Now, Archie on your mobile

"Carrot top" Archie Andrews, the vivacious Riverdale teenager, is busy these days brushing up his Hindi. And so are his buddies Jughead, Reggie and sweethearts Veronica and Betty. Soon, Archie Comics will be available in Indian languages on mobiles (Mobile comics or MoComics) for the first time.

The comic strip will be available in four Indian languages— Hindi, Kannada, Gujarati and Bengali— to begin with and later on will be extended to include Tamil and Marathi. Nazara Technologies is the mobile entertainment company that is introducing the comic strip in Indian languages. Says Nitesh Mittersain, CEO, Nazara: "We realised that there is a demand for such content from B- and C-class towns. The youth in these towns want popular foreign comics, like Archie, in their own language."

MoComics application is a breakaway from the conventional style of reading comics page by page—on a cellphone the user reads frame by frame using the scroll key. Its popularity has surged recently. Archie and his Riverdale sidekicks have long been a favourite among comic book and newspaper readers in India and Archie Comics Publications expects the desi makeover on mobiles to find favour with millions of its fans.

• Comic strips can be downloaded with a GPRS connection.
• Available at price points of Re 1 per day, Rs 10 per week and Rs 30 per month depending on your operator.