Campfire bags four awards in Comic Con Awards 2014

The awards are ‘Best Graphic Novel of the Year’, ‘Best Writer’, ‘Best Artist’ and ‘Best Colorist’. Interestingly, three of the awards, Best Graphic Novel, Writer and Artist, went to Alan Cowsill’s World War One: 1914–1918, with illustrations by Lalit Kumar Sharma.

 

Comic Con India was inaugurated in India in 2011. Apart from organising events in New Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru, the organisation also gives out awards to the most notable comics work done in India each year. This year, the awards were announced during the Bengaluru Comic Con held on 3-5 April 2015.  

 

World War One: 1914–1918 also happens to be the first in the history genre for Campfire, who has carved a niche for itself in publishing graphic novels based on classic stories and lives of heroes. The book is about World War I as seen through the eyes of the men in the trenches. It is the history of the war told by one of the soldiers, covering everything from the first seeds of war to the final day of action.

 

The book won the award beating stiff competition from other graphic novel titles, Nirmala and Normala (Penguin); Simian (HarperCollins); Rumi (Sufi Comics); and Sholay (Graphic India)

 

“I’m still a little stunned by World War One winning three awards and feel very proud,” said Cowsill. The novel holds a special significance for him as a part of it is based on the real life story of his relative Fred Cowsill, who died in 1915.

 

Lalit Kumar Sharma and Jagdish Kumar, the penciller/inker duo behind the novel’s artwork have been with Campfire for over five years and are responsible for the art of the titles like Muhammad Ali: The King of The Ring, The Prisoner of Zenda and Leonardo Da vinci: The Renaissance Man, to name a few.

 

For Kumar, working on this novel was an enriching experience. “It gave me the opportunity to explore a new style of inking. Also, learning about the soldiers’ lives was an experience in itself.” Sharma feels proud to have been a part of this project. According to him, “it was a unique experience working on a war-based novel”.

 

Artist Sachin Nagar won the award for the ‘Best Colorist’ for the Campfire novel The Kaurava Empire Vol. 2: The Vengeance of Ashwatthama. “I was excited to be working on a graphic novel that effectively spans two genres—mythology and science-fiction,” said Nagar, who has won this award three years in a row now.

 

This year also marked Campfire’s fourth consecutive ‘Best Graphic Novel of the Year’ and third consecutive ‘Best Writer’ awards.

 

World War One: 1914–1918, the 116-page book has been targeted primarily at students aged 11 – 16, who will be studying World War I in school. About the look and the feel of the book, according to Jason Quinn, creative content head at Campfire, the publishers went for a simple colour tone and inks. The soldiers and characters have an almost super-heroic look to them. The colours aren’t exactly mono-tone or flat, but they do have that effect, to give the feel of colour and mood, rather than a really detailed colour palette,” he said.