By Launched in June 2011 by Nofal Khan and Ramish Safa, Kachee Goliyan is Pakistan’s first mass-produced comic book. Printing thousands of copies and with over 123,000 likes on Facebook, the comic series is covering new grounds in art and entertainment.
The overarching aim of the artists is to provide characters and stories a local audience can relate to. Following lead characters JC and Sufi, Kachee Goliyan incorporates the local flavour of Pakistan with pop culture elements from all over the world.
The duo from Kerachi, conceived the idea during their long commutes to university. They would be laughing and cracking random jokes all the way. “Nofal and Ramish are naughty by nature! Their conversations during their 40-minutes long ride to the university were hilarious,” Muhammed Ansari, Business Development Head at Kachee Goliyan Comics told The Baltic Review.
They started the company with a mere capital of 150 rupees. Today, they have captured the imagination of Pakistan’s comic fans and have the modest ambitions of becoming for their country what Marvel Comics is for America. The purpose of their apolitical cartoons is to entertain the young and give them something to laugh about.
“We instantly had a great response on social media. We were popular online but not onground yet,”Muhammed Ansari told us. “Now, we have a circulation of 10,000 print copies, all with spiral binding included. The comics are free, with all incurred costs covered through advertisements and sponsors.”
Kachee Goliyan is free to create a demand for local comic books, particularly since the current market in Pakistan is anything but saturated. Currently, the team is developing a series of comic books based around the adventures of Umru Ayar, a popular character resurrected from the Arabian Nights. Umru Ayar, which is allegedly Pakistan’s first Urdu comic book is also available in English.
The creators of Kachee Goliyan, also work on a charity project for underprivileged children, called Pappu. “We want to promote education through comics,” Muhammed Ansari explained.The main character of the comic book is a nine year old boy from the slums of Landhi Town, Karachi. His father is a rickshaw driver and his mother stitches clothes for some extra money. Pappu symbolizes the life of many kids belonging to the lower working class families. It is a representation of every child who isn’t getting proper education.
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