Dhaka Comics

As I walk into the Unmad headquarters, I notice a framed image of a cartoon Ananta Jalil, sandogenji, guns and all, hanging from one wall. Scattered on a desk are innumerable pages and empty tea-cups and a guy with long, curly hair manages to find the last piyaju amongst all this and offers it to me. I respectfully decline, but as everyone settles down into their seats, I can tell this is going to be a whole lot more fun than the usual interviews.

First off with the introductions. Mehedi Haque, Arafat Karim, Shamim Ahmed and Syed Rashad Imam are the artists behind Dhaka Comics, but overseeing them is the legendary Ahsan Habib. Choudhury Farid and Shahriar Sharif are fellow comic enthusiasts and members of the Unmad club.

Denoed-32: Police inspector C.K. Jasckie chases down an unusual creature and winds up in a conspiracy. This action-packed comic is credited to Arafat Karim.

Just as tea comes along, I ask them the question they'd been asked so many times already. “Why did you do it?”

Turns out they did it for a number of reasons, but the one that kept emerging most often was that the time just seemed right. “I think this generation of readers has turned toward comic books again, as is evident from the comicon organised earlier this year. While that in itself was a great event, many people who went to the comicon, came out with the wrong perception that comic books are limited to those about superheroes,” says Mehedi. “We think comic books are ruined when the same ideas are recycled, and we felt Bangladeshi people have enough stories of their own to turn into comics.”

“Besides, Ahsan Habib sir kept pushing us to make good use of our drawing talents, and we couldn't say no to him,” he adds with a smile.

Dadu-Nadu: A scientist grandfather takes his grandson out to a lost magnetic island. Everything was going okay until the evil Kafi appeared. Shamim Ahmed inked in this gripping story.

As we talk about how the time is right now, we stumble upon why it wasn't right in the past. Tanmoy quips in about lack of specialized publishers, and how everyone wants to publish novels, poems and children's books all at once. This limits the ability for one form of literature to grow within one publication since it gets such little limelight.

“Indian comics are far less available in the market, and I think that makes a significant impact too.”

But Shariar doesn't agree to that. He says, quite rightly, that Indian comics were never as amazing as they were hyped up to be, and the only reason they succeeded was because they were colour-printed and there was no competition from the local market.

That's when someone mentions Tarikul Islam Shanto, a cartoonist who single-handedly tried to hold a candle against the tide of imported comics. He passed away this February while chanting with the rest of the protesters at Shahbagh Square. Everyone quiets down at the table, the loss of a comrade still brooding darkly over the usually cheery men. Who knew such faces lie behind the colourful characters these people draw?

Backbencher's Club: The story revolves around a group of friends and their tales of university life. This easy-to-relate to comic was inked by Syed Rashad Imam Tanmoy.

That's when we start to talk about comic book writers, and their volatility. Tanmoy reminisces of the days when he drew for fun. “I really just drew out of passion, and then Unmad here decided to take me on. That's when I really got to make use of my talents. That doesn't happen to everyone.”

Ahsan Habib quips in about how cartoonists tend to move away to fine arts. “It's as if it's shameful to be just a cartoonist, when really a cartoonist has to be just as highly qualified as any professional of fine arts, and moreover, has to be a good story-teller. '

I think comic books are important in that regard because it provides a platform for illustrators. Comic books artists have a character that they need to keep providing stories of, but a newspaper office that publishes cartoons can shut down any day without notice. Comic book artists have greater control of their careers.”

Shariar recalls asking his newspaper office for four days leave, and being surprised that they'd been willing to give it. “It was a strict office, didn't usually give away holidays, so I was glad,” he remembers. “I went there four days later and the place was locked down. They'd gone off the face of the earth.”

Minpishach: Two investigators set out to solve the mystery around a village occurrence, and stumble upon frightening realities. Mehedi Haque illustrated this horror comic.

Coming back to Dhaka Comics, RS wanted to know what they were made of. “We've got four distinct themes for the four comics currently out. Action, horror, teenage comedy, and children's fantasy- all of which appeal to different ages and groups in society,” Mehedi informs us. “From village horror myths in 'Meenpishach' and university life tales of the ordinary student in 'Backbencher's Club', we've got something for everyone. Since the comics are so different in nature, people find it hard to just stick to one genre. They want to try them all.'

“We plan to bring out one comic every two months, and then put into collector's editions every book fair. Already our online purchase system has worked out well for us, and the sales at the book fair were double the number we expected. This is a very promising start for Dhaka Comics. We've come a long way to tell our own stories. Batman's cool, but he's never going to walk in Shapla Chattor. It's important we talk about our own, equally cool people who do.”

That's when I give a cursory glance to the AJ comic hanging on the wall, grin and quickly ask the cartoonists for one last advice to the readers.  Ahsan Habib recounts the story of a new comic-book reader, who sat across from him and a friend, and read 8 comic books all in one go. After the 8th one, he realized he had gone through a pile of the same comic book. Eight times. Without realising it was the exact same thing.

So in parting, the people at Dhaka Comics tells us takes time and dedication to be good readers as well, but that it's always worth it. Especially when the comic is good enough that you read it eight times over in one go.