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Underground > Comic Books >

Pavitr Prabhakar, Your Friendly Indian Spider-Man

15:15 / 22.06.04

Marvel cooks up a scheme to do the story of Spidey as a young Indian boy in NYC -- it's apparently a Marvel UK release.

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PAVITR PRABHAKAR, YOUR FRIENDLY, INDIAN SPIDER-MAN
Press Release

Marvel Comics & Gotham Entertainment Group – Indian publishing licensee of Marvel Comics and the leading publisher of international comic magazines in South Asia – announces the launch of Spider-Man India.

Spider-Man India interweaves the local customs, culture and mystery of modern India, with an eye to making Spider-Man’s mythology more relevant to this particular audience. Readers of this series will not see the familiar Peter Parker of Queens under the classic Spider-Man mask, but rather a new hero – a young, Indian boy named Pavitr Prabhakar. As Spider-Man, Pavitr leaps around rickshaws and scooters in Indian streets, while swinging from monuments such as the Gateway of India and the Taj Mahal.

Mumbai’s (Bombay’s) first web-swinging superhero will be joined by a reinterpretation of the classic Spider-Man villain, the Green Goblin -- reinvented as a Rakshasa, an Indian mythological demon.

“We feel this is one of the most exciting and unique projects in comic history,” said Gotham Entertainment Group CEO Sharad Devarajan. “Unlike traditional translations of American comics, Spider-Man India will become the first-ever ‘transcreation,’ where we reinvent the origin of a Western property like Spider-Man so that he is an Indian boy in Mumbai and dealing with local problems and challenges.”

Marvel President, Publishing, Gui Karyo offered, “Marvel has continuously done its best to push the boundaries of traditional comic books and to look for new venues for our characters. Gotham is helping us to expand the Marvel brand with a truly global vision.”

The first four issues of the new comic series will be published and released by Gotham Entertainment Group in India, and are scheduled to coincide with the theatrical release of Spider-Man 2 in India. Marvel Comics will provide publishing details for the United States edition at a later date.

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15:19 / 22.06.04

Preview art here.

15:45 / 22.06.04

It's kind of interesting, in a few ways. And a Rakshasa Green Goblin sounds like a lot of fun.

ONLY NICE THINGS

15:53 / 22.06.04

Mumbai, not NYC, according to the release.

This is interesting in terms of acknowledging India as a market, but at the same time it sounds like it could be *awful*- that may just be the press release, but who is going to be writing this? It's stuff like "while swinging from monuments such as the Gate of India and the Taj Mahal" that suggests it's going to be exploitative tosh rather than genuinely interesting. He'll have to swing a frickin' long way to get from Mumbai to Agra...

Possibly I have been scarred by Marvel's approach to other non-American superheroes. Sabra, anyone? Batroc ze Leapair?

13:05 / 23.06.04

Possibly I have been scarred by Marvel's approach to other non-American superheroes. Sabra, anyone? Batroc ze Leapair?

i think it's going to be written and drawn by the Indian company, Gotham Comics. they're just licensing the rights from Marvel, so hopefully this won't be an awful exploitation fest.

13:11 / 23.06.04

>> “Mary Jane, or rather the Indian equivalent, Meera Jain, will still be a core character for our young hero,” Devarajan revealed.

I don't quite know how I feel about all this. I can't decide if it's interesting or just really exploitative and bizarre.

13:39 / 24.06.04

Anyone remember the 70's Japanese Spiderman, by the guy who would go on to create Crying Freeman? Great storytelling.
Is there that much to swing off in India? Wouldn't he spend an awful lot of time, um, WALKING?

Suedey! SHOT FOR MEAT!

13:42 / 24.06.04

All I know is that costume is so BAD.

13:49 / 24.06.04

All I know is that costume is so BAD.

i think you meant to say BAD-ASS! i love the costume. i want one.

ONLY NICE THINGS

14:12 / 24.06.04

Is there that much to swing off in India? Wouldn't he spend an awful lot of time, um, WALKING?

Well, if they are basing him in Mumbai, a city with a population of about 13 million - that's a bit more than half as many again as New Jersey, fact lovers - I imagine there are probably some buildings.

Suedey! SHOT FOR MEAT!

14:12 / 24.06.04

I'm physically sick by that costumes sheer awfulness. Just... no.

21:31 / 24.06.04

I think the costume looks cool... not bad ass, though. Maybe if they got rid of the pointy boots.

21:33 / 24.06.04

Looks interesting, actually. Any word if it will be sold here?

Suedey! SHOT FOR MEAT!

21:46 / 24.06.04

Look, that costume is SO bad. There's no two ways about it. I think he should have henna tattoos, or something like that. And just the trousers and a mask. It's just a regular costume but unfinished! It looks so so stupid.

I don't know what goes through these guys minds when they're designing costumes, it's like they want to cram every possible thing in there. Those patterns just don't work well that way. It looks like a half dressed Spidey to me - as opposed to an entirely different entity. And the bottom of his costume got slashed to make little FLAPS.

06:34 / 25.06.04

From one rather enlighted poster over at Newsarama:

It's like defacing a national monument.

Oh good grief.

06:37 / 25.06.04

And if you didn't think there was a precedent for this, meet The Dutch Spiderman:

The Dutch Spiderman is a normal human in peak condition. He is athletic and agile, but in no way superhuman like his American counterpart. He has developed his own take on his inspiration's web-shooters. His version fire a kind of glue distilled from canal silt, and was stored in a canister on his back, similar to a diver's airtank. Less versatile than the U.S. Spidey's webbing, it was only useful for binding opponents.