Comics,Desi Style

Archie and Tintin now speak in Hindi,as international cartoon characters find a fan-base in the regional market.

A part of growing up is going through ‘ the Archie phase’,where we enthusiastically read and chuckle about the accident-prone Archie Andrews and his gang and of their adventures in Riverdale,a nondescript town in the US. However,for many,there was a disconnect between the comics and reality. Indian kids,for example,could never experience detention,and south of Himachal Pradesh,no part of the country experiences snow. Then there is the added factor of English,which in itself makes the comic very exclusive. So how could the company address these problems? Step up,Raj Patel.

In early June this year,Archie Comics released the comic book in two regional languages Hindi and Malayalam. The plan is to sell 10,000 copies in Hindi before increasing this number,and so far,the response they are getting is “quite positive”. If all goes well,the new comic will have a desi twist. Right now we have just introduced simple translations of the original intellectual property material,but we soon plan to Indianise it further,if we get a good response, shares Om Arora from Variety Book Depot,Delhi,who is in charge of the distribution of the comic in India. Thus Archie Andrews will become Raj Patel and Betty Cooper will sport her girl-next-door look in Indian attire.

This launch is very recent for us. We are trying to take it slowly but we recognize that there is a bigger market for Archie in India than what we have tapped, reveals Jon Goldwater,CEO,Archie Comics. This marketing mantra is not exclusive to Goldwater alone. Across the world,comic book publications are doing the same. After the pioneering work that Diamond Comics had taken up when it translated international comic series like Spiderman and Phantom in regional languages,companies are trying to tap the unexposed market. Rohit Jerajani from Express Book Service,Camp,says I had ordered the Hindi version of Archie a week back and I am getting a good response. The Hindi comic readers especially are excited to read a new series.

While Archie Comics are trying to test the waters before they take the plunge,the much-loved comic Tintin,launched in Hindi last year,in December,with full embrace. Distributed by Om Book Shop in Delhi,the translated version of Tintin was an instant hit. The Hindi version is available on Flipkart.com,attracting an entirely new market. Twenty-four- year-old engineer Kushal Gupta grew up reading Chandamama and Champak,and so it was an entirely new world when he picked up his first copy of Phantom. I liked the translation in Hindi and stuck to it. I didn’t mind the fact that they told a story from a far away land,in fact that is what pinned me down.” Ask him if he would want to read an Archie or Tintin in Hindi as well,and he says,Why not? Its all about the appeal of the characters. Purva Kasliwal,a CA student and an Archie buff,is quite hesitant about switching languages. I think that the jokes and punchlines will lose some of their meaning when translated. The essence of the comics will be lost.

However,it was this challenge of being able to relate to their readers that made Diamond Comics translations so popular. Gulshan Rai,managing director,Diamond Comics,says,When we were introducing new characters,we found that language and culture changes every every 50-100 kilometres,and so to tap that potential we translated our comics into 30 languages. Our translated series of international comic books was as loved as the original ones. Its all about making it feel familiar,finding that connection. After all,its all about telling a story.

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