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The Graphic details

As "The Believers" hits the stands, Anuj Kumar takes stock of the world of graphic novels

In media, the buzzword these days is `alternative'. When it comes to literature, the graphic novel is the one. The genre has been quite popular in the West. The best-selling report by the U.S. Commission examining the September 11 attacks which was adapted into a graphic novel went on to become one of the best-selling non-fiction books last year.

For the uninitiated a graphic novel is a long form of a comic book, usually with a lengthy and complex storyline and is often aimed at mature audiences. In fact, the term, `graphic' was given by Will Eisner who developed the concept in 1978 to disassociate his work from the juvenile or humorous connotations of the terms like `comics' and `comic book'.

The corridor

In India, the concept took birth with Sarnath Banerjee's "Corridor" by Penguin. The book got a decent response but nobody dared to take the concept forward. Now Sarnath together with Anindya Roy has created a platform so that graphic novels are taken seriously. Called Phantomville, the publishing house has recently released its first novel, "The Believers". Written by Abdul Sultan with illustrations by Partha Sengupta, the novel centres on the religious intolerance in the Munnar region of Kerala. Sultan, who is Bureau Chief of a local daily, says as a journalist he gets to be in the midst of a lot of information. "I had come across many stories and characters which have a semblance to my plot line. That I live and work where my story is based is the strongest connection I have to the subject." Sultan and Anindya hold "The Believers" could be introduced in the school syllabus. "With so much intolerance around, it would be a great idea," says Anindya.

Comparing it with a text novel, Sultan says writing a graphic novel requires one to think visually. "Illustrations replace words, mood is created by what you choose to place in the frame and how. Words at times become redundant. They have to be more precise and allow adequate space for visuals to complete the narrative."Sultan points out that you need to be on a common track with the illustrator. "At times you have to restructure the story... it's a constant process of hit and trial. I took more than 1000 photographs of the locations where the story was based."

Partha who has gone beyond the faces to capture the scenery of Munnar feels the illustrator has to stick to the mood and the context of the text. "Within that he can experiment as much as he wants to. He should be careful that the visuals, their style do not go out of sync with the intended mood." Though ambivalent on whether the genre could pass as pure literature.

Anindya places the genre between films and text novels. "Besides working in tandem with the storyline, here the visuals provide a parallel narrative and at times breathing space. It's very much like the screenplay of a film." No wonder, many Hollywood movies like Sin City, Spiderman and Kill Bill originated as graphic novels attesting the genre's viability. Anindya points out Satyajit Ray used to make sketches of his script. And as Bollywood gets methodical, directors are visualising their scripts on paper. Adds Partha, "Some of the beginner series books like the one on Darwin were quite experimental in their visual text interplay. It's very much like in film. You play with shot sizes, angles, subjects, lighting and offer a variation which lends a desired pace to the story, instead of obvious visuals which can leave the reader bored after a few pages."

Anindya agrees till the marketing of the graphic novels gets stronger, more players enter the field, and the novels cease to be collectibles, they are concentrating on depicting development issues. "Almost a year back when I went to a shop in Khan Market it had 30 graphic novels. A few days back it had 15-16." But Sarnath avers the success of Joe Sacco, Marjane Satrapi, Harvey Peker, Art Spiegelman indicate that the genre works beyond action and sermon. Let's hope Khan Market wakes up to their success, at least the names.

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