Into the World of Deshi Comics
Stall number 582 is different from some of its neighbouring stalls at this year's Amar Ekushey Grontho Mela. The stall is owned by an emerging publishing house, Dhaka Comics, a name that has already become somewhat popular among comic buffs around the country.
It's a small stall without any sort of fancy décor. But the real gems that it consists make it, without a doubt, one of the most impressive nooks, especially for comic lovers, to visit at the fair.
Dhaka Comics is more than a publishing house, believes Mehedi Haque, the mastermind behind the publishing house. “We have also been able to start a new wave of having our own deshi comic characters and storylines, which initiated a revolution against imported comic series. Tarikul Islam Shanto, who passed away during the Shahbag protest, was an instrumental part of setting the project. We might be the first ones to have a stall dedicated for only comic books, but before us, Shanto bhai had a stall of his publishing house Kalpodut at the Boi Mela, which offered fictional books alongside comics.”
Three years are not enough to establish a loyal reader base, but Dhaka Comics has successfully achieved this feat. “We have different genres so that people can explore and find what they want,” says cartoonist Asifur Rahman. “Also a distinct set of themes - action, horror, teenage comedy, and children's fantasy - have been able to attract people from different age groups.”
When you visit the stall, you will find how right Asifur is. Starting from an emergent reader aged seven to eight years to a comic enthusiast studying in a university - everyone has been visiting the stall, requesting their favourite comic books written by our very own deshi comic writers.
Five books published by Dhaka Comics are exhibited at this year's Grontho Mela. The titles include: Durjoy-2, Newton er tin Shutro, Chhotokaku, Science Fiction digest and a graphical adoption of Muhammad Zafar Iqbal's Ruhan Ruhan.
“We try to present something new to our readers. Keeping that in mind, with an aim to encourage science education, cartoonist Nasreen Sultana Mitu is publishing her new book on Newton's laws, where she presented the laws in the form of the scientist's interactions with readers,” says Asifur.
Dhaka Comics has been publishing a great range of comics since 2013. This year, for the first time, team Dhaka Comics could save a spot for itself in the country's largest book fair. This is of course a great achievement on its part, as it has proved detractors, who argue that comic books cannot be considered as “real” works of literature, wrong. In fact, to avoid being categorised as a comic book, publishers often bring out comics in book format.
“Last year, we did not get permission as we were told that Bangla Academy does not deem comics as actual books. This year, we finally could convince the authority that we too deserve some space.”
Keeping that hair-splitting debate aside, as I flip through my newly bought Ck Jacky series, I am more and more convinced that the publications from Dhaka Comics will surely go a long way.
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