''Drighangchoo'' (

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

: দ্রিঘাংচু) was an independent magazine published from

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

(earlier Calcutta),

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and it was the first print magazine in India to deal exclusively with "mature"

comics a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...

and sequential graphic art. Its name draws inspiration from a fable of the same name by

Sukumar Ray Sukumar Ray (; 30 October 1887 – 10 September 1923) was a Bengali writer and poet from British India. He is remembered mainly for his writings for children. He was the son of children's story writer Upendrakishore Ray Chowdhury and the fat ...

, which is about a troubled king's search for a mystery crow. The magazine began in 2009, when six comics enthusiasts from

Jadavpur University Jadavpur University ( abbr. JU) is a public state funded research university with its main campus located at Jadavpur, Kolkata, West Bengal, India. It was established on 25 July in 1906 as ''Bengal Technical Institute'' and was converted into ...

and an alumnus decided to start a not-for-profit print magazine on comics for Indian readers. The first issue of ''Drighangchoo'' was published in 2009. The magazine was written in

and English. Unlike the focus of "mainstream"

Indian comics Chitrakatha ''(lit: Picture Story'') or Indian comics are comics or graphic novels originating from India published in a number of Indian languages. India has a long tradition of comic readership and themes associated with extensive mythologie ...

which heavily borrows from the syndicated superhero comics of the North, the issues of ''Drighangchoo'' encouraged local artists and the use of serious story-telling through black-and-white sequential art in the traditional comics format, and the use of experimental and indigenous Indian artistic styles. The narratives in ''Drighangchoo'' mostly used

or English as interface languages, and also the wordless form. The magazine was published bi-annually from "under the (crow-infested) trees" of one of the student canteens of Jadavpur University, and had a few devoted and enthusiastic readers from the city of Kolkata, and outside. The magazine folded just after three issues in 2010.

References

External links

Drighangchoo's blog
2009 establishments in West Bengal 2010 disestablishments in India Bengali-language magazines Biannual magazines published in India Defunct magazines published in India English-language magazines published in India Independent magazines Visual arts magazines published in India Comics magazines published in India Jadavpur University Magazines about comics Magazines established in 2009 Magazines disestablished in 2010 Mass media in Kolkata Student magazines {{comics-mag-stub