Many of the graphic novels existing in the market today portray stories that are gory in nature with a lot of bloodshed, rape etc., quite explicitly. DNA asks a few experts if they think there should be strict censorship laws for such content.
Graphic novelist Vijayendra Mohanty of Level 10 comics believes
that it’s a wrong notion that graphic novels are meant for children.
“Most graphic novels are meant only for adults. Even if a graphic novel is dealing with some explicit content, it doesn’t mean it becomes bad. Frank Miller’s cult novel, Sin City has everything, from violence to sex. Yet is an astounding piece of art and storytelling.”
By and large most artists like to draw women beautifully in their artworks for graphic novels. Suresh Sitharaman, co founder of Liquid comics, says, “In a novel like X-Men, the portrayal of women is sexy yet nothing goes overboard. As long as the artist is not going overboard, there is nothing wrong in appreciating his creativity. Secondly, there is more explicit content in Indian movies that need to be monitored than Indian graphic novels.”
Science fiction author Samit Basu says, “The graphic-ness of a graphic novel depends on the storyline. Just like movies or theatre have all sorts of storylines, it’s the same with graphic novels. That doesn’t mean the whole medium becomes erotic or explicit.”
Karan Vir Arora of Vimanika comics believes in institutionalising a body which will censor the graphic novels for the audience. “Hell Boy has an evil tone to it but it does not disrupt your psychology.
The message of the novel remains constructive. In the UK and US there are bodies to govern such content before they are passed on to the audience. I think India is still at a very nascent stage. But in future we might need to have a censorship board for graphic novels in India too.”
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