Storytellers should find the most effective way to reach children, say experts.
11 Apr, 2021 - 11:51 AM IST | By indiantelevision.com Team
NEW DELHI: The comic book industry is a well-recognised part of Indian popular culture, having produced many familiar cultural icons like Suppandi, Chacha Chaudhary, Tenali Raman, Detective Moochhwala, Shikkari Shambhu, Mayavi, and Akbar-Birbal. The industry was at its peak during the late 1980s and 1990s, when it flourished with a record number of sales.
However, post 2000, the Indian comic book scene hit a major stumbling block due to the arrival of television in almost all households, along with the introduction of video games in middle-class families. Sales and circulation plummeted, and comic book publishing companies either folded or merged. It was a ‘do or die’ situation – and as the saying goes, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. Now, it is commonplace to find digital versions of comic books; be they Indian or foreign publishers, everyone has an online buying option that enables readers to access their comic on the device of their choice – mobile, tablets, laptops etc. And with television and smartphones continuing to hold sway over new-generation children, the industry is facing an inevitable shift where print comics are losing their prominence to the digital format.