Meet Bavan Singh! A NJ native military veteran turned comic book artist, animator, writer and self-proclaimed “new age philosopher”, making headway with his graphic novel series “Plight of The Sikh”.
We asked Mr.Singh a few questions pertaining to his story, as well as his motivation and inspirations for animation, drawing, and writing. Here’s what he had to say:
“Well- I’ve been drawing since before I can even remember; it’s all etched in my mind and early memories. When the OG Jurassic Park was a big deal, I remember upsetting my mom many times- drawing dinosaurs on the walls around the house. Not sure what I had against paper at that time! I was a weird kid. But creativity came natural to me.”
As for his series Plight of The Sikh- Bavan says it’s been a work in progress for many years.
“Plight is a story, among many others, that I developed when I was still in the service back around 2012-2013. A lot of it was watching western media glorify ancient Greek/Roman culture. I wanted to represent Sikh history of valor and sacrifice, as well as the Sikh ideology of a saint-soldier lifestyle, in a similar fashion. Well, thankfully I am a halfway decent artist and writer, so why not start there? Plight is basically a story of a young Sikh who struggles through the early history of Sikhism in Punjab, 18th century- trying to find his way. It’s complex and has many complex characters as well. It’s not just action. It’s drama, a little nerdy (for ancient-weapon enthusiasts), and philosophically questions the idea of what being a Sikh truly is or was meant to be.”
The Plight series will contain a total of four novels, with the first original saga of the story encompassed in two-part novels, and then two separate “prequels within the story”. Book One is set to be complete by Spring 2022. As for his other series, Bavan mentioned that he has plenty in his arsenal to present to the world- including a comic storyline involving the zodiac signs, a sci-fi based book series set in the future, and even a comedy-based screenplay! We look forward to seeing his future work.
Be sure to follow up on the official Plight of The Sikh subreddit here: www.reddit.com/r/PlightoftheSikh
If you wish to see Bavan on his comic-journey, you can follow him on IG: @Bavanimation
