For a generation introduced to Indian mythology through Amar Chitra Katha (ACK) comics, it all started with the 11th edition, Krishna. In its pages, illustrated with textured line work and dramatic composition, were vivid images of the beloved child-God — the mud-eating toddler, the diplomat, the warrior and the philosopher.
But late on October 1, a part of that history and nostalgia was lost forever when a major fire raged through ACK’s main warehouse, destroying the original positives of hand-drawn sketches of around 200 of the earliest ACK comics, including Krishna.
It took firefighters four days to douse the fire. By then, lakhs of positives —hand-drawn, line art on transparent film — of ACK comics, including Krishna, Rama, The Pandava Princes, Savitri, Prithviraj Chauhan and Shivaji Maharaj, were lost.
In all, over 6 lakh units — from Amar Chitra Katha and Tinkle comics to box sets of special editions, and merchandise such as bobble heads of ACK characters — were charred in the fire.
“While we have most of the positives digitally archived, the original hard copies of the positives are lost for ever. These positives are priceless and can only be valued when they are auctioned. We never sold any of our positives until now as we were preserving it,” says a senior official at Amar Chitra Katha Pvt Ltd.
Gayathri Chandrasekaran, editor-in-chief of Tinkle, says the fire couldn’t have come at a worse time. “The period between October and February is our best season given the lineup of festivals, from Diwali to book festivals and the Comic Con season beginning October 31. Starting with the Hyderabad edition, there are about 10 Comic Cons where we were set to participate. We had carefully planned our printing schedule and decided to stock our warehouses with products to be sold in the coming months. But we have now lost whatever we printed in the last six months,” says Chandrasekaran.
Founded by Anant Pai in 1967, Amar Chitra Katha’s first 10 editions featured illustrated retellings of Western fairytales, from Cinderella to Snow White. Pai broke new ground with the 11th volume — the story of Krishna, published in 1970, was the first major retelling of an Indian mythological story in comic form.
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The artwork was by Ram Waeerkar, who went on to become one of ACK’s most dependable and prolific artists. A three-time national award winner, Waeerkar’s illustrations featured in at least 90 titles.
The Krishna edition would mark a turning point for ACK and help define the future of the publishing house. The volume, translated into all major Indian languages, found a space in schools and libraries across the country and would set the template for how Indian mythology could be adapted for popular retelling.
The success of Krishna and subsequent volumes in the 1970s motivated Pai and his editorial team to launch a separate comic for children with light-hearted stories. Thus was born Tinkle, featuring some of the most memorable characters — from the goofy Suppandi drawn by Waeerkar to the bumbling Shikari Shambu — for those growing up in the 1970s, 80s and 90s.
In the 57 years of ACK and 45 years of Tinkle comics, the company has published over 1,600 titles, adding three-four titles of ACK and nearly 12 Tinkle magazines every year.
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With time came new technology. While earlier, the hand-drawn illustrations were processed into positives for colouring in ink, today, the comics are drawn by hand on digital devices. These drawings are then coloured digitally, after which a PDF of the comic is sent for printing.
While the fire and the loss of the priceless positives hurt, the team at ACK has decided to move on.
“While it is an emotional shock, our team has seen many ups and downs. We have people who have been working with us for the past 20-30 years. Our immediate priority was to deploy extra printers to work on the production of Valmiki’s Ramayana, one of our bestsellers during Diwali, and Mahabharata by the end of the month,” says the senior ACK official.
The team behind the magazine said the company’s focus for the next three months would be to grow their digital mediums to ensure that the readers can continue to access all comics — both ACK and Tinkle — online. “While comics are the backbone of our business, we are also pushing for production of other categories such as apparel, board books, chapter books and figurines on our online portals. We are also focusing on increasing our services businesses such as licensing and digital subscriptions,” says a member of the ACK team.
