Between Art and the Underground: From Corporate to Collaborative Comics in India

Abstract

Historically, in Indian comics culture, a corporate model of production has predominated that is predicated upon a division of labor. As Mark Rogers (2011) notes, such a mode of production requires writers, pencillers, inkers, and others to perform their step in the creative process with limited interaction with other steps or the people behind them.¹ While such an approach has helped certain companies flourish, the obvious cost has been the inability of creators to make a living from their work. Furthermore, there is little space for an active and critical community in corporate production. Accordingly, contemporary comics creators, editors, publishers, and many of their readers have recently begun to take a different approach toward creativity.