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Raj Comics

Logos of Raj Comics.

Raj Comics is an Indian comic book publisher based in New Delhi, India. It published a line of Indian comic books through Raja Pocket Books since its foundation in 1984 by Rajkumar Gupta, Manoj Gupta and Sanjay Gupta.[1][2] Some of its most well known characters include Nagraj, Super Commando Dhruva, Bhokal, Doga, Parmanu, Tiranga, Bankelal, Shakti, Inspector Steel, Ashwaraj, Bheriya and Anthony.[3] Raj Comics is credited as being one of the leading comic book distributors in India.[4]

Raja Pockets initially published pulp-fiction books. They had a highly-successful run and published critically acclaimed authors like Surender Mohan Pathak, Ved Prakash Sharma, Anil Mohan and Raja. At their peak, the books sold up to 1 million copies each. While Rajkumar Gupta always had a passion for crime-thrillers, his sons Sanjay Gupta and Manoj Gupta started collection Indian and International Comics from an early age and were always thrilled with the idea of creating original Indian Superheroes. One evening, while discussing the same, Rajkumar Gupta walked in on the conversation of the two brothers and thus, Raj Comics was born.

The company mainly publishes four types of comics; medieval fantasy, horror, mystery, and superhero comics, with a predominant focus on superhero content.[5][6] Their comics are usually published in Hindi, with only a few titles and special editions in English. It has produced close to 35,000 comics to date and has been read by people in India and abroad.[7] The company also publishes an online exclusive web series named Raj Rojana, with a new page uploaded every day.

Raj Comics publishes in multiple formats, which include e-book, print, and motion comics.[8] The company also sells hardcovers of their old and new comics, as well as bundled collections of their characters.[9]

In 2008, Raj Comics was the focus of a research project conducted through The Sarai Programme at CSDS's Sarai Media Lab. The resulting research was published as a free PDF on the Sarai website.[2]

Team

Characters

Heroes of Raj Comics Drawn by Lalit Singh, color by Pradeep Sherawat

Members of team Brahmand Rakshak (Protectors of the Universe)

Members of team Research and Investigation Paranormalism [RIP]

Illustration of Nagraj based on a design by Manoj Gupta and illustrated by Pratap Mullick.
Illustration of Nagraj based on a design by Manoj Gupta and illustrated by Pratap Mullick.

Characters based in ancient times

Comedy characters

Chhota Nagraj and Amazing Friends of Nagraj

Kids Series characters (Defunct)

Member of Vistrit Rakshak (Extended Protectors of the Universe)

Members of W.A.R (World Allied Rescuers)

Member of P.V.N (Paralaukik Vigyan Nayakgan)

Superheroes from Different World

Newest characters

Inactive characters

Inactive characters who came after a long time

TV show-based characters

History

Original logo of Raj Comics in English

Raj Comics was founded in 1986 by Raj Kumar Gupta, Sanjay Gupta and Manoj Gupta. It marked the era of the rise of Indian superheroes. Raj Comics's first superhero was Nagraj. Later, they launched other popular superheroes like Dhruva, Doga, Parmanu, and Tiranga.

Origins

Raj Comics' roots span back to the 1980s. After extreme dedication and perseverance by the brothers and their father, Raj Comics was propelled to great heights and fame. Nearly every teenager spent their afternoons glued to the latest comic addition. In the early days of its inception, Raj Comics published mythological, mystery and adventure comics. In 1985, Manoj Gupta, fueled by his passion and craze for western superheroes, notably Phantom, came up with the idea of creating a superhero centered around snakes as he believed snakes held a religious and mythological significance in India.[11] Later, the team started working on the concept and finally created the Nagraj that we know today.

The Golden Age

In 1997, an advertisement for Nagraj featuring Sonu Sood aired on TV.[12] During this era, Raj Comics reportedly sold over a million copies a year, making it one of the most widespread publications of that time period. It has sold more than 100 million copies since then.

Modern Age

Raj Comics has now expanded to multiple different publication streams, with TriColor and other various business entities taking venerable steps in penetrating the Indian book market. Ongoing discussions with studio heads have been disclosed to the public about the possibility of live feature films based on their comic universe. However, nothing has since come to fruition.

In 2015, Raj Comics released an Android app for the general public. It has since garnered a massive following and has an average rating of 4.5+ stars.

In 2017, Raj Comics released a concept trailer for Nagraj on its official YouTube channel. It has since garnered over 1.5 million views.[13]

In 2018, Raj Comics released a short feature film named Aadamkhor, partially self-produced and crowdfunded. It released on YouTube to critical acclaim by its audience.[14]

Series

King Comics

King Comics was a line of comics published through Raja Pocket Books. While the division was initially successful, its popularity declined and the line went defunct after only about 2–5 years of activity. It was intended that many of King Comic's characters would be merged into Raj Comics, but only a few characters such as Gamraj were merged. During its run the division published six monthly comics.[citation needed]

Past and current series

Ongoing series

Upcoming series

Social Comics

Jubilee and Kalpana-lok awards

In 2010, Raj Comics celebrated its Silver Jubilee by launching the Kalpana-lok Awards to honor comics artists. Participants are nominated by editors at Raj Comics and can be voted on by readers and fans on the Raj Comics website.

Raj Comics films

In 2014, Anurag Kashyap had spoken about making a film on Doga—a vigilante killing machine in the style of Marvel Comics’ The Punisher—but the project was shelved after his Bombay Velvet flopped.[15] CEO Manish Gupta has had multiple ultimately unsuccessful meetings with prominent Bollywood industry personnel. In 2016, Raj Comics co-founder and studio head Sanjay Gupta said "Bollywood is yet to warm up to the idea of licensing comic book characters that come with detailed universes and visuals ready for the screen. We want to start with animated Web series first. We are expecting to make our first live-action film the year after.”[16][17] In December 2017, Raj Comics organized special screening of their horror film Aadamkhor at Nagraj Janmotsav event, Delhi. Aadamkhor is based on comic of the same name published by Raj Comics in 1992. Raj comics released Aadamkhor on YouTube on 24 May 2018.[18]

In December 2019, Manoj Gupta said that he was in negotiations with Ranveer Singh to play Nagraj in a film produced by Karan Johar.[19]

Digital distribution

Raj Comics are available in digital form through their android app. The Raj Comics official android app has reached over 100k+ downloads at the time of this article. Free Services: In 2017, Raj Comics started free comics from their android app.

Paid Services: Google Play in 2017. RC Android app crossed 100,000 downloads within 6 months of its launch.[20]

Legal history

In 1996, delivered by the Delhi High Court under docket Raja Pocket Books (Plaintiff) v. Radha Pocket Books, Raj Comics won this intellectual property case with a ruling of "prima facie infringement of the plaintiff’s character."[21]

References

  1. ^ Raj Comics: About Us Archived 2013-01-15 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ a b "Raj Comics for the Hard Headed : s a r a i". sarai.net. 10 April 2008. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  3. ^ "Why Nagraj, Dhruva, Doga aren't finding space on big screen? (view pics)". India TV News. 16 October 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  4. ^ "Raj Comics now in regional flavor". Bollywood Hungama. 23 July 2009. Archived from the original on 2 February 2016. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  5. ^ Lent, John A. (1 January 2001). Illustrating Asia: Comics, Humor Magazines, and Picture Books. University of Hawaii Press. pp. 58–59. ISBN 9780824824716.
  6. ^ "Best moments of Raj Comics Superheroes". eashportsbook.com. 1 November 2018.
  7. ^ "After a hiatus, Indian comic book industry growing steadily". DNA India. 14 September 2010. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  8. ^ "Raj Comics to launch motion-comics". Bollywood.com News. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  9. ^ Pratap, Rashmi (25 April 2014). "Super-heroic ventures". The Hindu Business Line. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  10. ^ Pratap, Rashmi (25 April 2014). "Super-heroic ventures". The Hindu Business Line. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  11. ^ "Indian Epics Inspire our Superhero Comics: Manoj Gupta". Center for Soft Power. 29 April 2020. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  12. ^ "Blast From The Past: Watch Sonu Sood Play 'Nagraj' in This Raj Comics Ad". News18. 17 May 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  13. ^ Nagraj Concept Trailer | Raj Comics | Indian Comics Superhero, 3 November 2017, retrieved 21 July 2021
  14. ^ Aadamkhor | A Raj Comics Web Film, 24 May 2018, retrieved 21 July 2021
  15. ^ "'Doga depends on Bombay Velvet' says Anurag Kashyap". 19 May 2015.
  16. ^ "In search of the Indian superhero". 2 September 2016.
  17. ^ "Why Nagraj, Dhruva, Doga aren't finding space on big screen? (view pics)". Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  18. ^ "Aadamkhor | A Raj Comics Web Film". YouTube. 24 May 2018.
  19. ^ "Ranveer Singh may play Nagraj in film on the comic series produced by Karan Johar". 11 December 2019.
  20. ^ "Raj Comics (Hindi हिंदी) - Android Apps on Google Play". play.google.com. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  21. ^ "Copyright in Characters- III (Indian Decision)". 19 February 2009.

Further reading

External links