THE COMEBACK OF INDIE COMICS

WITH a burst of colours and swirling panels, the story opens on a woven mat strewn with comic books.

- DIYA MARIA GEORGE

On one page, a lone hero grips a silver staff beneath an orange sun. On another, skeletal twins face off in stark black and white. Bright titles crowd the frame: Chronicles of Junji, Hell Hole, River of Stories, Technicolour Lovers. This is where the adventure begins.

Meet Sumi Alexander Anup, founder of Red Eye Chapters, an online store dedicated to graphic storytelling. Her love for comics began in her childhood in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, where roadside stalls sold Phantom, Mandrake, Flash Gordon, Tarzan—alongside Malayalam staples like Balarama and Poompatta. "We used to get popular comics with the daily newspaper," she recalls. These comics were companions on train rides and bus journeys spun into the textures of everyday life.

During the COVID-19 lockdown, Sumi realised that many of the English comics she grew up reading were no longer in print. "There were a couple of publishers bringing them back. I bought copies for myself and really liked them. That's how I started selling." What began as nostalgia, sparked a transformation from reader to retailer.