Every new book from this publisher is cherished.
This book, therefore, makes a notable exception. The book is a disappointment in more ways than one.
The new graphics, coloring, and inking of ACK comics is more "modern". For a long-time reader, this is the same as the "New Archies" kind of comics. It is not something that speaks to the core reader of ACK. Perhaps it is liked more by children. It didn't work for me. The features are not Indian (come to think of it, they are not anything, they are just a mixture of eyes, nose, lips, etc.), everyone has one of the 2-4 skin tones. EVERYONE in the book is brown! No one is fair or dark! All the rishis wear only orange robes with full length dhotis, all the women wear a modern version of lehnga with dupatta or a sari. This was not the dressing one saw in India. Indian women wore an angavastra with a sari that was shaped like a pair of trousers. Sometimes, there was a dupatta, sometimes not. Usually, we do not find princesses wearing a dupatta. In our sculptures, the goddesses or common women do not wear a dupatta.
But the core issue with the book is not the presentation of the graphics. It is in the choice of subjects and the level of detail (or lack thereof).
When we pick up divine rivers, we expect, at the very least, Indus, Brahmaputra, Ganga, Yamuna, Saraswati, etc.
The book has an eclectic selection. It covers the stories linked to the origin of Godavari, Narmada, Tamrapani, Krishna, Sabarmati, Cauvery (spelled in the book as Kaveri), Beas and Satluj.
It completely misses the most important rivers of India.
Further, where more than one origin story is found in the Puranas, it would have been right to indicate that this is only one of the stories.
My third issue with the book is that it leaves many open questions and has unexplained, unliked episodes. The most glaring example of this is the episode of King Kalmashapada and Rishi Vashishtha (in the story of Sutlej and Beas). There are just 3 frames dedicated to this episode. There is no context, no relevance to the rest of the story, and in general, it leaves the reader wondering.
It would also have helped a LOT if the book had a simple map of all the rivers that it is covering. I tried to make such a map and then realised that there is no comparison between the rivers. Savitri is a small river that does not appear on any national river map of India.
In short, better selection of the rivers, a simple map showing which rivers are covered, better editing of the text, graphics that do not have everyone with brown skin and exactly similar clothes, etc., would have made this an engaging read.
In its present format, the book is a one-time read, but not something one would recommend to buy or keep. ACK can do better. Given its heritage, ACK should do better. A lot more research needs to go into the titles. These titles are representative of India's heritage. Simple mistakes of costume, landscape, and architecture are not ok.
Note: This review appears on the website of The Children's Post of India
