Mahabharata Epic Gets 400-Page Comic Adaptation by Carrière and Michaud

Jean-Claude Carrière and Jean-Marie Michaud have released a 440-page graphic novel adaptation of the Mahabharata, published by L'Ippocampo. Carrière, who previously adapted the ancient Indian epic into a nine-hour play directed by Peter Brook at the 1985 Festival d'Avignon and a 1989 film, spent forty years revisiting the text. Michaud spent three years illustrating Carrière's theatrical script, focusing on the core narrative of the Pandava and Kaurava clans while omitting marginal episodes. The comic aims to make the monumental work accessible without losing its spiritual essence. Michaud's art blends Eastern and Western influences, with costumes inspired by Chloé Obolenski's designs for Brook's production. The underlying theme of humanity's impact on the planet, treated as a character in the original, remains central. The Mahabharata, written in Sanskrit from the 4th century BCE, is the world's longest epic, covering religion, morality, politics, and cosmology.