Four years ago, the idea for B.L.A.C.K. – first instalment in Jasoos Balram detective comic series – was born at Fenil Comics, a comic book publishing house based in Surat, Gujarat. The 32-page comic is written by Fenil Sherdiwala and edited by Bipin Sherdiwala.
News surrounding Fenil Comics publishing their two new titles – SECRET AGENT OM and B.L.A.C.K. – first came in 2012, when the company was in the midst of publishing the multi-series comics. B.L.A.C.K. is the first instalment in the Jasoos Balram detective comic series from Fenil comics. B.L.A.C.K. – B for Buddhibal, L for Lockwin, A for Allwin, C for C.P.U. and K for Krita – is a contract criminal team of five persons and when assembled together, they create massive disruption.
The protagonist of the series is Jasoos Balram, a detective superhero. “Characters like these were most popular in Indian comics industry during the period from 1960 to 1980. So we decided to develop a character in the 1980 work style of detectives but with a modern world imagination,” said Fenil Sherdiwala. There is also a character with the name of Salim who is the assistant of Jasoos Balram, and will help him solve the mysteries.
Elaborating on the storyline of the comics, Sherdiwala mentioned, “Developed countries are tensed as the Indian Nuclear Programme is now advanced. They want to stop the programme anyhow. Hence, they hire team BLACK. But the truth is not what it seems.” The story will further be revealed in the comics. He also shared his vision of launching the characters in all formats, including web series and TV series.
So what inspired Sherdiwala to choose this concept? “I have been a comic book fan since my childhood. I have always been inspired by detectives like Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie, Colonel Ranjeet and Colonel Karn.” He created the character of Jasoos Balram at the age of 16 and decided to start Fenil Comics six years ago, at the age of 30. Four years ago, the team started working on Jasoos Balram and now have more than 12 stories for the concept. “I again started working on some old characters and now they are all part of Fenil Comics.”
Targeted towards audiences of north India and middle Indian states, the Hindi language comic book is for all ages. It is printed at 4000 dpi, hence looks better than their last four releases. “This time we launched the book in two different versions with different covers. Fans can buy it from our online store with the selection of cover. The pages we used for printing are also very thick.” The cover art is by Mohit Arya and Yogesh Pugaonkar. It is for the first time in India that a book is published with two different covers.
Comic book fans are crazy about their books and preserve them too. “It is necessary that our book should have high quality papers and printing. That is why we chose this look and feel for the book,” explained Sherdiwala.
The Fenil Comics team was dependent on newspapers and online articles for their research. “Working on the mystery was the biggest challenge.” When they were satisfied with their R&D, they started working on the story. After finishing the artwork manually, they added colours in Photoshop. The calligraphy was also done digitally on Photoshop.
Rs 50,000 were invested in creating the artwork and the book is priced at Rs 150. The comic is available at all the book stands and leading book stores of India. It is also available on their website, along with books from other publications like Aayumi Productions, Speech Bubble Entertainment, The Beast Legion, Red Streaks Publication, TBS Planet, Chariot Comics, Sooraj Pocket Books and artprints by Dheeraj Verma.
