RI comic strips a stranger in their own country

RI comic strips a stranger in their own country

Kuss Indarto, Contributor, Yogyakarta

The wild boar, in a frenzy, scrambles headlong behind a bush. Its fur is stained with blood and its movements noticeably erratic. Its eyes are wide open, reflecting a mixture of fear, pain and helplessness.

A teenager nearby holds a dagger in his right hand, ready to thrust it into the boar. The boar knows he is breathing his last few breaths.

That narration is found on the cover of Asal-Asulnja Wiro Anak Rimba (The Origins of Wiro the Jungle Boy), an Indonesian comic strip written in the 1970s.

It was one of the numerous locally published comic strips from that era on show at the exhibition "Komik.Komik.Komik Indonesia" at Bentara Budaya Yogyakarta, and will run through Saturday.

Other comic strip covers on display included Put On by Sopoiku, whose real name is Kho Wang Gie, Mahabarata by RA Kosasih, Si Buta dari Gua Hantu (The Blind Man of the Haunted Cave) by Ganes Th, Dolores by Taguan Hardjo, Godam by Wid NS, Gundala by Hasmi, and Teguh Santosa's Mat Pelor.

All of them were considered the torchbearers of the Indonesian comic strip world during the 1960s and 1970s.

The exhibition also featured excerpts of comic stories taken from the original comic strips of the same period.

A new version of the popular comic strip about the Blind Hero from the Haunted Cave (Si Buta dari Gua Hantu) by Ganes Th was launched on Friday.

According to Agus Leonardus, the initiator of the exhibition, the idea of exhibiting Indonesian comic strips of the past was not just for recalling the nostalgia of comic's golden age here.

But it was also meant to remind people of the prominence of Indonesian comic strip writers, the pioneers of the Indonesian comic world.

"Even with all the technological limitations at the time, they still succeeded in creating good work. People really had respect for Indonesian comics at that time. Why can't they now?" Agus asked.

Agus, who is a noted professional photographer and collector of most of the comic strips on exhibit, also expressed concern that after the 1980s, local comic strips started to disappear and were gradually replaced by imported comic books which flooded the country.

"Indonesian comics are no longer welcome in their own country," he said.

In fact, if we look back at the past, some of the older Indonesian comic strips were an inspiration to readers of all ages.

Godam of Wid NS, for example, which tells the adventure of Godam -- a superhero akin to an Indonesian version of America's comic superhero Superman -- first published in the 1970s. Godam was one of the most popular comic strips of the era and had people anxiously waiting for each new edition.

Wid NS, who passed away in December, was indeed one of the strongest comic strip writers of the era who succeeded in making his superhero character -- even though it was the result of an adoption of a Western superhero character -- popular and was idolized in the '70s.

Through the story, the readers were taken into the superhero world of Godam, who, on his mortal side was actually a truck driver, a very ordinary figure that was very familiar to the readers' daily lives.

He was not journalist like Clark Kent, or a billionaire, like Batman mortal persona, but a truck driver! This might be the strength of the attraction of Godam.

Another popular comic strip writer of the era was Jan Mintaraga with his masterpiece comic strip Sebuah Noda Hitam (A Black Stain) about a teenagers' life, particularly the romantic side.

Jan's strength laid in the Western images he portrayed in almost every character he created. The image of an ideal girl according to Jan's view at that time was someone with a European- like nose, a slim body, small lips and big, round eyes.

Similar physical attributes were also seen in most of the Indonesian film stars of the '70s and early '80s, all of whom were of Indo-European descent like Roy Marten, Robby Sugara and Doris Calebaut.

Another exhibit is from the 1950s, with Kosasih's Mahabarata and Teguh Santosa's Sandhora comic strip series highlighting that section.

In Mahabarata, Kosasih, whom French researcher Marcel Bonneff referred to as the pioneers of the Indonesian comic world together with Ardisoma, adapted the Indian epic of the same title for his comic strip.

Also noteworthy from the exhibition is that most of them were not based in Java. Medan, North Sumatra, for example, produced a number of comic strip artists, who produced high quality comics with a relatively good standard of printing. The works of Taguan Harjo are a prime example.

It does not seem that financial, social or political limitations were a constraint for comic strip writers of the era.

The crucial question is, with all the technological support available these days, why do Indonesian comic lovers become the consumers of the Western and Japanese comics?

Is it due to decreasing nationalism among the people? Or is it just that we have become extremely detached from our own daily lives, and Indonesian culture as a result of oppression or stress that political and social upheaval have caused?