Local comics try to draw a better image<\/p>\n
By Rita A. Widiadana<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Local comics, dogged by damning tags as vulgar
\nand unsophisticated, have their work cut out for them in winning
\nover readers.<\/p>\n
Lack of public appreciation, talented artists, professionalism
\nand innovative ideas are major obstacles, Minister of Education
\nand Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro said when opening the first
\nexhibition devoted to the works here last Friday.<\/p>\n
Closing tomorrow, the event is part of the seven-day Comic
\nWeek, organized by artists and the Indonesian Comic Society.<\/p>\n
Wardiman said the situation should be dealt with immediately.<\/p>\n
\"Indonesian comics bear a stigma as cheap and vulgar works
\nrather than valuable artworks and educative media for the
\npublic.\"<\/p>\n
Local artists, he added, would be hard pressed to promote
\ntheir products and educate the public of their worth.<\/p>\n
Veteran artist Ian Mintaraga admitted the problems.<\/p>\n
In the past, he said, comics were mainly published by
\nunderground publishers and small companies which regarded the
\nbusiness more as a home industry.<\/p>\n
\"Underground publishers set their own criteria. Absence of
\nquality control and censorship resulted in second-rate products.\"<\/p>\n
Vulgarity and profanity were cheap tricks to get readers,
\nMintaraga said. \"I myself would not allow my kids to read those
\ncomics.\"<\/p>\n
He was not alone, as many parents in the 1960s and early 1970s
\ntried to prevent their kids from viewing \"polluting\" comics.<\/p>\n
The local industry remains far removed from the
\nprofessionalism of the West and Japan, in which works are an art
\nform clumped under pop art.<\/p>\n
Director General of Culture of the Ministry of Education and
\nCulture, Edi Sedyawati, argued the government had introduced
\nmeasures to enhance the artistic quality of comics.<\/p>\n
But she said local artists had frequently turned their backs
\non cultural sensitivities in pop art and comics.<\/p>\n
\"As Indonesian people, we have our own identity. What's more,
\nour culture and traditions are very distinctive. Why should the
\nartists explore others?\"<\/p>\n
She complained that many local artists were content to ape
\nworks from overseas.<\/p>\n
\"How can we improve our comic industry if we only copy other
\npeople's works?\"<\/p>\n
Art critic Jim Supangkat agreed that most local comic artists
\nlacked innovative ideas.<\/p>\n
He said this dated back to the 1950s, when the artists were
\nheavily influenced by European and American works of the 1930s
\nfor drawing techniques, story themes and the arrangement of their
\nstoryboards.<\/p>\n
The artists opted to be faithful to the Western approaches
\nrather than modifying techniques.<\/p>\n
\"These approaches would have likely affected the arrangement
\nof the story plots through sequences of drawings. (Instead) the
\nresults were only duplications of Western comics.<\/p>\n
\"This was one of the shortcomings which hindered the
\nprogression of comics in Indonesia.\"<\/p>\n
The exhibition serves as a chronological detailing of the
\nhistory of comics in the country, starting in the 1930s with the
\ncreation of strips such as Kho Wan Gie's Put On, published by Sin
\nPo newspaper in the early years of that decade.<\/p>\n
Nasroen AS was also famous for his Mentjari Poetri Hidjaoe,
\npublished by Ratoe Timoer in 1939.<\/p>\n
In the 1950s and 1960s, dubbed the golden age of Indonesian
\ncomics, a crop of talented artists featured R.A. Kosasih, who
\ncreated many local versions of wonder women like Sri Asih, and
\nJohn Lo, S. Ardi Soma and Kwik Ing Hoo.<\/p>\n
Inspiration came from local myths and legends, Indian epics
\nlike Ramayana and Mahabharata and Western superheroes.<\/p>\n
There was a thematic shift from the 1960s to 1980s as new
\nstories dealt with teenage romances, produced by Mintaraga, Zaldy
\nand Jeffrey.<\/p>\n
A new genre emerged exploring indigenous martial arts heroes
\n-- among them Si Buta dari Goa Hantu and Si Djampang, both by
\nGanes T.H., and Panji Tengkorak by Hans -- attracted thousands of
\nreaders.<\/p>\n
Heroes in the Western tradition included Gundala Putera Petir
\nby Hasymi, Godam by Wid NS and Kapten Halilintar by Mintaraga.<\/p>\n
In the early 1980s, a deluge of foreign rivals spirited away
\nmuch of the business from the local industry. This development
\nwas compounded by rapid growth of audio-visual media.<\/p>\n
Mintaraga acknowledged that survival would be dependent on a
\nwillingness and ability to change with the times.<\/p>\n
\"It is very difficult to compete in the global comic
\nindustry. In order to survive, we have to explore original and
\nimaginative ideas from our own sources.\"<\/p>\n
Effi Fadjari Pattirajawane, director of the magazine division
\nof the Gramedia Group, said there was also an urgent need for
\ncomic artists who had both vision and strong business instincts
\nto confront the sophistication of foreign works.<\/p>\n
She said local comics had several strikes against them because
\nthey were regarded as unimaginative and unappealing by younger
\nreaders, raised on a richer diet of captivating Western and
\nJapanese works.<\/p>\n
\"Effective strategies are urgently required to bolster
\nIndonesian comics, including setting up a strong marketing
\nnetwork to ensure the comic business flourishes for domestic
\nplayers.\"<\/p>\n
Effective promotional campaigns would get the word out about
\npositive points of local works, she said, adding that local
\nartists could selectively borrow from foreign examples.<\/p>\n
\"We can learn a lot from American giant Walt Disney in
\nproducing high-quality and marketable comics. The company also
\nproduces assorted tie-in merchandise, such as T-shirts and
\naccessories taken from comic characters as part of its
\npromotional efforts.\"<\/p>\n
Effi believed the prospects for expansion of local comics were
\npromising as sales for foreign works were sizable.<\/p>\n
Gramedia prints about 40,000 copies per title of translated
\nversions of Walt Disney comics. The number is double for popular
\nJapanese comics like Dora Emon and Sailor Moon.<\/p>\n
She disproved traditional assumptions about the readership
\ndemographics.<\/p>\n
\"About 60 percent of our readers are adults. It is not true
\nthat comics are only read by children. Comics are part of our
\ncultural assets.\"<\/p>",
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