AnimationXpress.com thought to dedicate this weekend to the Indian Comic readers and creators by bringing you a preview of the comic books being developed by varied studios.
And here’s what’s happening at Meta Desi Comics, Chariot Comics Gravity Comics and Orange Radius Arts.
Akshay Dhar, Founder of Meta Desi Comics, Shares, “Awaited 3rd volume of the ground-break
ing anthology series “Ground Zero” from Meta Desi Publishing is getting set to hit stores in just six weeks with a planned launch in mid-April. At a monster size of 60 pages of ad-free comics, Ground Zero is a collection of SIX unique stories that will grab you by the collar and fly you to whole new worlds and new ways of seeing the world you know. Exploring a range of styles and genres, each story takes you to its own extraordinary little world filled with the unexpected and the always entertaining.
From a Sci-fi re-imagining of Indian mythology (Raakshas Rising) to manga-inspired action (Super Soldiers Squad) to gut-bustingly funny and irreverent comedy (Holy Hell), Ground Zero #3 is a collection unlike anything done in the Indian market and brings all the continuing stories with these hot new characters to explosive conclusions.
With each story drawn by a different artist and each in their own genre and style, this collection is utterly unique in its approach and works overtime to bring something to suit all kinds of fans and to bring something new to the comic fans in India who crave more comics they can call their own.
The creative pool behind these stories ranges from the fan-favourite and stalwarts of the local industry like Abhijeet Kini (Angry Maushi, UBiMa) and Akshay Dhar (Retrograde, Showcase: Sheshnag) to newcomers like Sudeep Menon and Ahmed Sikander (Once Upon a Time in the North).
With two successful anthologies under their belt in less than one year and a third nearing completion, the excitement for this new release is indeed very high.”
Raveesh Mohan, Founder of Orange Radius Arts shares, “We intend 
to continue with the ‘Parshu‘ series and will be starting off with the second arc in the series. The second arc will stretch across 2 issues, the first issue of which is scheduled for a Bangalore Comic Con launch in June this year. Across the first arc we had kept the plot pacy and wanted to establish and flesh out the character basically revolving it around him.
The second arc will take the story to a more complex plane where we will introduce several key characters, flesh out ‘Parshu’ the central protagonist even more, explore his capabilities in detail while also fleshing out his weapon-the axe. The axe has a personality of it’s own, it’s more than just a weapon and we delve deeper into that bit across the second arc.
It is going to be a heady mix of some excellent storytelling, very interesting plots and sub-plots and an intriguing array of characters. The second arc brings one of the most vicious and evil characters, his set of adversaries and a weapon.
We have just started work on the second arc; the first issue will be 72 pages and will be launched exclusively at Comic Con.
Aniruddho Chakraborty, Co- Founder and Executive Editor of Chariot Comic
s, shares, “So this year, it’s the “Year of the Damned for Us”. We’ll be working towards compiling our Damned series into a graphic novel. Through the year we’ll be releasing digital single issues in July, September and finally a compiled graphic novel in December possibly at MFCC. We are currently working on penciling and inking the first segment of the GN
Legend of the Damned (working title: compiles Damned #1-6) and has 70+ pages. Single issue launch in July and September respectively and GN comes out in December – at Mumbai Comic Con
The origin story in the Graphic novel will be slightly inspired from one of my favorite Bengali folk tales growing up, Laalkamal and NeelKamal (from the famous Bengali anthology Thakurmar jhuli/Tales my Grandmother told me).You will see get to see Vampire Monks and some Lovecraftian monsters! Hoorah! And this GN will eventually lead into a shared Chariot Comics universe (Chariotverse!)
Last year a really successful “Year of the Wolf” and a “Winter of Zombies” and this year at Chariot Comics it’s the “Year of the Damned”. We bring to the table the adventures of Anga and Morphuz, sorcerer and shape shifter respectively, in a series of digital single issues and finally a compiled graphic novel which will deal with their motivations, their origins in an all out fantasy, sci-fi adventure tale which dabbles in mythology, horror and action alike. Legend of the Damned is going to be a stepping stone for us in creating a shared universe here at Chariot Comics.
Ajay Mathew, Founder of Gravity Comics shares, We are an 
upcoming Comic Book Company in India and we will launch our first Comic Book in the month of March 2014.The title of our first Comic book is Mahatma.
Mahatma is the original Character created by me and the Pencilling is done by Tarun Kumar Sahu. After Mahatama we are coming with Another Book with new Character named Avtaar which we will launch in the month of May 2014 or at Comic Con Bangalore along with one more comic book which we will reveal at the launch of Mahatma Plus one or two Graphic Novels at MFCC.
Mahatma is a character originated from the most Non-Violent Man or GOD the world ever seen. He was the part of that great Soul and followed his footsteps till he awakes in 2014. He was discovered by another Pivotal Character known as Rachit and taken to the hospital where he awake. He tried to follow the path of that great soul from whom he originated but after seeing all the devastation and bad things happening in our world he took a stand to stop all the terrorism, external and Internal. The first issue is all about his origin and his first appearance.
And currently we are in the Coloring stages of this 36 pages book.