Amba - A Saga of Revenge

From the Book Blurb: 

Amba: A Saga of Revenge, from Amar Chitra Katha tells the compelling story of one who played a crucial role in the final outcome of the epic battle of Kurukshetra.

My two cents:

Amba, the eldest daughter of the King of Kasi, is all set to choose her husband from amongst the suitors who have come to try their luck in a swayamvar organised at her father’s court. But a tyrannical twist of events leaves Amba vying for Bheeshma’s blood. And as the saying goes – hell hath no fury like a woman scorned – an embittered Amba is out to seek revenge, and plans to leave no stone unturned to avenge the wrong done to her.

She knocks at all doors – requesting Princes, Kings and even Gods for help to take on Bheeshma, but no one obliges her, fearing mighty Bheeshma’s wrath.  Disgruntled, she sets out to appease Lord Shiva in the hope that her severe penance will please the almighty God to help her.  Her fierce determination bears fruit and Lord Shiva appears before her, with a long-term plan to end her woes.

So how does Lord Shiva help Amba in eventually avenging her humiliation? Who is Shikhandi and where does this interesting character figure in this revenge saga? Who brings Bheeshma Pitamaha down with his arrows? Grab your copy of this vividly illustrated comic to find out, for this fascinating tale from the ACK series definitely enlightens the readers about the many lesser known faces from the Mahabharata and the epic battle of Kurukshetra.

Like I mentioned in my post on comics of yore, this was a comic book I read after a really long time, and that too from the iconic Amar Chitra Katha series. The vivid illustrations, bright colour scheme and the crisp narrative, reading this book was like a beautiful walk down memory lane.

More about the Comic:

Publisher: Amar Chitra Katha
Genre: Comic
Pages: 30
ISBN: 978-93-5085-199-9

Of Comics in the Days of Yore

Amba: A Saga Of Revenge
Amar Chitra Katha's new offing

Read a comic after long, long, really long - and that too from the iconic Amar Chitra Katha Series. The vivid illustrations, bright colour schemes and the crisp narrative - it all took me back to my childhood days when my brother and I, both comic freaks, used to devour these books like maniacs. We were hooked, and I secretly dreamt of owning a comic book shop, where I would just hoard all the comics instead of selling them. We both read anything and everything – so long as the book had colourful drawings and nice cartoons. Fascinating tales from the Amar Chitra Katha series, Superman, Spider-Man, Batman, Mandrake, Phantom, Tintin, Archies, Nandan, Champak, Lotpot – we read them all! Though our ever favourites were the home-grown superheroes Super Commondo Dhruv and Nagaraj, and the friendly lot of Billu, Pinki, Raman, Channi Chachi and Tauji.

Then there were some other popular ones too, that did not enjoy our patronage, the likes of Chacha Bhatija, Motu Patlu, Bankelal and Doga. Their plots were quite flimsy and more often than not, stolen from their popular counterparts.

Chacha Chaudhary and Sabu
Photo Courtesy : www.chachachaudhary.com

And last but not the least, what child of the 80’s India can forget the madcap exploits of Chacha Chaudhary and Sabu! Chacha Choudhary, our desi quick-witted investigator and Sabu, his friend and companion from the planet Jupiter – what a formidable pair they made. And icing on the cake were the two lines that defined them. At every important turn of event, a well placed asterisk took us to those epic lines:

*Chacha Chaudhary ka dimaag computer se bhi tez chalta hai.

*Jab Sabu ko gussa aata hai, door kahin jwaalamukhi phat-ta hai.

Ah, I am getting all nostalgic. Let me go read about some of Sabu’s recent adventures online now. Hope you enjoyed reading about this post. Do share what comics you read as a kid and who were your favourite comic book characters!