The town of Sivakasi, near the southern tip of India, is known as a firecracker- and matchbox-making hub. Located more than 300 miles inland from the state capital of Chennai, Sivakasi is not a particularly literary place. But printing presses are a big part of the local economy, and with their help, the town has become an unexpected comic-book capital of India. Half a century ago, a man named M. Soundrapandian completed an apprenticeship with a company that printed Chandamama, a children’s magazine that was published for 60 years in…
