RajComics 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]
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.
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.
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.
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 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 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.
Unlike other superheroes, Doga has no superpowers and only has the ability to communicate with dogs in order to gather information. He solely relies on his combat skills, especially in martial arts and boxing, and his remarkable physical strength and stamina. Doga has a bold and valourous personality and takes the aid of various weapons and guns.
Doga is a fictional Indian comic book superhero that appears in Raj Comics, Doga is the first and only Antihero character in Raj Comics, created by Sanjay Gupta, and in November 1992. Curfew was the first comic in which the character debuted.
Due to his large fan base, Doga is considered one of the three most popular comic lead characters published by Raj Comics, the other two being Nagraj and Super Commando Dhruva. His comics involve real-life stories, often based on genuine incidents, giving them a more realistic feel than science fiction, making him more popular with young readers.
Suraj (Doga) was discovered as an infant in a garbage dump by Daku Halkan Singh, a ruthless Dacoit. Halkan Singh raised Suraj as an orphan, yet he treated him like a pet dog. Suraj watched multiple horrible crimes and murders as a child with Daku Halkan Singh, which influenced his sensitive mind and finally converted him into a psychopath as he grew up.
His new family eventually suffered a tragedy. Killota, a former gym member, opened his own gym and attempted to permanently eliminate his opponents. This led Suraj to take on the guise of Doga in order to seek vengeance. To conceal his true identity, he wore a dog mask. Killota and his crew were killed, and he eventually settled in Mumbai, where he became a one-man army against organized crime.
Doga is a brave and strong character that uses a variety of weapons and guns. Furthermore, he possesses a strong resolve and can withstand any amount of pain. His hatred for criminals and crime is one of his most distinguishing characteristics.
Nagaraj, Super Commando Dhruv, Pinki, Billu, Bankelal, Chacha Chaudhary, Suppandi, Shikari Shambu - all these characters were once household names. They are all Indian comic book characters which used to figure alongside school books and once occupied aisles in neighbourhood book stores and magazine kiosks. Shops and libraries used to rent out comic books for charges as low as a few rupees. Unlike in the West, where comic books saw a resurgence with the adaptation of characters in Hollywood movies, India is yet to witness such a phenomenon.
There has hardly been any form of adaptation of Indian comic book characters in movies so far. Something on these lines might just be around the corner, reveals Manoj Gupta, editor, president and co-founder of Raja Pocket Books and Raj comics. Among popular characters from the Raj Comics household are Nagraj, Doga, Bhediya, Bankelaal, Dhruv, Parmanu, among others.
We caught up with Gupta on the sidelines of the Comic Con India convention held in Delhi last month. Gupta says the value of the Indian comic book market has dwindled over the years and is valued at a little under Rs 50 crore today. 80 per cent of Raj Comics' portfolio is superheroes, 10 per cent comedy and 10 per cent is thrill and adventure. An issue of Nagraj sees around 30,000 prints, Dhruv sees 25,000 and other characters see 18-20,000 prints each. "There was a time when we printed around 3.5 lakh copies of a single Nagraj issue. But things are looking up gradually," he mentions.
Gupta says that in terms of players, the industry is growing by three or four players every year. Older players like Diamond Comics and IBH are resorting to reprinting older issues. "It is a bad thing for the industry," says Gupta. Newer players include Holy Cow Entertainment, Corporat, Bulleye Press, Sailesh Gopalan's Brown Paperbag Comics, Bakarmax and Awkwerrd_Bhagya. Many of them have forsaken print and made the internet their prime playground.
After publishing mythological, mystery and adventure comics, Gupta's quest for creating a superhero resulted in Nagraj in 1985 - and India got an action hero centered around snakes. This success led to the creation of more characters. Over the 33 years of its presence, Raj Comics has published over 3,500 titles across characters. "Having Hindi at our core, we have a strong presence in the Hindi belt. We tried English, Tamil and Bengali but couldn't continue as we had to fulfill the Hindi market first," he says.
While the cost of creating good content has gone up, the demand has gone down. Gupta says that the industry is showing signs of recovery with slow but steady growth over the last six to seven years. "The sales numbers started dropping in 1998 and by 2010, sales were 10 per cent of what they used to be. We were on the verge of closing down. We have regained some ground and today stand at around 30-35 per cent of our previous presence," says Gupta.
The resuscitation is taking place with the gush of digital air and rising popularity of Western superheroes via movies. "Our former readers are reconnecting via our digital presence across channels like Facebook and Instagram. They are building communities. Again, the increasing popularity of Western superhero characters from Marvel and DC, fueled by Hollywood movies has led to a spike in demand for Indian superheroes. We have planned to bring in newer characters," Gupta says.
On being asked about the adaptation of the characters in other mediums, he responds, "We've been trying to make it happen and even produced TV serials in 2000 but the market hadn't matured then. It is gradually opening up now. Plans are in the pipeline for movie adaptations of several of our characters. Things are taking shape now and the outcome should be visible in 2020-21. Not just movies, these characters will also be seen in web series on OTT platforms."
Raj Comics' flow of advertising stopped in 1998. Advertisers included brands like Relaxo, Parle and other stationery brands. Gupta says, "Advertising happens on regular publishing. We are unable to publish regular editions as the process of crafting comics has slowed down. New issues are published on a project basis today. Also, getting hold of good talent is difficult. There was a time when a single illustrator could wrap up an issue of 32 pages in three days. Today, a single page takes three days. Illustrators and creators today have a lot of other exciting opportunities in industries like gaming, etc.,"
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