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A new chapter of my webcomic has started, and that means a new opening folk tale.

This chapter's story is a biggen. It took me a few weeks just to try and figure out how to chisel down the first part of what is an epic story on all levels, into the opening comic for my own story.

I thought about not doing it too, but I couldn't have it any other way in the end! So, if you read my webcomic, please head over to The Strangers and Friends website and enjoy my own retelling of Beowulf.

Have you heard of the Ramayana? It is an epic Indian fairy tale, over a thousand years old and so enchanting it has an entire holiday celebrating it (the biggest holiday in India, Diwali).

I first got to know the story through falling in love with an updated graphic version, created and illustrated by Sanjay Patel, a concept artist working at Pixar. Although I had heard about it a few years before that, and had always wanted to do a comic-version (this has already been though, of course!).

Its such a great story, and like all good folk tales, inspite of being thousands of years old, it has all the same elements, characters and themes that make up those modern stories which entertain us today!

So anyway, I've used this Indian epic as the theme for four simple black and white narrative illustrations. Each drawing shows one of my favourite parts of the story.

The evil Ravana is granted a wish by Brahma (the Creator God) to be more powerful then any Gods and Deities. When given this power, Ravana chooses to wreak havok in the world of Gods.

Prince Rama and his wife Sita are exiled into the forests. Rama's step mother is jelous of the prince, and asks her husband, King Dasharatha, to banish Rama and Sita from the Kingdom. Dasharatha, being a noble man, cannot refuse his queen, who he owed a favour as she once saved his life. He reluctantly banishes Rama and Sita, and although many protest, the equally noble Rama insists that he could not disrepect the wishes of his father and step mother, and so peacefully accepts his fate. His loyal wife and brother follow him into the forests.

Sita is kidnapped by Ravana. He is quite taken with Princes Sita, and seeing her in forest he decides to kidnap her, in the hopes of making her his wife. The remainder of the story mainly consisits of Rama and his brother's efforts to resue Sita and defaet Ravana.

Hanuman lifts an entire Mountain. Hanuman, the son of the Wind God, has the power to grow incrediably big. During the final battles between Rama and Ravana, the prince and his brother are wounded. Their only hope of being saved is by having their wounds healed by a special flower that grows on the Himilayas. Hanuman is sent by the Monkey King to retreave these plants, but when he arrives the plants are hiding themselves from him. Unable to pick the flowers individually, Hanuman finds another solution- growing as tall as the Himilayas, he simply breaks off a mountain peak and carries it back with him, so that someone else can find the flowers!

I want to make my blog a bit more then just a place to update/advertise my own work. I'd to create something thats remotely useful to readers!! 

So I've decided to highlight each Friday, the comic I've been reading in the past week. I get through ALOT of comics, normally one per week or two weeks- a good deal of them are small press too (I buy in bulk at small press conventions!).

There are so many amazing artists out there, I'd really like to use this blog to showcase their work. I'm not going to write reviews or anything, maybe a few small thoughts, but I'd like to make my blog as image-based as possible, so mostly pictures highlighting what I enjoyed the most about the comic.

So yesterday, I just finished reading Professor Munakata's British Museum Adventure. This comic is actually apart of a bigger series, but The British Museum have published this particular story, which is self contained.

The best thing about this comic is the historical and cultural focus. Its always wonderful to go to a place in real life and have your imagination stirred up by a story that has been set there. I love the British Museum and go there alot, so its great to see a story set around a place I enjoy visiting. The story includes information on fantastic historical objects and events too, I'm a bit of a geek for stuff that does this (I like to do it in my own comics).

Actually, I don't visually like very much about this comic. It just isn't to my taste! But like alot of Japanese comics, I love the focus on story and cinematic pacing, and the straightforward artwork that compliments this emphasis.

Although there's not much emotional emphasis, the artwork is very raw and to the point, and very, very clear and easy to read.

Only two images this week, just because, as I said, I dont actually like the art style very much! Still, its a fasinating and entertaining story, I really enjoyed it :)

I'm doing a triple post today, to make up for the lack of regular posting! I've simply been away these past few weeks, visiting family and having no time to update! But I uploaded 3 more pages of my webcomic, which can be read here. My adaptation of Beowulf continues, but is almost over! I'm only doing the first part.

The Beowulf story continues! Go ahead and read 3 new pages here!