Ananya Saha
Media

Hanuman: The India superhero now in comics

Diamond Comics Junior readies to extend the pulp version to comic book form in eight other languages besides Hindi

After striking a chord with its well-known, original characters, Chacha Choudhary, Billo and Pinky, the Diamond Group of Publications has now added Hanuman to its portfolio.

Junior Diamond, in association with Percept Pictures Company, will release the ‘Hanuman’ comics on May 20. Besides Hindi, the comics will be published in eight different languages — English, Bengali, Marathi, Assamese, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu and Punjabi.

With the Indian animation industry growing in leaps and bounds and animation channels trying to grab kids’ attention in the summer holidays by showcasing different indigenous super heroes, the move to bring out these comics seems well-timed.

Manish Verma, director, Diamond Group of Publications, says, “‘Hanuman’ is a universal product. Bringing out the comics is just an extension of the already well-established brand.”

About the frequency of the ‘Hanuman’ comics, Verma asserts, “Right now, we will bring out the first edition. But with the movie, ‘Hanuman 2’, under way, the second edition is a surety. After that, if the brand requires it and the response is good, we will bring out more editions.”

Junior Diamond has already agreed upon a minimum guarantee and royalty arrangement with Percept Pictures Company. However, Verma refused to divulge any financial details about the deal.

The company plans to focus on integrated marketing mainly through merchandise, which is a natural extension of the movie. It boasts of having sold about Rs 5 million worth of toys related to the brand and hope to aggregate Rs 14 million by the end of the year. In addition, it is planning to tie up with an apparel giant and add about 1,000 products by the year-end.

Verma of Diamond says, “There will be a lot of direct marketing through schools and we will be doing limited editions also, whereby we will give out gifts to our readers.”

Priced at Rs 35, the monthly format comics will print about one lakh copies in Hindi, 50,000 copies in English and 25,000 copies each in the other regional languages.

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