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I've always found videos of natural disasters terrifying. Something about the wrath of nature and how miniscule we are before it gave me chills. This was until the recent Hurricane Milton hit Florida in the states. Instead of the journalistic videos of the scene, what's been trending instead are the TikTok challenges being done in fierce weather conditions. As netizens we always had an understanding of the 'Florida man' trope but the temperament of Gen Z seems more chaotic, funny and kind of wholesome.
The way this generation tackles existential dread, in an almost absurdly playful response, is the same feeling homegrown artist Shubhankar Rai captures in his colourful short form comics. His brand of comedy is very specific. It's dark but oddly light-hearted, and merges Indian identity with the language of collective angst we're well-versed in.
His work also stands out because of a palette reminiscent of pop art—bright, bold, and almost jarring in contrast to the sometimes weighty themes he explores. This stylistic choice, however, also comes from the fact that Shubhankar cannot see red and green very well. So he mostly uses colours he's extremely sure of. The content, mostly in Hindi, is just whatever he is musing about on the day. The character we see being repeated in his series is a semi-autobiographical figure, who stumbles through life much like the rest of us — puzzled, frustrated, but always armed with a cutting quip.
Not only are Shubhankar’s comics a delight for the eyes, but the layered wordplay and pun-laden dialogue make it immensely frolicsome. There's also a convergence of language, type, and iconography that creates a really intriguing and self-referential experience, for instance, when the character is being physically crushed by an empty speech balloon captioned 'you speak a lot but don't say anything' in Hindi. The themes range anywhere from dread, satire, and friendship. Sometimes, the character is even trying to rizz us up in their own geeky yet endearing way.
Through minimalistic slides, often just two or three panels, Shubhankar delivers the sort of humor that hits too close to home for anyone navigating the complexities of modern life in India. Now, I could say that the brevity of his comics is, in many ways, a metaphor for the fleeting moments of clarity we all experience while ruminating about our existence. The artist, however, credits this to laziness. "The faster I can get the point across the faster I can go back to sleep. I don't have the willpower to draw 10 panels for what I can say in 2," he explains.
It’s this self-deprecating humor that makes his work feel so relatable. His art, much like his musings, is deceptively simple, but the humor never undercuts the emotional weight behind it. It could be said that Shubhankar's comics are a commentary on the human condition through an absurdist lens, but I'd rather say that they're vibrant emotional support comics for all the weirdos out there trying to find their place in the world.
Follow Shubhankar here.
