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Kaali Origins : Mixed bag of Promising Story and childish artwork

Kaali Origins

Kaali Origins is the first issue of a new Indian Comics publisher, Mindrune. I just finished reading it and it feels like a mixed-bag. The story is written by Hasan Mithiborwala. The storyline itself is a good start, fast-paced, and most of it takes place as a retelling of the past through the narration of an “unknown” character. Maybe we will learn about this unknown character in the upcoming issues.

Kaali Origins story revolves around the Maying, a tribe which practices black magic and relies on it for everything. The Maying King is a ruthless ruler who does not like any neighboring tribes or kingdoms. The Kings wife gives birth to a son, named Kaali and what happens next is the main plot of this issue. A boon from Rishi Bhrigu to Kaali’s mother protects him from the black magics used by the Maying tribe.

Kaali’s childhood is full of incidents where people are trying to use black magic on him because he is different. He is also a witness to the ill-treatment of his mother by the the King, his father. A forced visit by his father to a war zone destroys everything Kaali’s mother was shielding him from.

One look at the cover of Kaali Origins and you know that Gaurav Shrivastav has done a beautiful job. I was under the impression that all the artwork inside would be done by him, but was greatly disappointed. The artwork is by Ujval Purabiya, and is very childish for lack of better words.

Some of the panels are good, but that’s it. I looked up his Facebook page and see that he has great potential and a good portfolio going by the work he has showcased there. I am not sure why he didn’t bring his best to these panels. The coloring is passable in this issue, However, the cover has been coloured by Prasad Patnaik and that is truly magnificent (my apologies as I had made a mistake earlier thinking that Prasad had coloured this entire issue).

The lettering and the graphic design of the book is well done by Kishan Harchandani. In case you are reading this review, and if you have read my reviews of comics from various other publishers, I have almost never rated a comic book so low before. This could have been so much better.