Local comic strips continue their search for self-identity

Kartika Bagus C., The Jakarta Post, Surakarta

Children, particularly in the cities, are generally fond of reading the Japanese comic strip Sinchan or about American hero Superman. Sinchan is about a smart, but naughty Japanese kid.

If you happen to be a fan of local comics, you are very probably familiar with Indahnya Petualangan (The Beauty of Adventure) or Ophir: Sic Transit Gloria" produced by Bandung- based Bajing Loncat comic studio. Or, Si Pampil by Yogyakarta's Swacomsta or even some other titles of comic strips published by other groups such as Yogyakarta's Komplikasi Komik, Semarang's Sego Kucing, Surakarta's Bengkel Qomik or Malang's G-Koma.

Although many local big names in comics may not ring a bell to comic buffs, these groups have published quite a few comic strips, some of which may be comparable to Sinchan but have simple themes really appealing to Indonesians.

Take Edda and Chi'lin, produced by Bajing Loncat comic studio, for example. Dwelling on the adventure that some youngsters from the ancient Sriwijaya kingdom made to learn about their past secret, the book has graphics reflecting a high drawing skill, with computer-aided coloring.

Then there is also a comic strip for children titled Mio, published by Mizan Komik Indonesia. This comic book is about how a child named Mio and his friends solve their daily problems, a story intentionally devised to sharpen children's emotional sensitivity.

In an effort to promote Indonesian comic strips, a comic and pin-up exhibition is now under way at the Fine Art Gallery of the School of Literature, Sebelas Maret University (UNS) in Surakarta. Organized by Bengkel Komik (Comic Workshop) from April 22 to April 25, this exhibition features the best works from a number of cartoonists groups from Jakarta, Bandung, Semarang, Malang, Yogyakarta and Surakarta.

The program coordinator of the exhibition, Suryo Adhi, said that unlike Jakarta and Yogyakarta, Surakarta needed more promotion of comic strips to make them more popular with the locals. This promotion is especially apt given that Surakarta is known as one Indonesia's cultural centers.

"We are actually eying children, mainly, to open their eyes that comic books are not just Sinchan and Batman. Our children must be told that Indonesian cartoonists have also produced quite a few comic strips. The exhibition will also benefit cartoonists as it will help unify them," he noted.

The exhibition, he added, could be a common venue in which cartoonists, especially the young ones, would translate their creativity into comic books. Generally, he added, young cartoonists need more encouragement to demonstrate their comic- making skills. They must be convinced that creative ideas should be developed.

Meanwhile, a lecturer on visual communications design of UNS, Putut H. Pramana, said that Indonesia's young cartoonists had yet to find their own identity, or the uniquely Indonesian comic genre. In the past, Indonesian comic strips had their heyday, especially when Ganes Th, Jan Mintaraga and Teguh dominated the scene in 1960s.

Pramana said that Indonesian comic strips began to develop from the work of Nasroen A.S., known as Mencari Poetri Saldjoe (In search of Snow White) and published in Ratoe Timoer, a magazine, in about 1939. Afterwards, later generations of cartoonists published their works in various mass media and books.

"In the past, Ganes Th was able to find a separate local form for his martial art comic strips. Later when the television also began to air American and Japanese comic strips in film form, Indonesia's comic strips could not compete with Japanese and American comic books. It seems, therefore, that comic publishers seem to prefer publishing comic strips in the Japanese and U.S. genre," he said.

This simply means that our cartoonists have yet to find their own dignity and self-identity, he added. To illustrate his point, he took a film for youngsters, Ada Apa Dengan Cinta (What's wrong with Cinta), which he said was just a rehash of a similar film in the 1980s starring youthful a Rano Karno and Lydia Kandow.

"The difference is that the film director is capable of giving prominence to the contemporaneity of the present condition. The film is heavily peppered with the peculiar language of teenagers, a factor conducive to its unexpected acceptance by the public. Can our cartoonists do likewise and use a contemporary language of the young to make their comic books appeal to them?

The solution to this problem, Pramono said, depends on the media industry, especially how to convince the market that Indonesian comic books really sell. Besides, breakthroughs are also necessary, he added.