Tanmay Mehta Presents Ganesha: The Unyielding Child - Travel with me to Historical India...

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Trailers for two earlier books...

When you get a chance to learn more...do it! I often interact with authors online and get curious about their book(s). This is probably the first comic I've read since I visited the Chicago Book Fair over 20 years ago... Books were available and I picked up a couple of graphic novels... Me? I enjoy the words for my normal reading. But this book pulled me in purely by the graphics--a set of artistic pictures which are outstanding in their creation and also fully telling the story...

Her stories are about Hindu deities and mythical figures within India's past... This one shares the part of the story where Ganesha was "born..." just as man was, out of clay... I have included the book description for your information:

Ganesha: The Unyielding Child

An illustrated mythological tale by Art by Tanmay Mehta

He was born from clay and devotion. He stood firm at the gate. And he defied the gods themselves.

In this powerful retelling of one of Hindu mythology’s most iconic legends, Ganesha: The Unyielding Child brings to life the dramatic origin of Lord Ganesha — the elephant-headed god of wisdom, strength, and beginnings.

When Goddess Parvati creates a child from her own essence to guard her sanctum, no one foresees the storm to come. As the child stands boldly at the entrance, refusing even Lord Shiva himself, divine fury and maternal rage collide — and destiny is rewritten forever.

With breathtaking illustrations and emotional depth, Tanmay Mehta reimagines this epic tale of innocence, duty, and transformation. Experience the clash of cosmic forces, the pain of loss, and the birth of a god whose story still echoes through the ages.

Perfect for:

• Fans of Indian mythology and epics
• Readers who love origin stories of deities
• Comic enthusiasts of all ages
• Parents and educators introducing cultural tales to children

Discover the courage of a child who stood against the gods — and became one.

Some of you may already know that the Comic Book Genre has grown in stature and reputation... But, just in case some of you, like me, may not have been routinely exposed to the genre, I first offer what it is all about:

The comic book art form consists of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by text and dialogue in the way of text bubbles which is emblematic of the comics art form. Comic books are best known to feature superhero and supervillain stories.

This book offers all of the features as the comic style. It is in the graphics that Mehta has moved the form forward. The cover is just an example! Fortunately, there are videos which give the "flavor" but too quickly to absorb the fantastic character creations by this fantastic artist. For THIS book is a Work of Art, worthy to be displayed in any forum that shares mythological figures... even in comic form... I just checked--my last stats showed that my usual readers from India are visiting continuously. So to those from India,  though you may already be aware of Mehta, this particular book may not have reached you yet. I urge you to check out this artist! She represents your history in a truly magnificent way!

And to those who enjoy historical stories, while the narration and dialogue is a minor part of the book, you will soon find that the artwork actually tells the story! You will meet gods from India's history and can begin to appreciate how the past has been preserved through these stories, just as each country has done so since the beginning of time. Ganesha presents a "reimagined" version of the ancient tale... May I offer my appreciation and enjoyment of this version for your consideration...

This is a one-of-a-kind artistic book that should not be bypassed because of the genre. It ...is ...simply ...amazing! Without a picture to show of a typical scene, I offer the following video to talk about the god of water... Imagine if you would, a god of water being in the midst of this type of water display. In the portrait, the capture of the water is just as important as the character in this book... The scene presents to readers water at its most furious, with the water god and Ganesha in combat... the talent exhibited in the merge of water and waterman is excellent. Just as for the god of fire and more...

Highly recommended. Kudos to the creator of this world! A final note, I thoroughly enjoyed the male characters who created the entire war because Ganesha was just following his mother's orders... A bit of humor that should not be ignored... "Cause you won't want to meet his mother when she's mad!

GABixlerReviews

Dakota Banks Shares Mythology Behind Mortal Path Series!

Image via Wikipedia

The idea for the Mortal Path series originated with the looting of the National Museum of Iraq for three days in April 2003, but I didn't begin researching and writing it until years later.







Thousands of irreplaceable treasures from some of the oldest civilizations were lost in the museum looting. These losses were heartbreaking to me because of my interest in archaeology and specifically in Sumer (roughly 5,400 BCE to 1,800 BCE), during which so many inventions arose: written communication, a number system, timekeeping with hours and seconds, the first wheeled vehicles, the calendar, metallurgy, and the kiln, to mention some.

Ancient Sumer is present-day Iraq. Seeing photos of lost or smashed treasures that had survived five millennia generated ideas of other things that could have survived from that time.

Sumerians believed their gods came from outer space about 450,000 years ago. Eventually the major gods got around to creating humans as their servants when the lesser gods and demons refused to do the dreary work of maintaining a world. The gods all left Earth to return to space 12,500 years ago.

This creation myth correlates with today's search for Planet X, also known as Nibiru, the supposed home planet of those gods. This is a huge topic with many mind-boggling theories and dubious speculations. Planet X collided with Earth and created the moon; Planet X's orbit brings it close to Earth every 3,600 years; the planet will return in December 2012 and is described in the Book of Revelation as the prophecy of the sixth seal; previous close passages of Planet X caused the Great Flood in Noah's time and the sinking of Atlantis. Google Planet X and you'll see what I mean.

The primary gods of Sumeria are known as the Seven Who Decreed Fate.

Anu, the Sky god, and his wife Ninmah, the Earth goddess, were supreme.

Their son Enlil, the Air god, was next in power and influence, but he had a troubled life. Enlil had an intended bride named Ninlil, but he chose not to wait for their wedding day and raped her before marriage. Sex was continually tripping up both gods and goddesses, and many of their convoluted stories, relationships, jealousies, accomplishments, and failures came back to who was sleeping with whom. Enlil was banished to the Underworld for jumping the gun. His bride followed him into exile, probably because she was already pregnant.

Their first child, conceived of the rape, was Nanna, the Moon god, also known as Sin. Nanna and his wife fathered two more of the top gods, Utu, god of Justice, and Inanna, goddess of Love and War.

Enlil's next son was Nergal, who agreed to remain permanently in the Underworld as a tradeoff so that his father, banished there for rape, could leave. That was good for Enlil, who got to go free. His son Nergal was stuck with some less than than desireable real estate but at least he was Lord of the Underworld, ruler over Rabishu and the other demons, and obtained a prize of a wife, Queen Ereshkigal.

That accounts for six out of the Seven Who Decreed Fate.

The last one was Enki, god of the Primeval Sea and Fertility, well known for his rampant life style, even by the loose standards of the Sumerian gods. He was the twin brother to the Queen of the Underworld. Enki created humans from clay. He did this by mixing the clay with the "life essence" of the primeval sea-his semen or his DNA, depending on the interpretation of essence. There was some trial-and-error involved because there were several flawed versions of humans before Enki got it right, with the help of some constructive criticism from Anu's wife. Enki's emblem was serpents intertwined on a staff, the basis for the caduceus, the medical symbol still in use today.

Humans were created to be slaves and take over all the work of running Earth that the minor gods were tired of doing, such as plowing fields, planting, and building. It was not until many thousands of years later that the gods freed humans.

From this platform, I took a leap into fiction (or some would say, further into fiction). Suppose that a remnant of that pantheon of (alien?) gods and demons still exists in the present. They didn't all leave. Some of them are here, playing their tug-of-war of good and evil, with humans as pawns. The Mortal Path series explores that intriguing concept.

Used by Permission
From Dakota Banks