Howdy Comic Nerds
I have read my fair share of English comic books. Yet somehow, I could never connect with this medium of entertainment in any language, other than Hindi. Hence, to me comic book always meant Hindi. It kind of became my comfort zone, and so I always opted for Hindi versions of popular comic books.
But, change is the order of the nature. Hence I took an annual subscription of Kindle unlimited and unlocked for myself a world full of English comic books.
And as is my nature, I love exploring things on my own. So I chucked the suggestions of essay writers and ilk. And this is my first dissection of an English comic read on a tablet.
(All that I wrote above was just to show off that I bought a tablet)
Credits
- Story and Art – Maryse Charles and Jean Francois Charles
- Published by – OM publications
Art
The first comic book I laid my eyes on, in the Kindle Store, is titled India Dreams. And my oh my! This is like taking a walk in an art gallery. All the art panels are like a hand painted watercolor painting. The visuals are so stunning. The color palette is so vivid. I can just look at the frames and feel as if I am actually standing in front of Taj Mahal. The artwork of this comics is simply astounding.
P.S. – Artwork of english version is PG-13. French version is basically a comic version of debonair/playboy.
Story
I really wish the story could have given the same pleasure as the artwork. 95% of this story happens in India. One would expect the writer to have a deep understanding of Indian culture and history. Sadly, the writing is full of prejudices and biases.
Where exactly in Indian history have you heard of a marriage being consummated in front of a live audience. That too in a royal Rajput family. The entire story is littered with snippets of inaccuracies and problematic portrayal.
If we ignore these uncomfortable aspects of the story, the story is still a jumbled mess that runs from 1928 to 1965. There is too much of running around from places to places with no clear direction where the story is going.
The entire story arc is covered in 4 books. It is an unnecessarily drawn out story whose culmination leaves you severely disappointed.
Final Verdict
If you are looking to read a graphic novel on Kindle, do not venture near the India Dreams because neither is the story representative of India, neither do I wish for your dreams of reading a good book to get shattered.
