Asia · Country

chitrakatha

242 artists 228 comics

India.

World
Comics

चित्रकथा

India

1913

चित्रकथाchitrakatha

In short

Indian comics, called chitrakatha ('picture story'), are published in English, Hindi and many regional languages, from Bengali and Malayalam to Tamil and Marathi.

The industry grew from story magazines and translated newspaper strips into a mass market that peaked in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when popular titles sold more than 500,000 copies.

चित्रकथा · chitrakatha

From the shelf

India in numbers

01 • 04

India in numbers · 01 • 04

242

228

1913

2010s

Artists

Artists from India in the archive.

Comics from India in the archive.

Sandesh, the earliest comic from India in the archive.

The decade when the most new comics from India began.

Artists from India in the archive.

Comics from India in the archive.

Sandesh, the earliest comic from India in the archive.

The decade when the most new comics from India began.

चित्रकथा

chitrakatha · Comics from India

History

India in 5 chapters

A short history you can leaf through. Click a page, use the arrow keys, or press Turn the page to read on.

World Comics Heritage

India.

चित्रकथा

5 chapters

Turn the page

Chapter 1

1947

to 1963

Story magazines and translated strips

Chandamama

Chandamama, founded in 1947 by the Telugu film producers B. Nagi Reddy and Aluri Chakrapani, grew from Telugu and Tamil editions into 14 languages and is widely called the forerunner of Indian pictorial story books. Through the 1950s Western newspaper strips such as Phantom, Mandrake, Flash Gordon and Rip Kirby were translated into Indian languages, and in 1962 Narayan Debnath began Handa Bhonda in the Bengali magazine Shuktara.

1947 to 1963

Chapter 2

1964

to 1985

Indrajal, Amar Chitra Katha and the regional weeklies

Amar Chitra Katha

The Times of India launched Indrajal Comics in March 1964, Anant Pai founded Amar Chitra Katha in 1967 to retell mythology and history, Pran's Chacha Chaudhary followed in 1971 and the children's magazine Tinkle in 1980. Regional traditions grew alongside them: Muthu Comics (1971) and Lion Comics (1984) brought translated European comics to Tamil readers, and Mayavi began in the Malayalam magazine Balarama in 1984.

1964 to 1985

Chapter 3

1986

to 1993

The Hindi superhero boom

Super Commando Dhruva

Orijit Sen's River of Stories (1994) is widely regarded as India's first graphic novel, Sarnath Banerjee's Corridor (2004) brought the form into mainstream publishing, and Amruta Patil's Kari followed in 2008. Satellite television and gaming are blamed for the decline of the mass market, while Comic Con India, first held in February 2011, gave the scene a national gathering.

1994 to 2013

Chapter 5

2014

to today

Webcomics, apps and reprints

Webcomics such as Sanitary Panels and Royal Existentials (both 2014) and Brown Paperbag (2016) found readers online. Publishers now reissue their archives: the Amar Chitra Katha app carries more than 300 remastered comics, Shakti Comics issued Phantom box sets from 2023 to 2025, and Raj titles return through RCSG reprints after the company split into three in late 2020.

2014 to today

Keep reading

The comics to know Comics from India

World Comics Heritage

Cover

1947
to 1963
Chapter 01
Story magazines and translated strips
Chandamama, founded in 1947 by the Telugu film producers B. Nagi Reddy and Aluri Chakrapani, grew from Telugu and Tamil editions into 14 languages and is widely called the forerunner of Indian pictorial story books. Through the 1950s Western newspaper strips such as Phantom, Mandrake, Flash Gordon and Rip Kirby were translated into Indian languages, and in 1962 Narayan Debnath began Handa Bhonda in the Bengali magazine Shuktara.
1964
to 1985
Chapter 02
Indrajal, Amar Chitra Katha and the regional weeklies
The Times of India launched Indrajal Comics in March 1964, Anant Pai founded Amar Chitra Katha in 1967 to retell mythology and history, Pran's Chacha Chaudhary followed in 1971 and the children's magazine Tinkle in 1980. Regional traditions grew alongside them: Muthu Comics (1971) and Lion Comics (1984) brought translated European comics to Tamil readers, and Mayavi began in the Malayalam magazine Balarama in 1984.
1986
to 1993
Chapter 03
The Hindi superhero boom
Raj Comics began publishing in 1986, with Nagraj as its first superhero and Anupam Sinha's Super Commando Dhruva from April 1987, competing with Hindi houses such as Manoj, Tulsi and Radha Comics. At the peak in the late 1980s and early 1990s popular titles sold more than 500,000 copies, and Indrajal Comics closed in April 1990.
1994
to 2013
Chapter 04
The graphic novel
Orijit Sen's River of Stories (1994) is widely regarded as India's first graphic novel, Sarnath Banerjee's Corridor (2004) brought the form into mainstream publishing, and Amruta Patil's Kari followed in 2008. Satellite television and gaming are blamed for the decline of the mass market, while Comic Con India, first held in February 2011, gave the scene a national gathering.
2014
to today
Chapter 05
Webcomics, apps and reprints
Webcomics such as Sanitary Panels and Royal Existentials (both 2014) and Brown Paperbag (2016) found readers online. Publishers now reissue their archives: the Amar Chitra Katha app carries more than 300 remastered comics, Shakti Comics issued Phantom box sets from 2023 to 2025, and Raj titles return through RCSG reprints after the company split into three in late 2020.