What we are missing out

I'd like to think that somebody feels that reading homegrown comic books and graphic novels is not a frivolous pastime. Or that bringing them to life is not a waste of money. And if exploited and promoted carefully, it could spark off a reading revolution. Where's the popular culture we want to be defined by?

I distinctly remember one of our (now fading) B-town superstars being the subject of a comic book series called Supremo (penned by Gulzar, no less) in the 80s. Back then, there were Indian superheroes (in all shapes and sizes) that did more than just show the Ramayana or Mahabharata in a new light or in a new century. They even had their own mythologies. Wasn't really a fan of some of those creations, but at least it was a beginning.
If exploited and then promoted carefully, homegrown comic books could spark off a reading revolution

It's been quiet since then. There was everything that had the potential to make socially relevant reading. In the 90s, I remember leafing through a popular cartoonist's best work while in Kochi for a short while (keep forgetting the name). If the best we can come up in all this time is the tale of an up-and-coming cricketer (don't understand the craziness for the game or care to, BTW), something that ran during (and seemingly for the benefit of) the IPL, we really have a lot of catching up to do.

Also, if we can lampoon our leaders and film stars on TV, on the web and in editorial cartoons, can't we really make them the subject of our fantasies? Surely, we can't be lacking in wit if there is so much spite in whatever we see around us. If you're something of a trawler on Twitterverse (like I am, a fly on the wall), you'll notice people getting animated about their political peeves and loves (Amma, Rahul Gandhi, Tharoor, Modi (the politician), Soniaji, Manmohan, Chidambaram) when they do bring it up.

But try getting people to believe in the money-worthiness of a series of comic books featuring these leaders in good vs bad standoffs in fantastic setups (propaganda notwithstanding) and you could actually have a lot of creatively. Sometime in April last year, Devil's Due Publishing created headlines when they came out with two comic book series. One, the outrageously titled Barack The Barbarian put the current US president in a loincloth and made him the hero of a tale we are all familiar with.

Billed a political satire, it was created with an intention to take a look at the current state of politics. A reviewer noted, "It isn't afraid to point fun at Washington's sacred cows." Needless to say (but will say it anyway), don't see it happening anytime soon in India. We're happier just letting our sacred cows be. After all, they don't share our sense of humour.our sense of humour.