ACK’s first successors were primarily Western-inspired action and adventure series, but by the 1990s Indian institutions like Diamond Comics and Raj Comics were publishing mysteries, funnies, and science-fiction works. ACK was the first major indigenous comic-book series to sell within India, and its success also heralded the development of a broader domestic comics industry. Pai revolutionized children’s entertainment as much as he did religious education.

Today, the series has sold 100 million-plus copies of more than 400 comics in upwards of 20 languages, primarily English and Hindi. While schools and shopkeepers initially hesitated to stock the issues, ACK was a household name in India by the late 1970s. The comics, titled Amar Chitra Katha (also known as ACK, or Immortal Illustrated Stories), slowly became a massive hit. He eventually teamed up with the publisher India Book House to launch an educational comic series that presented kid-friendly Indian religious and historical stories.

Concerned that young people in his country had lost touch with their cultural heritage, Pai acted. Fifty years ago, a junior executive at the Times of India named Anant Pai watched Indian children on a TV quiz show fail to answer a basic question about the Hindu epic Ramayana.

Chithra katha