French-Iranian author Marjane Satrapi, who died too young, will forever be celebrated for her iconic autobiographical graphic novel, Persepolis. Not only because it serves as an intimate record of a young girl’s life in the Islamic Republic of Iran, but also because of the medium through which it communicates. Graphic novels are one of the fastest growing categories of literature in global publishing markets. And they appear to be digital proof – since 2019, graphic novels sales in US have doubled to 35mn books a year.
There’s history to this. Graphic novels evolved in the West from newspaper comics. By the middle of previous century, the comic scene exploded in US, especially with the superhero genre. But then the puritans stepped in, questioning the literary value of the medium, seen to be either childish or deviant. Graphic novels went underground, re-emerged grittier, like Art Spiegelman’s Holocaust-themed Maus. The French got skin in the game too, a la Valerian. Then the flash: by early 2000s, Japanese manga publishers began translating and exporting works in English.
As the two streams met, the rich illustrations and deep storylines had younger readers hooked. The themes covered everything from dealing with divorce of parents (Mend) to bullying (Silent Voice) to camaraderie (Naruto). The numbers speak: The Indian manga market is expected to grow from $615mn in 2025 to $3.5bn by 2034. So, local publishers are jumping in, collabs & crossovers are mushrooming (like India Calling Me Now). And perhaps, that could be the answer to tackling the reading crisis among youngsters.
Read more:
India Manga Market Size, Share, Trends and Forecast
Disclaimer
Views expressed above are the author’s own.
