COMICS

When we were children, we loved reading comics. There was a large variety, but for me there were a few categories - the War comics, the Classics Illustrated, the Western and comics such as Archie and Popeye. Also, every week we used to get the English comics such as Desperate Dan and Beano and some others. Many parents stopped their children from reading comics as they felt it was a waste of time . Fortunately for us our parents did not.

The War comics were about the Second World War and the villains were always the Germans and the Japanese. I still remember the few words from the war comics– Achtung when the Germans are out on a patrol or Schweinhund when the German soldiers would capture the Allied prisoners. And of course, the Japanese pilots with the headbands shouting Banzai as they dived their Zero aircraft on to an American battleship in a suicide mission. The illustrations showed the Germans and the British soldiers shooting and bayoneting each other with the Japanese using their swords to kill and cut off heads. At that time there was no political correctness. I can understand why this genre of comics are no longer available.

Perhaps that was when my baser instincts were first aroused. I should not be admitting this, but even to this day, while I do not like seeing violence in real life, I like nothing better than seeing movies with the swords and spears being thrust down the throats or passing through two bodies. I just saw the tv series Spartacus for the second time in about three to four years. The War movies or the Western movies where the bullets are shown in slow motion hitting the target and the explosion of blood or the historical movies with sword fights and arrows piercing the throats are shows which I like seeing repeatedly. The special effects nowadays are amazing. Perhaps I enjoy these because I know it does not happen in so in real life. 

The Classics Illustrated were pictorial illustrations of the classics such as Tom Sawyer and the Count of Monte Cristo or H G Wells the War of the Worlds. I used to find them fascinating. As I grew older, I  read some of them but for the others, the Illustrated Comics were the earlier version of Wikipedia where when discussing a classic, you don’t come across as being totally ignorant, since you know the summary.

The Westerns or the Archie or Superman comics introduced us to Americana or the brief biography of the founding fathers of America from the likes of George Washington to Benjamin Franklin to Buffalo Bill and Davy Crockett. This was later supplemented by reading the children’s version of the books from the American Library in Rangoon and in my teens reading Zane Grey and Louis L’Amour for the Westerns. Interestingly these were all available from the bookstores and the state library in Chandigarh. 

Nowadays when I look around it appears that while the Archie comics are still around, the ones which are the most popular are the action type of comics such as Superman or Batman or as those from the Marvel list such as Spiderman, Avengers, and Iron Man which are hot properties for movies. The other category of movies which are now increasingly popular the world over are the Manga comics from Japan.

Manga comics or graphic novels originate from Japan and cover a broad range of genres from action, adventure, comedy, historical, detective, among others. They are widely read in the US, Canada and France and East Asia. Surprisingly Manga erotica in violent form is read not just by the legions of salary man on the trains in Japan, but also by the women. "Men read these kinds of comic books, so why shouldn't women as well?" asked Yayoi Watanabe, a demurely dressed woman who draws the comics. "Women seem to be starting to say, 'Hey, we lust, too,' and 'We're also thinking of porn and promiscuity. (1)). This represents the contradictions in Japan. One the one hand you have grown up women in their uniforms and white gloves, talking in little girl voices ( such as in the lifts in the stores such as Takashimiya or Mitsukoshi) and on the other hand sitting in the subway and reading violent Manga novels. 

And then there are the underground comix ,which according to Wikipedia are often socially relevant or satirical in nature. They depict content prohibited by the Comics Code Authority (apparently there is such an authority) such as explicit drug use, sexuality and violence. Very popular in the sixties and seventies but to a lesser extent now. Why bother with sex in comics when you can see the real thing on your internet.  The exception is Japan where you can have both. Japanese porn became widespread in the seventies with the emergence of the VHS video (see The Naked Director on Netflix).

While animation has been around since the late 1880’s, it was only in the 1940’s, (regarded as the Golden Age of American Animation according to Wikipedia), that cartoons took off. Like other memorabilia such as baseball cards, and first editions of books, comics are also becoming collectibles. The following three are the most expensive comics sold.

1, “Action Comics” #1, CGC 9.0 - $3,207,852

2. “Amazing Fantasy “#15, CGC 9.6 -$ 1,100,000

3. “Detective Comics “# 27 CGC 8.0 - $1,075,000 (2)

For me it is difficult to understand why any one would pay such huge amounts for them. You would argue that this an art form. But the artists were anonymous. Perhaps it’s the rarity value. If the original drawings made by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby of their original hero’s such as Thor, Iron Man and X Man were being auctioned off, I could understand, but a mass-produced copy. I am nor sure if the first editions of classics go for anywhere near these amounts. Perhaps I am just envious because I did not have a copy.  

 In the movies you had the cartoons which Walt Disney first started with Snow White and Seven Dwarfs in 1937 and popularized with Mickey Mouse and numerous other characters. Since the 1970’s movies have included both animation and real actors together. The next major push was with the use of computers. Steve Job’s Pixar pushed it to the next level and created a number of animated best sellers starting with Toy Story. Nowadays in some movies at times it is difficult to differentiate with computer generated images with real live actors, like the Spartan based movie 300 based on the comic of the same name. Interestingly enough some of the Visual Special Effects, even for the Marvel originated movies such as Thor, or the Life of Pi or others are being done in India.

With computer games, merger of animation with real life and cartoon movies and of course political correctness, how long will comics be around, expect perhaps with Manga in Japan. In the meantime, I am adding the Illustrated Classics comics to my Amazon Wish List for my grandchildren.

Column from today's Guardian newspaper

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/mar/27/marvel-cinematic-universe-films

 

(1)    '(https://www.nytimes.com/1995/11/05/weekinreview/the-world-in-japan-brutal-comics-for-women.html

(2)    (https://www.cbr.com/the-10-most-expensive-comic-books-ever-sold/)