The 43-year-old’s print comics collection includes the earliest 10 editions of Amar Chitra Katha (ACK) which were translations of European fairy tales, all issues of Indrajal comics (including the first 1964 edition of The Phantom Belt), a rare comic series on Indian folk tales published by the Tirupati Temple Trust, comics created by late filmmaker Satyajit Ray, 10 editions of Supremo Comics (featuring Amitabh Bachchan as a superhero), the shortlived series Sunny the Supersleuth (modelled after cricketer Sunil Gavaskar), the entire collection of Tinkle and first appearance issues of superheroes like Mandrake, Flash, Buz Sawyer, Rip Kirby, Bruce Lee, Mike Nomad and Lt Drake. “However, if you define comics as a sequential illustrated art form, it can even include the ancient relief sculpture and mural sequences in India, the Patachitra of West Bengal or Kavad of Rajasthan, all of which narrate stories through illustrations.” “We think that comics are relatively new to India compared to the West,” says the independent filmmaker and history buff. He wants to understand the evolution of Indian comics, which he believes, started along with (if not before) the West. He is now meticulously categorising his assemblage according to date, publication and artist name. Prasad, however, calls himself an archivist rather than a collector. Soon, his collection grew to 17,000 titles, which include some of the rarest comics published in India. He would also network among fellow comic enthusiasts. His travels thereafter would include comic book purchases in street markets and bookstores across Indian cities. ![]() He would rummage through the largely second-hand collection of books spread across stalls on footpaths and verandahs and purchase comics priced anywhere between Rs 2 and Rs 50. BENGALURU: Arun Prasad was a familiar face at the Sunday markets organised in Majestic in the late 1990s.
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