued by an army of one million enemy soldiers; they must stand together to survive. To find their way home, one of their own must lead them. And to live one more day...

...they must fight.

The Common Man Casts His Vote by R.K. Laxman

Blurb (from web):

From financial crises to the woes of householders, from political instability to rampant corruption, Laxman’s cartoons capture the entire gamut of contemporary Indian experience. Hilarious and thought-provoking at the same time, this is a treasure house of humor from one of the most striking voices commenting on Indian socio-political life today.

The Obliterary Journal: Volume 1 by Rakesh Khanna (Editor), Rashmi Ruth Devadasan (Editor)

Blurb (from GoodReads):

A collection of comics, street art, typography, and illustrated stories from India and beyond. Includes:

*) A classic Bengali gangster comic in translation

*) Traditional Odisha palm-leaf engravings of alien robot invaders

*) 12th century Sanskrit algebra problems

*) Bus painters from Suriname

*) New work from Vidyun Sabhaney, Amitabh Kumar, Roney Devassia, and Aarti Sunder

*) Bleeding lizards

*) Defecating cyclopses

*) Psychopathic killer tomatoes

*) and much, much more!

Legends of Halahala by Appupen

Foreword:

If you are regular visitor of this blog and read my reviews of other Graphic Novels, you must well aware my obsession about them. Especially, Indian Graphic Novels.

That leaves me with little items on the menu. There are very few illustrators and fewer successful Indian Graphic Novels out there. I mention successful because, if it's not a success, it would either cost you a fortune to buy the novel or you have to go to the end of the world to find it.

I particularly hate Indian readers so much. Their negligence for Graphic Novels is one reason. Of course, they read Comics, but Graphic fictions and Comics share very little of similarities, when it comes to deeper sense. But I shalln't blame them either. The cost of the Graphic Novels are so high, I don't think Indian readers are much to be blamed.

So here I am, trying to promote Indian Graphic Novels and testing my own limits of sanity!!!

Photo Booth by Lewis Helfand, Sachin Nagar (Illustrator)

Blurb (from the jacket):

He wanted to change the past, but first he would have to alter the future...

A new deadly drug is about to flood the streets of New York City. The police have no leads on who is producing the drug, or where it is coming from. As far as Praveer Rajani, a reckless Interpol agent, is concerned the only way to prevent countless deaths lies in a handful of mysterious photographs.

Within the photographs, Praveer can see images of places he has never known, and people he has long forgotten. But what are the photographs leading him to? Is Praveer being told that his life is spiraling out of control, and he now has one chance to put things right?

Or are the photographs related to a murder that Praveer is desperate to solve? Perhaps they are showing the love that his brother, Jayendra, let slip away or even the family that his sister, Nisha, wants back?

The mystery will finally be solved in this exciting romantic thriller from Campfire.

The Hotel at the End of the World by Parismita Singh

Blurb (from the jacket):

In the hotel at the end of the world it’s business as usual, as Pema dishes up rice and pork curry to travellers who stop by for a drink and refuge from the rains. Everyone there has a story to tell, and at times they end up revealing more than they want to.

On their journey to China, Kona and Kuja, bound together by fate, stumble upon the trail of the Floating Island, promised land of plenty. Pema’s story is about lost love, while her husband speaks of homesick Japanese soldiers in Manipur and the Naga hills during World War II. The Prophet takes us back to the quest for the Floating Island, leading us to the little girl’s story as she sets out to fetch water and chances upon something quite unexpected…

Drawing from various oral storytelling and folklore traditions, and with influences ranging from Commando war comics to World War II history and Buddhist art, Parismita Singh creates a world that's magical yet very real. Exquisite in terms of both narrative and artwork, The Hotel at the End of the World marks a new height in graphic fiction in India.

Corridor by Sarnath Banerjee

Blurb (from the jacket):

In the heart of Lutyens' Delhi sits Jehangir Rangoonwalla, enlightened dispenser of tea, wisdom, and second-hand books. Among his customers are Brighu, a postmodern Ibn Batuta looking for obscure collectibles and a love life; Digital Dutta who lives mostly in his head, torn between Karl Marx and an H1-B visa; and the newly-married Shintu, looking for the ultimate aphrodisiac in the seedy by-lanes of old Delhi. Played out in the corridors of Connaught Place and Calcutta, the story captures the alienation and fragmented reality of urban life through an imaginative alchemy of text and image.

Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves Reloaded by Poulomi Mukherjee, Amit Tayal (Illustrator)

Foreword:

I have encountered this book on a blog-post where it is listed as one of the most famous Indian Grpahic Novel.

I have developed this new fascination for Graphic Novels - Indian Graphic Novels, in particular.

My first Indian Graphic Novel is Kari.

For more Graphic Novels, click here...

For more Indian Graphic Novels, click here...

I have always wondered why Graphic Novel? Well, I can't answer. Perhaps, no one can. It is just the feel of it that is most interesting about it.

Unlike the other graphic novels I had read, which were rather sequential arts than graphic novels, this one is more kinda cartoon. Cartoon Strip, perhaps. A comic, maybe. While the other graphic novels I read were more art, this was more like a cartoon. It was like watching a cartoon movie on mute with subtitles.

Kari by Amruta Patil

Foreword:

I have many times mentioned about my new-found fascination for graphic novels. Especially, Indian graphic novels. They literally give an orgasm to the reader in me.

Why?

I don't know. In fact, there are more reasons to not promote graphic novels against novels. They have illustrations limiting the readers' imagination, which is the key aspect of reading a typical novel.

Yet, I have this strange sense of fascination for graphic novels. How much ever I try to reason my way out, I fail. Miserably, at that.

Of course, the graphic novels are vivider. The characters of a novel take shape, in real dimensions and come alive. There is no wasting time, describing the physicality of the character and her expression, etc.

Well, in simple words, I love graphic novels for their vividness, perhaps.