Graphically haunting

A graphic novel about spooky thrills and how ghosts may not behave the way you expect them to, especially if the person looking for them is British

The lettering on the cover is suitably creepy, accentuated by a rather sad skull. Harsho — Harsho Mohan Chattoraj — has a style reminiscent of the James Bond comic strip in its use of wavy line to tell his graphically haunting tale. Harsho’s is a subversive narrative of how ghosts may not behave the way you expect them to, especially if the person looking for them is British.

Sir Alec Morgan is an investigator of paranormal occurrences around the globe. After visits to Mumbai and Hyderabad, he is about to release his latest book in Kolkata. However, before the book launch, he is determined to track down some spirits.

His guide Joga whom he insists on calling ‘Jugs’ or Buddy takes him to the red house which was the scene of gruesome atrocity where young revolutionaries were burnt to death by the British. However, Sir Alec’s paranormal detector shows no signs of supernatural activity, even though he does have a vision of a traitor being thrashed by the zamindar who originally owned the house. Sir Alec throws down a gauntlet at his book launch declaring that if he can find a ghost, he will announce to the world press that Kolkata is a city of spirits.

The result is that a cocky young man in the audience sends him to St Mary’s Cemetery, where the past comes back to haunt Sir Alec in a manner that proves to be quite horrifying.

Harsho’s story is anti-colonial and deals with one of Bengal’s favourite ghosts, Siraj Ud Dowlah who was defeated by Robert Clive at the Battle of Plassey, having been betrayed by Mir Jafar who was made Nawab by the British in return for treason. Siraj ud Dowlah’s body was never found, but Harsho puts his own twist on the story — after showing the Nawab running and having a sword thrust in the back by the British.

While flipping through the story, the readers can easily notice Hitchcockian undercurrents. Apart from Joga, the other interesting character is that of the scholar Alam whose book lined room arouses a sneaking respect in Sir Alec. Both Joga and Alam are sketched as typically recognisable characters from Kolkata’s mix of cultures.

Anjana Basu is the author of Rhythms of Darkness