Munkeeman, a graphic novel was launched at Comic Con Express Mumbai,(the traveling version of Comic Con India) in October last year. And post its success, Pop Culture Publishing has now launched Munkeeman vol.2. The cover of the graphic novel was unveiled at 2nd Annual Indian Comics Convention on Feb 17′ 2012 in New Delhi.
The Multi-talented creator of this comic novel, Abhishek Sharma (Director and Writer of ‘Tere Bin Laden’) has come up with his first graphic novel. Abhishek is a graduate from National School of Drama (NSD) and made his feature film debut with the sleeper hit comedy Tere Bin Laden in 2010. He is currently working on the script of his next untitled film to be produced by Manmohan Shetty’s Walkwater Media. Munkeeman is his attempt at creating a highly entertaining graphic novel that is inspired by an urban legend called the ‘Monkey Man’ or Kaala Bandar,that was sighted in New Delhi in the year 2001.
The Comic Novels’ story is picked of an absurd creature who wreaked havoc on the rooftops and street corners of Delhi in 2001. Nobody ever got a full glimpse of him but the few unlucky who encountered him, described him as half human and half ape. The police, the media and the gossip-mongers, started to call him as Munkeeman.
As suddenly as he had appeared, one day he disappeared, never to be seen again…until now. Where was he? What was he doing for all these years? What is the story of the missing years? Munkeeman- The Graphic novel takes you through it.
Abhishek Sharma, Creator, Munkeeman says, “It’s unbelievable that the legend of Munkeeman has again come back to haunt us at precisely the same time we launched our second issue! It is a tragic coincidence as two people have reportedly lost their lives due to these rumors in Mumbai. I hope that unlike its fictitious comic version, the real creature / culprit is captured soon by the police. As for our comic book franchise, this latest episode will surely inspire further writing as being an artist it is my basic instinct to get inspired or affected by real life events.”
Abhishek also plans to make a movie on Munkeeman in near future, but his first aim is to successfully establish a comic book franchise on this extremely crazy character.
Talking to AnimationXpress.com Jatin Verma, Founder, Pop Culture Publishing shares, “In the first edition we are looking at a print run of 4000 copies and above. For Munkeeman Vol 1 we had a print run of close to 5000 copies and right now we have less than 500 left. Vol.1 is priced at INR 250 and the price of Vol.2 is still to be decided”.
“Munkeeman is back with a bang, we at PCP were blown away by the tremendous response to the first volume which is why we are currently rushing towards launching volume 2 by May 2012”, Jatin adds.
About MUNKEEMAN (Vol 1 & 2) – The Graphic Novel
In the summer of 2001, a strange creature called Munkeeman wreaked havoc in the streets and rooftops of Delhi. As suddenly as he had appeared, one day he disappeared, never to be seen again…until now. Where was he? What was he doing for all these years? What is the story of the missing years?
Dr. Dheeraj Dhalla (or DD) was the subject in a genetic experiment that went wrong. He thus became the most misunderstood superhero in all history…Munkeeman. Because he could not bear to see his beloved stepsister Sayaani fasting to remove Munkeeman from the city, DD had decided to leave Delhi once and for all. So along with his mentor and research partner Dr. Akula, he moves to Kanpur…where Dr. Akula promptly sets about work to try and find a ‘cure’ for DD, who gets busy fighting some local crime. Meanwhile the government is really concerned about the threat of Munkeeman. They decide to deploy our nation’s most top-secret weapon…half man, half machine…Captain Tamga.
Will Capt. Tamga catch Munkeeman? Will Dr. Akula find a cure? Will DD’s secret be discovered? What is Sayaani’s secret? All this and more in Munkeeman Vol. 2: The Missing Years.
