Double Talk

by Manjula Padmanabhan

102 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Manjula Padmanabhan is a playwright, novelist, journalist, comic strip artist, and children's book author.

Reviews

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Double Talk ran in the Sunday Observer in Bombay, and this book collects selected comic strips from that 1982-1986 run. This book is out of print and tricky to find, but the first 11 pages can be previewed through Google Books.

I liked this comic, and am glad Manjula Padmanabhan is writing. Suki is spunky and fun, and I like how meta the strip is and how Manjula plays around with characters' awareness of the panel borders, her signature in the bottom corner, the lettering, etc. There's not a lot of world here. The strip is frequently the characters standing in an otherwise-blank frame. I think the strip is limited by that, but at the same time it does afford Manjula opportunities to take the strip in a meta/surreal direction.

Suki reappeared in The Observer in Dehli from 1992-1997, and the book This Is Suki! collects strips from that run. From a few scans I've seen, I'd love to read that, but haven't been able to find it for sale anywhere on the planet.

Manjula Padmanabhan started Suki up again in 2015, this time through The Hindu Business Line as Suki-Yaki, and is still writing. The easiest way to read that is probably its ComicFury page.

[Idyll · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love this meta, self-referential comic book, with a sassy, self-deprecating protagonist who calls everyone out.
The comic strips appeared in Indian newspapers in the early-80s, and didn't do well because it was a bit radical by the standards of its time in India, even though the rest of the world could have lapped it up, if it was promoted well!

What I love about it is also how relatable it is even now! I see so much of myself in the main character, Suki. I can't wait to read Manjula Padmanabhan's other works.

[Abhiraj · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
Times gone by.

[Suchitra · Rating 4 out of 5]

a book of cartoons by manjula padmanaban....the main character is suki. i loved this series. she makes fun of everything be it obesity or aliens.....
the cartoons are clear and concise and the punch lines in most of them make u smile....if not laugh......
and she tells the truth as it is!! hoping to find more of her books or cartoons....