Writer's Corner: Graphic novelist Appupen on how Bengaluru enabled him as an artist and allowed to develop his ideas
Being an artist is not an easy trade anywhere in the world, and this holds doubly true for comic authors in India. But for nearly two decades, the comic author and artist who prefers to be known as Appupen has stayed the course, his body of work placing him among the country's more prolific cartoonists.
Among his more recent works is a graphic novel of C S Chellappa's classic Tamil novel Vaadivaasal, with the adaptation co-authored alongside Tamil writer Perumal Murugan released in English, Tamil, Marathi, and Bangla in January this year.
This project was preceded by Dream Machine, a collaboration with French author Laurent Daudet that tackles the theme of the newfound prevalence of Artificial Intelligence or AI. Other works include Legends of Halahala, a comic universe created by Appupen that includes figures such as the politically satirical Rashtraman.
While Appupen is based in Bengaluru, he finds the city more of an enabler than an inspiration. Speaking to The Indian Express, he says, 'Bangalore has allowed me the space to sit by myself and make my ideas, which Bombay did not. In Bombay, I was running to pay the rent or something, but when I came to Bangalore, I got the time to pull back and form stories, draw and write them.'
Appupen's career in the field of art began when he was a student in Mumbai, making posters and murals for establishments including discos, with some early influence here being album art from the 1970s and 1980s. Early on, while he was a reader of comics, he never thought he would have the patience to create them. He recalls that later on, 'I was making storyboards for animation, and larger ideas which would be animated in my head. I worked in Bollywood also for some time as an assistant director and art director for a couple of movies.'
As he puts it, he realised that his ideas would never be made into a movie with a budget, lacking elements such as song-and-dance numbers or action sequences. The storyboards could only come to life in the form of comics.
On the topic of influence, he says, 'There are comic artists you like all the time, but influences can come from anywhere – it could be music or a book you read. I am more interested in the story or the theme rather than getting carried away with the style of art. That is just the icing on top… What is it that we have to say? Unless we have something solid to say, don't get into this business. Say something that has not been said like that before. What we are seeing is new ways of telling stories.'
With AI being in the forefront of conversations in many fields today, Appupen notes that he had thought of it as a marketable topic for Dream Machine, adding, 'Nobody knew what it was at the time – and we still don't. People are scared or enamoured by it, but they do not really know – it is just this marketing that has been put out by the AI companies. Laurent Daudet had some very interesting perspectives on it.' He added, 'The space of AI is about monopoly – who is getting control. By playing with AI you think it is coming for free, but it has come to the point that it is being given for free because otherwise its learning is capped.'
But even amid all this, comics are still not among the foremost media of consumption. Appupen says, 'I don't think I will ever stop telling people that it is not just for kids. Even educated people are thinking that it is just for children, they are not exposed to it.'
Appupen also has some practical advice for those looking to start out in the field of comics. He says, 'Be realistic. Have a job or something on the side because it is not going to pay you if you do what you like. You might have to stay there a long time before you prove yourself.'
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