Croaning (2022) pg.2

With only one book out, 2021's short story collection Dear Mother & Other Stories put out by Strangers Fanzine, Indian cartoonist Bhanu Pratap has already made a name for himself as one of the most original, intelligent and challenging voices working in comics. Recently featured in NOW The New Comics Anthology #12 and cover artist for The Comics Journal Yearbook: Best of 2022, Pratap now working on his next book.

Pratap mostly works digitally but recently created a short story, for a soon to be released anthology comic inspired by the work of David Cronenberg, using good old pen and marker on paper. As far as I know this is the only published work Pratap has done that was not created digitally. Although it seems he has replaced the hand lettering on this page with a digital font in the printed version.

The way Pratap can go from a highly rendered grotesque drawing in one panel to a more sparse drawing that uses very cartoony imagery in the next all while playing off negative space or architecture feels extremely fresh and unique in comics right now. Might be crazy but the cartoonists I feel work in a similar space as Pratap are Margot Ferrick and Max Huffman.

This is page 2 of 4 in the story.


Ink on paper.