appupen

Creator of the Halahala multiverse of stories, writer and artist Appupen has been making critical and diverse comics in India since 2005.

Appupen’s original universe of stories called Halahala has spawned cult graphic novels since 2009 like Moonward, Aspyrus, Legends of Halahala and The Snake and the Lotus. With Halahala, Appupen’s elaborate world building creates a new and relevant mythology of and for today. Halahala plays on themes of conservation, inequality, culture, technology and the wonders of the human mind.

Appupen was an artist in residence at La Maison des Auteurs, Angouleme, France in 2021. He wrote and illustrated the 2023 graphic novel Dream Machine: AI and the REAL World, with technical inputs from physicist Laurent Daudet. It has been published worldwide in English, French and German.

His latest graphic book Vaadivaasal with Perumal Murugan, released in January 2025, is out in Tamil, English, Bangla, Telugu and Marathi so far.

With new projects centred around climate change and caste dystopia, Appupen furthers his diverse range of interests and pursuits. His superhero/political satire series Rashtraman and Dystopian Times are regular on various online and print platforms like Frontline and Brainded.in, an online platform for critical art and satire that he founded.

Currently, he is working on a nature fantasy about a water spirit, a graphic novel series created for children.