‘We had Spider-Man celebrate Diwali, swing from Gateway of India’

“Comic books are like a movie with an unlimited budget; a place where the entire universe can be destroyed on one page and recreated on the next,” says Sharad Devarajan, 48.

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Now an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School, lecturing on media marketing, artificial intelligence, virtual reality and disruptive technologies, Devarajan is best-known for co-creating the Indian Spider-Man, Pavitr Prabhakar.

He brought out comics featuring Prabhakar in 2004, as part of a collaboration between Marvel and a banner he co-founded at age 20, Gotham Comics (which served as a regional publisher of Marvel and DC Comics material in India). How does he feel about the character’s first screen outing? Excerpts from an interview.

What did Stan Lee think of Pavitr Prabhakar?

Though he was not directly involved in the project to create Pavitr Prabhakar and Spider-Man: India, I remember meeting Stan Lee shortly after the first of those comics was released and being incredibly nervous. As I handed him the book and told him about the story, my heart raced. Stan carefully flipped through the pages. When he finally looked up, he had a smile that warmed the room and instantly put my fears to rest.

We talked about his characters and his belief that creators around the world could build on the foundations of those stories. As a show of graciousness, he signed a copy to show his support for the project — a treasure I keep close to me on my desk.

My company at the time, Gotham Comics, had already been working with Marvel for many years as their local Indian publishing licensee. Based on that relationship, my fellow creators Jeevan J Kang, Suresh Seetharaman and I presented the idea of doing one of the world’s first reinventions of Spider-Man While there has since been a multiverse of great Spider-Man reimagining’s done recently, in 2004 reimagining an icon such as Spider-Man was still a very rare occurrence.

Prabhakar is an Indian boy growing up in Mumbai and dealing with local problems and challenges. Just as Western audiences for years saw Spider-Man swinging form skyscrapers and celebrating Christmas, in our series Indians were able to see this iconic character swing from the Gateway of India and celebrating Diwali with his aunt Maya. Fortunately, the leaders of Marvel’s publishing and creative team at the time, Avi Arad and Dan Buckley, saw the value in exploring this, and that was a real testament to the forward-thinking nature of Marvel and their team.

At one point, you did work quite closely with Lee as well. What was that like?

In 2009, we began work on Chakra the Invincible, which we eventually launched in 2012. Working with Stan to create a superhero, was like being able to paint a picture with Picasso or write a sonnet with Shakespeare. It was quite simply one of the greatest joys of my life.

I have so many wonderful memories that I will treasure about my time with Stan. I remember a panel with Stan at the New York Comic Con, in 2008. Thousands of fans had lined up to see Stan — which was no surprise. What was a surprise was when Stan told me he was going to go out there and try and shake everyone’s hand.

I walked with him through the entire convention as he shook everyone’s hand that he could… hundreds, if not thousands of people. By the end of the walk I was exhausted, and I could only imagine how tiring it was for him, 85 years old at the time. We went to a back room and he just sat down, exhausted, but he knew how important that was for his fans and wanted them to know how much he cared for them. Within two minutes, he regained his energy and we went on stage, where he wowed and entertained the entire room. That was the amazing thing about Stan, he had an energy that was incredible.

Stan was fascinated with the legends, stories, and fables from around the world. He was particularly interested in Indian culture, which he found deeply philosophical and rich in tradition and morality.

As audiences around the world dream of being Spider-Man, Iron Man, Hulk and Thor, there’s really only one hero they should aspire to be like: a kind and generous man who spent his life creating universes and stories that will inspire generations. Stan Lee was the greatest superhero of them all.

How do you feel about Prabhakar popping up in …Across the Spider-Verse?

Well, it only took 20 years for Pavitr Prabhakar to jump from that comic to the big screen. Hopefully it won’t be another 20 before we see a live-action version. Unfortunately, neither I nor the other co-creators were involved in the new animated film so I don’t know what to expect. But wherever Pavitr’s new adventure takes him, you can bet I’ll be first in line to buy my ticket!

What’s the overarching mission, when it comes to your life in comics today?

My current business, Graphic India, is the culmination of a lifelong dream to really build characters, heroes and stories that tap into the unique creativity and culture of India, but appeal to audiences worldwide in the same way that characters such as Spider-Man, Harry Potter and Batman do.

I believe India can become one of the biggest creative exporters in the years ahead, in the same way that the West has created superheroes and Japan and South Korea have exported anime, manga, manhwa and other original styles of storytelling to the world. The next Steven Spielberg or Stan Lee is sitting somewhere in India and our responsibility as a country is to find these young talents, nurture them, and help them take their ideas to the world.

Graphic India recently announced that we are launching India’s first dedicated webtoons comics platform, ToonSutra, a home for Indian storytellers in this medium of digital comics.

We will offer young artists support, guidance and the expertise of our team, to make it easy to collaborate with other creators, develop ideas.

We’re recruiting artists writers, painters, creators, and disruptors with one defining mission – to create stories, heroes and characters that spark the imaginations of audiences across India and the world. That’s the goal of our company and the personal driving mission of my life.

Why did the world of comics appeal so much to you, growing up?

As a first-generation Indian-American growing up in the early ’80s in a town where we were the only Indian family, I felt a particular kinship with the characters Stan Lee brought to life so vividly in his work.

Often his heroes were the underdog, the outcast… the person who didn’t fit in. Yet, their uniqueness was the true source of their strength. Stan’s heroes taught me to embrace being different and to respect the differences in everyone.