NID launches comics to celebrate everyday heroes

The animation film design department of the National Institute of Design (NID) plans to publish a new kind of comic book series, called 'Cowmixxx' to indicate their realistic content. For now, the 'Cowmixxx' comics will not be released for general circulation; they will be distributed only among NID students and other like-minded people. To be published twice a year, the first issue of Cowmixxx is expected to be ready by June this year.

The 'Comixxx' series is the brainchild of Sekhar Mukherjee, coordinator of NID's animation film design department. "Life is not so easy," he said. "That's why we should laugh more."

The usual comic books for children present a fantasy world where superheroes perform impossible deeds. "But the 'Cowmixxx' series will lie somewhere between reality and fiction, seriousness and fun," said Mukherjee. "It will narrate real life incidents and stories, including many of my own experiences, and that of my students and other people. The project is very close to my heart."

He said he wanted to give his students an opportunity to learn from the experience of producing a comic book. "The 'Cowmixxx' series will also give the students an opportunity to document the work they have done during their course," he said. "They make many illustrations for their course work but later they tend to forget about their illustrations."

Mukherjee said he saw a lot of potential in the illustrations his students drew. "Instead of putting the illustrations together as a book or film, we felt it would be best to publish them as a comic book twice a year. Hence, CowmixxX," he said.

As for the name - Cowmixxx - Mukherjee said that while it
rhymed with comics, the 'xxx' in the spelling signified serious and
realistic content.