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I am not quite sure whether Steven Spielberg has read the 'Ramayana.' But it seems he'd once toyed with the idea of an animation film based on our beloved epic. In fact, is company had roped in the services of comic books maestro Neil Gaiman to write a 40-page treatment and then seemingly scrapped the idea. I chanced upon this information while going through Gaiman's personal website after having recently discovered his popular Sandman series from the 90s.
The Sandman series is quite unlike any of the comic books I'd read while growing up. They blend dreams, mythology and flawed characters - the kind of stuff that was unheard of in the era of The Phantom, Tarzan, Mandrake the Magician, Tintin, Asterix and Superman. So it would have been interesting to see how a collaboration between Gaiman and Spielberg would have shaped our 'Ramayana.' Sadly, it now seems we'll never know.
When I was growing up, comic books were not only uncomplicated but populated with heroes who were naïve. Like, The Phantom would wear a raincoat in any season and walk straight out of the jungle into a saloon where he would ask for a glass of milk! It used to make me wonder why someone would travel all the way into town for a glass of milk when the jungle is the best place for fresh cow or buffalo milk. Thankfully, The Phantom's penchant for milk was long before Maneka Gandhi equated milk with blood.
She would have also had a problem with Tarzan, who sometimes wore tiger-skin undergarments. And since that's all he wore, Tarzan used to flaunt his underwear out of
sheer necessity than The Phantom or Superman.
However, Batman was a comic book hero with great foresight. Now I know why he's a creature of the night. So that nobody would realise it's not the same Dark Knight out
on the streets every night! After all, the bat-suit has so far adorned the wardrobe of Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney and Christian Bale.
However, the future of most of my favourite comic book heroes looks bleak in the current scenario. I mean, what are the chances that Batman might have a son afflicted by night blindness and a fear of bats? Ditto Superman, whose son could suffer from vertigo and hence flying ten feet from the ground makes him dizzy! And what if Spiderman's son suffers from arachnophobia?!!
