Source: The Hindu

Puffin, an imprint of Penguin, the country’s leading English language publisher, has ventured into comic book publishing with its new offerings: comic book versions of two stories from Satyajit Ray’s famous Feluda mystery series and “Where’s Hanuman?”

“Comic book publishing is a fast-growing segment within the publishing industry. There are hardly any comic book versions of Indian characters in book stores therefore these books are unique. We are planning more comic books on Indian characters,” says Puffin’s editorial director Sudeshna Ghosh.

Now on sale, “A Bagful of Mystery” and “Beware in the Graveyard” are comic book versions of Satyajit Ray’s popular Feluda stories and are said to be full of thrills and excitement accentuated by a crisp storyline and dramatic illustrations. A well-known professional detective in popular fiction, Feluda uses his super-sharp brain and teams up with cousin Topshe and friend Lalmohan Ganguli to capture devious culprits and solve puzzling mysteries.

Priced at Rs.99 each, the Feluda comic books have text by seasoned writer Subhadra Sen Gupta and art by Tapas Guha. Slated for publication in 2010 are three more comic book versions from the Feluda series: “Murder by the Sea”, “The Killers of Kathmandu” and “Danger in Darjeeling”.

Scheduled for release later this month is “Where’s Hanuman?”, a picture activity book. It will offer the young reader the challenge of locating Hanuman and his friends from among dozens of other characters. The comic book will illustrate brilliant, memorable scenes from the Ramayana and also tickle the funny bone through humorous characters and amusing scenes.

Authored by Alister Taylor and illustrated by Christopher Woods and Ben McClintic, the book is priced at Rs.125.