Yali Comics Pdf Download
Quinton Hebenstreit
Yali Dream Creations LLC, known as YDC, is an Indian comic books publisher, focused on creating original stories using comics and graphic novels. YDC was founded in 2012 by Asvin Srivatsangam, and published its first graphic novel in 2013, written by Shamik Dasgupta.[citation needed]
My early childhood was much enriched by cartoons, later by Indian mythological stories. While years of corporate life suspended this possibility, he kept weaving stories until one day he decided to start his own comic book company. I had always liked story-telling and exploiting visual medium such as graphic novels fascinated him even further.
I am based in San Jose, California and work as a UI/UX designer in the tech industry. However, I always wanted to do something with comics and storytelling. I began by creating two graphic novels, The Dynast and Neelakshi: The Quest for Amrit. The biggest pain point for me was to find a publisher. That is where it dawned on me to start a publishing house. It was Yali Dream Creations, which was started by me in August 2012. Our first graphic novel was The Caravan, which was the brainchild of writer, Shamik Dasgupta. This was released in June 2012 at Bangalore Comic-Con. Since then, we have published prequels for The Caravan, Devi Chaudhurani, Rakshak Origin series and then The Village. It has been a journey of over seven years now.
Yali Dream Creations is a comic company focused on creating original stories to engage global audiences using comics and graphic novels. It brings original and imaginative stories with an admixture of horror and fantasy; mind-bending sci-fi and mythology. We nurture and enlighten the next generation to leap onto the comic book scenario through our gripping stories and eye-popping art-work. Our team, from the very creative artists to the exceptionally talented writers, have the same agenda: unfolding great stories.
Having spent days, weeks, months creating a comic book series of 350 plus pages in four issues, and then talking to the stakeholders and collaborators for so many days, this is a truly fulfilling moment for me. Initially, my writer, Shamik Dasgupta, had titled this series Dansh. Though it was related to the story, the name did not sound very appealing. We brainstormed for several names after that. I came up with the name Rakshak, which is pan-Indian. After much debate, we felt it was the aptest and the most appealing name we could come up for this vigilante story. Thus it is Rakshak.
One of our other graphic novel properties, The Village, has been optioned to a global streaming platform. So-and-so, a person who has worked with the legendary director Mani Ratnam, is going to direct the project. It is going to be made in Tamil, and the production will begin in August 2020.
We are also looking to license our properties with gaming companies, since there is a huge market for mobile gaming. Also, we do not want to limit ourselves and stay a mere comic book company. To empower ourselves, we have started a production house that would facilitate us in the conversion of our comics to screen adaptation.
Yali Dream Creations is a comic company focused on creating original stories to engage global audiences using comics and graphic novels. Yali Dream Creations brings original and imaginative stories with an admixture of horror and fantasy; mind-bending sci-fi and mythology. We nurture and enlighten the next generation to leap onto the comic book scenario through our gripping stories and eye-popping art-work. Our team, from the very creative artists to the exceptionally talented writers, have the same agenda: unfolding great stories.
A bus carrying wedding party disappears on an Indian backroad near an abandoned village. Almost two decades later, a young man enters a bar in the village of Navamalai seeking help. His car broke down on that same back road, and he left his wife and daughter in the car to seek a mechanic in Navamalai. He receives it from the village patriarch, an older blacksmith, and the bartender. Little does the young man know that he and his family have been caught in a decades long tribal feud involving deception, corruption, and murder. He and his family may not live to see the morning.
To give some background on this one, The Village comes from a relatively small publisher called Yali Dream Creations. They are an Indian publisher attempting to help the nascent Indian comic book scene grow.
The Village is a horror comic at its core, the above-mentioned plot primarily working as a motivation for the tribal conflict between the upper caste Thevar family and the untouchable Koda tribe to come to a head.
Writer Shamik Dasgupta plays with western horror structure to set up a Stephen King-esque tale that uses circumstance and history to build up to a spin on the Hills Have Eyes that will haunt your frigging dreams.
The main thrust of the graphic novel is a slow boil leading from the village of Navalamai to the abandoned village of Kattiyal. The young man, a doctor named Gautham, recruits the village head, Shakthi Thevar, the blacksmith, Rajah, and the bartender, Peter for this journey. On the way there, Shakthi explains the history between his family and the Koda. This brings context to what will happen later on in the comic.
This is also where the comic falters. While the history is interesting, the narration is long and winding. Plus, a lot happens in the flashback sequences, and the length and content diffuse the tension of the story in the present.
It's also worth mentioning that this first part of the comic, flashbacks included, don't have many bloody scenes. This is smart, as it allows for the comic to hold its cards back for what goes down at Kattiyal.
The Kattiyal sequence is where the comic really comes to life. It delivers a blood-drenched mixture of gritty hardcore violence and gut-wrenching body horror. I don't want to spoil any of what the comic has in store, but I will say that it presents imagery which I will remember for a long time to come.
The story of the Thevars and the Koda is a tale of slavery and exploitation. The Thevars use, abuse, and ruin the Koda. They rape their women, blame the for the fallout, and then leave the with land soon to be diseased and annihilated by a chemical plant. During this, the narrative falls into the trap of patronization, often describing the Koda as simple, plain, and innocent. While the comic is ostensibly on the side of the Koda, this treatment paints them as almost childlike and still dehumanizes them to a point.
Despite this, the comic kept me glued with the creativity of its horror and how compelling its characters are. Shakthi, Rajah, and Peter are great characters. Gautham pales a little in comparison, but even he has enough personality and depth to shame many a Big Two comic.
Here are a couple of other oddities worth mentioning. The dialogue bubbles are square. This isn't bad. In fact, it's better shaped to the panel. I only mention it because we're all used to round bubbles. Also, the comic is technically set in our future, but it never capitalizes on that angle. Again, it doesn't take anything away from the comic. It's just odd.
The art to this comic is incredible. Artist Gaurav Shrivistav goes for a more realistic styling, and it does wonder for the comic once things go nuts in the village of Kattiyal. Many of the angles on characters are quite fantastic too and make good use of the emotions the panels are intended to convey. Also, the design of the antagonists is horrifically beautiful. Prasad Patnaik's color work is wonderful too. It plays with shades and shadowing to make for truly atmospheric panels.
The Village may very well be among my favorite horror comics now. It has excellent build-up, an astonishing payoff, great characters, and its intended message seems to be very positive. I highly recommend this one. Give it a read.
You have done very different genre stories like Caravan is Vampire Revenge saga, Ramayana 3392 is mythology, Item Dhamaka is completely different. What is your thought process to develop any idea and story?
There is no conscious thought process. It comes across naturally. Basically it strikes with some cool visual that I want to see on the page and then I spin a story around it. Now spinning the story is the tricky part. Few things should be kept in mind, however weird/ fantastical/ impossible your plot or characters might be there is a fundamental logic that works behind the development of the story. The logic might belong to the world you are depicting but it should apply nevertheless, and that logic drives the story forward. Rest is adding plot points, twists and turns and the finale.
How Asvin pitch you for Yali Dream Creations, and what makes you agree to work with Yali Dream Creations?
It happened when I was working with Rovolt entertainment on their sci-fi magnum opus The Legends of Aveon 9 (Which though being completed is still unpublished till date save two books). I always wanted to do something Bollywoody, something which smells of Desi ghee and tadka, perhaps mixed with a bit of blood and flesh. I had created a story way back in 2008 and had submitted it to a major comic publisher, but it got rejected. The reason was never told to me. I took my chance and pitched it to Asvin, who had so far made a couple of fantasy comics/graphic novels like Neelakshi, Dynast and Scions of the Cursed King. Horror was uncharted territory for him. I told him this is a story on which a movie can be made if the pitch is right and the right creative minds pick it up. Asvin had that faith in me and we created The Caravan, which gave rise to the cheesecake comics in India. Now a few other guys are trying it as well, problem is, there are not too many artists in our country who can pull off drawing sexy females. But we gave this book our all. The artist Bikash Satpathy was a newcomer and he really worked hard to make The Caravan kick ass. Thankfully the book came out quite close to as I visualized.