Nagraj

Nagraj is a comic book superhero character appearing in Indian comic books published by Raj Comics created in the late 1980s by Rajkumar Gupta. Nagraj first appeared in the comics Nagraj GENL #14 which was written by Parshuram Sharma and illustrated by Pratap Mullick. Later Sanjay Ashtpure, Pratap Mullick, Chandu, Milind Misal and Vitthal Kamble alternately illustrated the character for 44 issues, ending in 1995 with Visarpi Ki Shadi. While the Nagraj character itself was created/conceived by the Raj Comics team, primarily Rajkumar Gupta and his sons, Parshuram Sharma was the main writer of the first Nagraj comic book. The debut issue, Nagraj (GENL #14, released in 1986), which converted the original concept into a powerful, word-for-word narrative and introduced the character to the world, was written by legendary writer Parshuram Sharma. His classic Nagraj story has achieved immortal status for Indian readers as a legacy.

Nagraj is believed to have been inspired by the mythological Ichchhadhari Nag (shapeshifting snakes) and historical Vishmanushya (venomous human).

Parshuram Sharma's concept and debut story for Nagraj comic book was written with such depth that it clearly reflected his intellectual, mystical, mythological and spiritual thought, showcasing his masterful writing. The quality of his character creation remains unmatched by other writers in the field. His writing for the character's initial impact and resonance are considered unparalleled in Indian comics. After some years (around 1995-1996) when Nagraj already became a successful and well established character, Anupam Sinha, a writer of another Raj Comics successful character "Super Commando Dhruv" started writing and illustrating Nagraj stories.

In the middle of the nineties, as Anupam Sinha (who was already running the mega-successful Dhruv series) took over the helms of Nagraj as well. Anupam Sinha's expansive narration could not completely fit in a single comic, so he used multi-comic stories to layer and enrich his tales. The Khajana arc by Anupam Sinha set up the backstory beautifully, and discredited Nagmani many years after the comics began. He also led to increase in frequency of Two-in-One comics, which combined Nagraj and Dhruv and started happening once in a year. Nagraj has changed a lot in his 25 years in print, both in terms of looks as well as powers and abilities. With time many new artists such as Lalit Sharma and Hemant Kumar have done illustration of Nagraj.