Cutting Season (2024) pg.37 / Croaning (2022) pg.1

Ink and white out on paper.

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.

One of the things I admire the most in Pratap's work is the way he pushes his figures right to the edge of becoming abstract but typically leaves just enough for you to register and feel what is happening to it.

This is page 1 of 4 in the story.

UPDATE 08/26/24:

Pratap's second book Cutting Season, a collection of 16 short stories just came out from Fantagraphics and Croaning is one of the stories featured.