Twenty years ago, when Amit Abraham was still a boy of fourteen, he used to lock himself in his bedroom to read the latest edition of Phantom. “For some reason, my father seemed to think that comics are for kids, not grown-up teenagers,” says Amit, a wry smile on his face. Though he stands in the shoes of a 34-year-old software consultant now, Amit still reads himself to sleep with a comic book every night.
“Now it’s my wife who can’t understand my fetish for comic books,” he smiles mischievously, “But then, I never question her taste in literature when she curls up with a Mills and Boons novella, do I?”
Amit is not the only one who thinks that comic books are widely misunderstood by people — especially readers from an older generation. You would get similar reactions from any comic lover in the city.
Gokul Radhakrishnan, a Chennaiite who makes it a point to drop by Blossom Book Store on Church Street every time he comes to Bangalore, says he doesn’t mind the incredulous looks some people give him as he sifts through the pages of Batman and Superman comics at the outlet’s graphic novel section.
“I, for one, don’t think that I am pursuing a hobby that should be left for seven-year-olds,” says the BPO employee. “I think I will still be reading comics when I am 80. Anybody who thinks that comics are just for children has, quite obviously, never read one. Or, probably, never graduated beyond the cheesy comic strips that you find on the back pages of newspapers.”
And if you were to visit the comics section of any bookstore, you would realise that Gokul has a point. While it may contain many Mickey Mouses and Panchatantras for the younger crowd, quite a few of them (including a large number of DCs and Marvels) are invariably purely adult material. “You can’t dismiss comic books as kiddie reads just because the protagonists wear underwear over their tights,” says Amit.
Truly enough, if one were to check the covers of most graphic novels and some comic books, you would notice a parental advisory stamp — quite similar to the ones on a 50 Cent or Eminem audio CD. And a quick glance within would reveal a fair amount of nudity and blood-letting... enough to scandalise the mother of any 10-year-old.
“Look at the Sandman graphic novel series, for instance. There is an entire episode where Madoc, the bad one, takes advantage of a fairie woman named Calliope — sexually as well as psychologically. And the last pages of that episode has Madoc scratching his fingers to the bone on a subway wall because ofa ‘boon’ of imagination granted to him by the protagonist, Dream Of The Endless. And Dream’s sister Despair, for some reason, never ever seems to grow out of her birthday suit. Certainly not kiddie stuff,” says Amit.
Even bookstores in the city agree that today’s grown-up is as enthusiastic about comics as his younger counterpart. “We have more adults visiting the comics section of our store than children. And no, it is no longer something that is meant only for kids,” says Mayi Gowda who runs Blossom.
And if you thought only graphic novels such as Sandman and Sin City deal with adult topics, you got another thing coming. “There’s Conan the Barbarian, there’s Tarzan... or any regular Marvel or DC comic, for that matter, with the exception — probably — of Peter Porker, the Spider Ham. Then there’s Calvin and Hobbes. Even we adults, at times, are unable to grasp the philosophy that Bill Watterson spouts through his spunky, blonde-haired boy creation,” says Gokul.
Though comic books may have had a humble beginning, probably in the form of pictorial depictions of short stories for children, they have been encroaching into the domain of adult reads for quite some time now. In fact, it was when US-based comic books started becoming increasingly gory and sexually graphic in 1954 that the Comics Magazine Association of America (CMAA) decided to set up the Comics Code Authority to rein in the industry. The action spurred widespread protests from the more liberal sections of society and forced some characters, including Fritz the Cat and Wonder Wart-Hog, to go underground.
However, according to Gokul, many Indian comics are guilty of portraying gore without specifically mentioning it on the cover. “There’s Mahabali Shaka, the Indian version of Conan, who uses his sword to behead demons with a single swipe. And whenever Raaka comes down to Earth in Chacha Chaudhary comics, there is a lot of bloodshed. These comics are a hit with youngsters and, funnily, none of the parents seem to mind,” he says.
However, he maintains that while comics should not be dismissed as kiddie reads, they shouldn’t be kept beyond the reach of children either.
“I think that comics are a treasure trove of information. I remember learning about cryogeny, which is used to treat cancer, through a Justice Society of America comic book way back in my school days. And wouldn’t you agree that the Asterix series give you more gyaan on Gaulish history than any school book, despite all the alleged historical inaccuracies?” asks Aditya, another self-professed comic book fan who accompanies Gokul on his trips to Bangalore.
“Comics are not just entertainment,” he philosophises, a glazed look on his face, “They are, to a large extent, a fulfillment of our hidden fantasies. Say, when you are back home after a long day’s work, wouldn’t you like to take off that tie and starched shirt, and swing through the city like some Spiderman — fighting evil Green Goblins to rescue damsels in distress? I sure would.”
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