COMIC
Kinnari(female for Kinnara) originates in Indian mythology. Pronounced as Kin-Nari, It literally means "slightly human". They are described in Jain and Buddhist stories as nymphs that are half human and half animal.
The comic Kinnari is based on various Indian mythologies and stories. Knowledge of these myths is not necessary to understand the comic. But if you would like to understand the undercurrents, basis of story and its characters, please do look at my foot notes. I will try my best to explain the "story behind" the story, or various interesting myths the story takes roots in.
THE STORY SO FAR:
Chapter 1 The Dream
The story begins with Neel and Manu resting in the Ivory forest, in the Pancha Muki Mountains in the early hours of the dawn. Neel has a strange dream as he struggles between sleep and wakefulness. In the dream an elephant and a girl share a tender moment when suddenly the girl vanishes, leaving behind an elephant that begins to disintegrate into light particles. A strange creature enters and proceeds to feast on the disintegrating light particles, when it realizes that it is being observed it tries to get closer.
Neel decides to wake up in a hurry from this strange vision dream only to realize he is the target of an ambush waiting to happen. The ambush is lead by the dreaded dacoit Virapal. When Virapal realizes that Neel and Manu are from village Varmapuri he becomes more interested in getting information from them regarding a royal Elephant Iravath, that is nearly 150 yrs old. (Elephants usually live as long as humans). According to an old adage , an elephant that has conquered the 5 servants of death, Illness, enemies, despair & Hunger is said to be quite a powerful animal. Even a hair from such an animal is said to grant super protection. to tbe bearer
Virapal observes Manu grasping a red pendent around her neck as she hears the power of the elephant . He then tries to attack Manu. Neel proceeds to easily tackle the Dacoit chief. Manu wonders why Neel does not use the Varmakalai and disarm the dacoit. While she is distracted, one of the hench men wallop her on the head, before Neel can react. As Manu falls down unconscious, a huge bird like creature seems to arise. The hench men drop every thing and run. The dacoit chief who is right in front is transfixed, and can only wonder what it is. Neel has a brief flash back to the first time he saw the creature and tried to touch it. As he holds Manu to heal her and help her gain consciousness, his mind is flooded with flashes of memories he does not remember or know.
While Neel is busy healing Manu, Virapal witnesses changes that the strange bird like creature brings about in the forest. He then decides that the child would make good gift to some one he calls "crippled one". Before he could do any thing however, something falls down from the sky, and knocks him off his feet and consciousness.
Neel and Manu find a strange man, a floating bearded dragon, and an unconscious Dacoit chief in the middle of what appears to be a strange boat wreck.
The chapter ends with the creature in Neel's dream observing them, and in the presence of someone he addresses as "my king"
India Unfinished Has written a touching and wonderful review of Kinnari. Do check it out!
AUTHOR
Meenakshi, the author and artist of this comic has the animal form of a snail. That means that while she can upload new pages as and when possible, (Every Thursday)She is yet to develop a rhythm for this. It also means that she lives in a shell most of the time, and will probably look all snaily and not to mention "un-mysterious" if described out of the shell. She would like to establish herself a little bit before coming out of the shell. If you can't stand the mystery try and contact her at kinnaricomic (at) gmail (dot) com and she will try and answer your questions.
A BIT MORE
This comic has been a labor of love, and has taken a while in the making. It is my first endeavor at creating something on the web from scratch. It started with learning basic Html to make the site. Upon the suggestion of a few viewers, and acquaintances I have gathered enough courage to tackle a bit more css and php. Thanks to Steve H of comic CMS, my ordeal has been an easy one!
I have learnt from a lot of web sites that have been helpful and informative and guided me with training wheels through the process of creating Kinnari. So I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the websites that I have haunted for the past few months in the hopes of learning something. First thanks to Kelly Hamilton"s how to site(it is not up any more). I would not know where to begin if it were not for her site. Then it is the Psychedelic tree. They have eased some of my burden and improved my knowledge. It is not easy being a newbie, and they seem to have an answer for all the inane questions that crept into my mind. Tom geeks. They gave me a lot of links to browse through. I learnt from a lot of other web sites. Thanks also to Kez's blog, which is full of good pointers for newbes like me. Also thanks to our local library, who lent me a never ending supply of books to help quell all my doubts.
This is how I went about making this comic.
1. The idea has been running in my head a long time, and I wrote it down in bits and pieces when ever I could.
2. The script is something I am still working on. But at least the first few chapters are done, and I am working on it after my comiking time.
3. Character creation. It is still an on going process, for the characters yet to come. And I tend to finalyse them only after I have drawn them for a bit, and though about them a lot
4. I draw rough thumbnails in a sketch pad sometimes so illegible that no one but me can decipher it.
5. I draw the different poses before hand separately till I am satisfied, and then scan it.
6. I ink it in photoshop cs and do the coloring there too.