A New Era Of Indian Manga: Qissa Comics Blends Myth, Futurism, & Sports Fiction

Manga, as a form, is rooted in centuries-old Japanese picture traditions, but what we now recognise as manga took shape through a modern language of panels, pacing, and character-driven storytelling. Its genres range from science fiction and fantasy to romance, horror, satire, and everyday life, each defined through linework and sequencing. Over the decades, manga has travelled far beyond Japan, influencing comics, animation, and illustration across the world because its narrative architecture — the way it builds worlds, follows a character’s interiority, or shifts perspective with cinematic intuition creates a powerful emotional and visual experience, and has given artists everywhere a framework to tell stories that feel immersive.

Qissa Comics emerges from exactly this moment of cultural and creative cross-pollination. Founded by Vishwesh Shetty, a former tech solopreneur who shifted from building apps to building fictional worlds, Qissa is a self-published comic book venture created with the express intention of placing Indian narratives within a global comic conversation. After years of running a SaaS business, Vishwesh turned his attention to fiction and found that comics offered the most potent way to animate the ideas and characters living in his imagination. Qissa Comics, under his sole proprietorship company Adevole, has since become a young but steadily growing startup, fulfilling over 200 orders within its first few months.

At present, Qissa publishes 7 ongoing series. Among which is 'The World Beyond', described as India’s first sci-fi manga, pushing into speculative territory by imagining a far-off future shaped by interplanetary cultures and ritualised trials. Its protagonist, Issai, is a seventeen-year-old Ayerian girl whose initiation into leadership takes the form of a dangerous ceremonial hunt. 'Six Paths' draws instead from Indian philosophical lineages, reimagining ancient schools of thought as coexisting clans, each with its own worldview, abilities, and internal conflicts. It mirrors the structure of a mythic epic while grounding itself in questions of belonging, discipline, and fate. 'PowerPlay' is sports saga that retools cricket into a high-velocity, futuristic arena, demonstrating Qissa’s willingness to stretch genres and experiment with form.

Qissa Comics is one of the first of its kind to refract Indian ideas through speculative narratives. By merging familiar cultural references with imaginative, off-centre worlds, Qissa Comics positions itself within the expanding field of global manga, signalling a growing appetite for Indian stories that operate beyond realism, entering territories of myth, futurism, philosophy, and play, all while remaining grounded in imaginative world of visual storytelling.

Follow Qissa Comics here.

If you enjoyed reading this here's more from Homegrown:

Sana Bansal Turns A Hindi Nursery Rhyme Into A Risograph Comic In 'Aloo Kachaloo'

'Resurrection Man: Quantum Karma': Two Homegrown Creators Have Revived A 1997 DC Comic

Demons, Dragons, & Discovery: Swayam Parekh's Silent Comic Is About Finding Yourself