Indie Comix Fest: Musalman To The Hirsute Women & Bakarmaxxing All The Way, ICF Comes To Namma Bengaluru [EXCLUSIVE]

ODing over three steamy sambar-dunked idlis and a groggy one-hour Uber drive later, we arrived at the Rangoli Arts Metro Centre for yet another edition of Indie Comix Fest in Bengaluru 2025. The annual desi comics event is held across India in several cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Kochi, Kozhikode, and Hyderabad. This is a SUPER belated (humble apologies) post for the event held on November 16, 2025 in town.

Out of the draft now, on a brand new year, here’s hoping all the artists featured have a rocking 2026 with comic sales through the roof (amen!) and inspire a generation to carry forward the baton of creative zest.

Toh aaiye shuru karte hai without further ado with the first creature creator we bumped into. Flaunting a saffron chadda and a complimenting cape, this rebel created one of the most prosecuted superheroes in the era of the non-biological (iykyk) *drum rolls & confetti*

Musalman | Falah Faisal

Created by Falah Faisal, “Musalman” is a caped crusader dubbed “India’s first Muslim Superhero,” who is here for comic jihad. You have been forewarned.

Illustrated by Arun Prasanthen, the comic does political commentary with an edge. Introducing his soon-to-be published graphic novel, Faisal quips,

In the media, Muslims are represented in a negative light as villains, terrorists, etc. So I wanted to create a superhero with a Muslim background that gives people something to hope for, something to look up to.”

Musalman is an edgy satire that blends whatever is going on…”

He proceeds to introduce a fictional character flipping his graphic novel, called Arnab Cowsami. The caricature gave us a hearty chuckle. There are more of these gems in the Musalman comics.

A filmmaker by profession with a stint as a scribe for prominent publications, Falah Faisal moonlights as a stand-up comic with a passion for comics. Written during the lockdown, Faisal wanted to turn them into movies but created comics instead for now. You can buy his comics and finance the next production or fund a clinic for the lobotomy of bhaktas. 😉

The Hirsute Women | Vani Chutani

Hirsutism is defined as “male-pattern growth of terminal body hair in women in androgen-stimulated locations such as the face, chest, and areolae.” A five-year retrospective study from India observes that “Hirsutism can be cosmetically and socially embarrassing and influence psychological well-being negatively, especially in young girls, who are affected more often.” Vani Chutani’s inaugural comic, “The Hirsute Women,” delves into the stigmatization of the condition.

The creator quips that the book is autobiographical in nature, with the undercurrent theme of identity crisis and body shaming that comes with hirsutism. The comic covers mental health issues, relationships, anxiety, and the whole baggage.

An NID grad and faculty at Srishti, the artist explains that the comic is a visual diary of a girl, “Vani,” who is the author herself, featuring doodles and handwritten journaling of the girl.

Vani states that “The Hirsute Women” explores “When I Was Eighteen,” with the forthcoming series delving into “When I was Eleven” and “When I was Born.” She states,

“No one talks about it (hirsutism ). It takes a lot of courage to come out with something that is as personal as her own body…her own self-love for finding peace in her life.”

“It’s about listening to oneself and mindfulness,”

the author further remarks, flipping through the sold-out comic.

TW: ⚠️ Ichhadhari Tatti Ahead 💩

Bakarmax / Sumit

We caught up with the indefatigable defender of bak bak, founder of Bakarmax and founding team member of Comic Con India, cartoonist extraordinaire Sumit Kumar. He is the author of bestselling graphic novels, including Amar Bari Tomar Bari, Naxalbari, and The Itch You Can’t Scratch. Creator of Ichhadhari Tatti and adult desi animation Poojita, among other atrocities to your normie senses, Sumit brings in wit and sarcasm to grill the status quo.

Having limited time, we stuck with two generic questions for the man.

What propelled you to pick up art in general?

Sumit: Most of it has to do with my father having a transferable job. You are shifting cities every two years. So you lose all your friends. The cycle on repeat puts you in some kind of loneliness. So you start making imaginary places and imaginary friends. Even people in comedy have a similar process of initiation into their form of art. It maybe comes with forced isolation.

And you are also getting bored. Boredom is a fountain of creativity. Nowadays we are not getting bored.

Anything new you are working on, including residency program?

Sumit: Because we are a studio and a company, people by default assume we are financially successful…which is not always true. We are basically elaborate freelancers.

We want to do all those things (residency programs and such) but we are right now not there to do those things. Pray for our success cuz the day we do, we will put our money into those things.

We do have a very good internship program. It is paid. We take very little interns but once we do, we really take care of (them). That is one thing we are passionate about.

Sumit, along with other artists at ICF shared their thoughts on AI in art, which you will find in the second part of this article on ICF. Part 2 in the series will be linked [HERE] soon. Thanks for reading.

Go buy a comic or create one. Shooo!

Images: Pictures by Nickson Peter | Cover Graphics by Patrick Gawande for Mashable India