Reading Notes: Hanuman Comic

Today I decided to get my first ever book from the library here and got Hanuman: The Epitome of Devotion and Courage from the comic book reserves. I would just like to let everyone know that I have no idea how to use the call numbers and am still not sure if I was following the Dewey Decimal system or Library of Congress. Anyways I looked around like a lost puppy for a while until I decided to just ask for help. Turns out had to ask for help because it was in the reserves, yay.

Anyways... onto my notes.

In the first few pages, it seems like the story escalates extremely quickly. We go from Sugreeva and Hanuman being alone to suddenly challenging Vali to a duel in like 6 panels. Ohhh and we just killed Vali in 2 panels, looks like Ravana and Sita are the main plotline. So I didn't know what a yojana was in terms of measurement but after a little research it appears that Hanuman was able to jump around 745 miles across a sea, so he must have great leg workouts.

Oooh that Hanuman is a clever monkey man, showed Surasa whos who., it seems like monkeys tricking animals or monsters is a theme Yeah I wouldn't marry Ravana either, those extra nine heads just don't look that appealing. Alright, it looks like Hanuman definitely should have gone back to Rama instead Indrajit captured him with one of his supernatural weapons. Not great. I think at some point enough oil is enough, Hanuman's tail is going to catch on fire. Okay, it's kinda weird how Hanuman was sad that the beautiful city was going to be destroyed when Rama came to fight Ravana. So instead .... Hanuman decides to burn down the city himself? Sure.

Hanuman is definitely strong and I am excited to see him fight Indrajit. Both Rama and Hanuman are formidible fighters as they took down all of Ravana's fighters easily. It looks like this might be an adaptation or graphic depiction of the Ramayana as Hanuman assisted Rama in rescuing Sita from Ravana. Even though I haven't read the Ramayana yet, it will be interesting to pair the characters from this story with those in the actual text. I liked the comic book because it let me see these characters and made it much easier to actually understand what was going on because I could recognize the same people from the images.

Book cover showing Hanuman with his tail on fire

Indian Epics: Amar Chitra Katha

Illustration by Ram Waeerkar