Why Graphic Novel?
August 4th, 2011 § 1 Comment
Comics/graphic novels have become very popular after many of them were made into blockbuster movies. Superman, Batman, Frank Miller’s Sin City and 300 are just a few examples. Why Pixelbrew is into graphic novels, one might ask. It has a lot to do with art and storytelling than just liking it.
Stories and graphic design somehow got into me from a very early age. My art education didn’t begin with crayons but with graphite slate and pencils as early as I can remember. Tracing Mandrake the Magician from Malayala Manorama using homemade tracing paper was one of my favorite activities while in primary school. My ability to draw got attention from teachers as well and some of them wanted me to draw Jesus, the pope, and someone else for them.
Homegrown ghost stories were the staple of many a conversation when village folks assembled. Local rivers, tall trees, giant rocks, desolate hilltops etc., found permanent seats in such stories. Nightmares have been a regular interlude for those children who took a liking for such stories!
My interest in art took me to the mother of all art schools in India: the venerable JJ School of Art (read Applied Art) in Bombay (Yes, not Mumbai then). Sequential art even found place in a few adverts I created while working in an ad agency. Comics and graphic novels in those days didn’t go beyond folklores and mythology. An exception was Azad.
A story I wrote in a Malayalam journal a decade ago demanded another reading. As I read it over and over, I saw its potential for a graphic novel and named it Beyond Normal. Because it is.
These illustrations don’t form any part of the final product. These are only reference sketches.