The cover of a Commando comic

New Delhi, Feb. 10: As the son of a general in the Indian Army, Aditya Bakshi grew up on a steady diet of second-hand Commando war comics that lionised the plucky British Tommy’s heroic exploits against Johnny Foreigner.

Now, Bakshi, 28, is publishing the first Indian version of the cartoons in an attempt to celebrate India’s war heroes and to update the image of the world’s second-largest standing army.

Bakshi and the military top brass also hope the bi-monthly Indian War Comics will help stem a brain drain to the private sector that has left the army short of 11,200 officers.

The first issue, to go on sale in two weeks, is called My Heart Wants More! and tells the tale of Vikram Batra, a real-life army captain who died in the 1999 Kargil war.

“The point is to increase the visibility of the army and promote the ethics of patriotism, self-sacrifice, honour and bravado,” Bakshi, a navigation officer in the Merchant Navy, said.

India’s army is second only to China’s in size, with 1.1 million active troops and 1.2 million in reserve, and a military career was once considered one of the most respectable and lucrative on offer.

But the army now faces a shortfall of officers because middle-class young men are being drawn towards the burgeoning information technology, banking, retail and media sectors.

Potential recruits are also put off by the insurgencies in Kashmir and the Northeast, and by a recent spate of suicides and corruption scandals within the army.

Last month, the National Defence Academy revealed that it had filled only 190 of the 300 places on its three-year training course. The Indian Military Academy had filled just 86 of its 250 places.

Worse still, of the army’s depleted officer corps of 32,000, almost 3,000 officers had resigned or sought premature retirement since 2004, including 1,095 in the past year.

Army spokesperson Colonel Sakhuja said the military was not involved officially in the comics although it was providing information about war heroes. “Everything which helps to recruit more officers is always welcome.”

Bakshi’s comic is based closely on Commando, which was first published in 1961 and is still in print today. The Indian version will be sold online as well as in shops for Rs 50 for an issue.

The text is written by Bakshi, while the illustrations are by Pradeep Yadav, a 19-year-old student at the Delhi College of Art.