Source : TNN
Deep within a by-lane on the Civil Line near Vazhakkala exists probably the only Xanadu for comic book fans in the city , Comic Collective, the city’s first comic book library , boasts of a selection of over 1,000 comic books.
Comic books, unlike novels, are hard to find and buy and almost unavailable in Kochi.
The two key people involved in putting together this large collection of comic books, Tony Davis and San Ramshankar, travelled to multiple book fairs and flea markets across the country in search of books for the library that opened in August.
“You will not find specific comic books that are popular in flea markets because nobody would want to sell them, so those we had to buy online,” said Tony , the library founder.
San, a software engineer who used to review comic books on his Facebook page, Kerala Comic Brotherhood, used to collect them to augment his personal collection.
Later he met Tony, who had been collecting comics to set up a library in the city , on Kerala Comic Brotherhood.
Currently, Comic Collective has stocked popular series from the major western comic book publishers such as Marvel, DC, Vertigo, Image and Dark Horse.
They also have a selection of Japanese comics (manga) apart from those brought out by Indian publishers, illustrators, and writers Bobby Creasman, an American who moved to Kochi for work and is now of member of Comic Collective, said: “I think it’s fantastic that there is a comic book library in Kochi. My kids had borrowed two Flash comics. I borrowed Ramayan 3392 AD, which is the story of Ramayan in a post-apocalyptic setting.”
The house, converted into a library , offers wide seating space. The walls are decorated with art works made by comic fans.
