9th Art

Reprinted from the Between Panels blog on Times of India

2012 was a great year for comic book fans – not just for reading, but for viewing as well! We watched The Avengers finally get the Hulk right. We saw Bane and Batman battle it out in the final chapter of Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy. The Amazing Spider-Man delivered more character (and less bounce) than a tennis ball. And the Man of Steel trailers simply left us wanting more!

The movies were great. But there’s simply no replacing the mind-blowing artwork and intricate plots that artists and writers weave into a comic book.

Here, in no particular order, are this year’s 10 comics you should definitely read. » Read the rest of this entry «

It is a ‘hundred years from today’. People take ‘ferry’ rides from Earth to space stations above in order to work – much like we take the metro. Space exploration has taken large strides. We can travel at the speed of light. We have at least one city on the Moon. We have space stations orbiting planets and moons that are being studied.  We also have hollowed-out moons which serve as space stations. Also, most people have forgotten what a ‘book’ looks like.

And if you’re working a blue collar job, then you can pretty much forget having a personality. For the duration of your contract, the corporation will put an implant in your mind that shuts down your reasoning power and essentially make you an order-obeying zombie.

But not everything has changed. Muggings still happen (even on space stations).

This is the setting for Warren Ellis’ Ocean. » Read the rest of this entry «

One of my friends got back from a vacation and, knowing of my interest in graphic novels, told me of a book that one of her friends back home had gifted her. “It’s called It’s a Bird“, she said. I hadn’t heard of it, but I asked to see it. She brought it to me the following day.

When I looked at the cover, I hesitated. There was an illustration of people with red ‘s’ emblems on them. I was slightly taken aback. The title fell into context – this was a Superman comic.

Like just about everybody I know, I’ve read several Superman comics over the years. Yet, if I were asked what Superman meant to me, I’d be hard put to come up with a satisfactory answer – especially to myself. In the early years, he was just busy beating up the baddies. Then he started seeing (and eventually marrying) Lois Lane and the comics drifted into exploring what a personal relationship to him might be like. I especially hated this particular phase since, to me, it was no different from the various soaps on TV. I guess my thoughts on the character were something along the lines of “I’m growing up; why doesn’t he?”.

» Read the rest of this entry «