Tragically Comic!

Before I start with the article and then you decide to go through it lightly or peruse it, I would plainly and very straightforwardly like to state that it is not specifically related to or concerned with any facet of any mythology be it Indian, Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Nordic (Norse) or for that matter any other. It is neither about any comic book or series in general nor it is about manga and/or anime.

It is about picture story books in general. It is about superheroes and superheroines, our mighty comic book characters and the brains that conceived them. It is about an idea among many on how to expose young minds to wonderful treasure troves of knowledge called books. It is about this mix of ideas. And it somehow gives vent to some unsettling 'normal' things in Indian households.

Many superheroes have dark pasts. Dreary haunting pasts littered with shattered self-confidences, broken hearts, guilt-edged pains and the efforts made coping with loss, especially the loss of loved ones. I get inspired by reading about their bravery and courage when they defy all odds to rise up from the pits of failure and dejection to face their inner demons, exorcise them maybe and come out victorious even if the victory is not at all pleasant. In some cases, personal loss paves the way to win in the end. It is, one may say, one of the most painful yet one of the most effective ways. Sometimes in their own loss and defamation lie triumph and a way to make their fictional worlds a better place.

But superheroes are not real.

They and their heroic feats exist in our collective consciousness through comics, graphic novels, television shows, animated films, series and live-action films. The collective imagination of the masses gets a big boost of fandom when these men and women with superhuman abilities start their crusades against injustice and crime. Yes, they are a popular lot. And have dedicated fan bases across the whole wide world of ours.

But that still does not make them real.

Superheroes and heroines do not dwell in the real world. They do not exist in real life. Moments when such truth hits home, I get a little uncomfortable, and then even sceptical. When the fact that the person whose super-powers, resilience and indubitable courage excited and inspired me all these years is only fictional hits home, I get a slight shock. Would superheroes have carried on in the face of huge setbacks and debilitating failures had they happened to be real? I have my doubts.

I get sad at the thought. Few minutes elapse. Now I am crestfallen!

Truth be told, I feel a bit let down. Kind of betrayed. Cheated, even. Betrayed by this real enough fact that I had been placing a lot of misplaced trust in them since childhood. The fortunate hours I spent poring over the glossy pages of a comic book or watching an animated series, fortunate enough because of its ability to administer highly potent doses of escapism and entertainment, seem not that exciting anymore. Were they worth nothing? Did I waste my time in pursuing something which could never be real enough to be appreciated?

I would absolutely have loved and admired a real Batman or Spiderman more. But it is not possible in the real world.

Then my thoughts drift towards the minds that had created these fictional heroes and their engrossing stories. Stories that were magical, innovative and awe-inspiring; stories that could lift up the spirits of a child, a teenager, a youth, perhaps even an old man; stories with a deep-rooted positivity, full with simple yet great things, things that this world getting torn apart by violence and strife needed very badly. These stories echoed the words of Sir Winston Churchill, the famous statesman, former British Prime Minister during the Second World War, orator and writer, who said, “All great things are simple, and many can be expressed in single words: freedom, justice, honour, duty, mercy, hope.” Not many literary works could do that.

I have overlooked the possibility that the person, in the process of crafting the world’s beloved superheroes, was probably working very hard to overcome his/her own fears and insecurities in life. It might not have been the only reason to create the characters but it could have been one of many. And the satisfaction the long hours of work provided might have helped somehow in mentally strengthening the creator and the team that worked alongside him/her. Every written and illustrated little story came with its little personal victories for the creators and the involved artists.

A mind that gave the gifts of hope, courage under pressure and entertainment to billions of readers in the form of these fictional men and women was the mind that worked passionately to create and bring the initial sketches of art and story to life. I can only ‘marvel’ at the efficacy of these brilliant minds. They worked on their imaginations that churned out an ensemble of characters, not just the archetypical heroes, villains and anti-heroes but those with grey shades too, and in the process, made the real world a more colourful, richer and interesting place to live in, not to just exist in as a member of the vegetating crowd. These minds have enriched human society in their own way and their contribution is just as important and pertinent as that of any professional, if not more. So kudos and big thanks to comic book legends like Bob Kane, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Jerry Siegel, Joe Schuster and more of their ilk.

Then there are people who say that comic books are for kids or only to pass the time. They flash a smile that curls up their lips in an expression of mockery and derision every time the topic comes up. If they think like this about comic and picture books then it can be fairly understood that they will be having no regards for the writers, pencillers, letterers, inkers, colourists and other illustrators and the number of hours painstakingly devoted into preparing the next issue.

Picture storybooks of which comic books are a part are a great way to get children interested in books at an early age. Their interest in a story book illustrated with colourful pictures leads them to read a book without pictures, consisting of rows upon rows of sentences at a later stage. Then when they grow up, their transition to a heavier literature type becomes easier than the ones who read very few picture story books in childhood.

Many Indian parents confuse reading with studying which is a big misconception. They would like their child to excel in textbook-based rote learning, be a maths and science wizard, top his/her class, and later get admission into a premier institute of higher education and that’s the end. End of achievement. I am deviating from the topic but somehow I feel that reading is very misunderstood in some of the Indian families. Parents do not comprehend the fact that if the kids do not inculcate a habit of reading, they cannot converse properly, cannot express themselves clearly or hold meaningful conversations, will have difficulty articulating ideas into words and are more likely to view their studies as a laborious chore, something to be done away with without interest and are more prone to use a lot of foul or abusive language in their day to day general talks. This is just a personal observation. Now I need not expound upon the benefits to be accrued from reading. What I am trying to emphasise upon is that a child will find a regular book quite boring whereas an illustrated book like a comic can fuel up the interest and subsequently the imagination of the child. And this could surely lead them to a more learning-based and enjoyable life where books are not the tools designed just to score highly in examinations or to land up a job and seen as boring things of life.

Indian parents constantly pressurise their wards to excel from a very early age and start having unrealistic expectations from them. They want their kids to accomplish a plethora of things from childhood only. They want them to score high in school and ace up every subject so bad that the interests of the child are forgotten in the mad rush for better grades. And it doesn’t stop there. When the child comes home after school, the private tuition classes are also to be attended. Add to that the homework and the assignments. How much time does that leave for the child to indulge in anything else? In short, parents want their kids to become super-kids! And I am not joking here. Reasons behind this are many- constantly rising population in an already crowded country, a dearth of quality education providing institutes, unbelievably high cut-off marks criteria for admission to some premier institutes due to a very large number of applicants, cut-throat competition in academics, sports and almost every other sphere in life, lack of patience on part of both parents and teachers, erosion of values in society and many more. Parents cannot be blamed entirely too. They have to handle and manage a lot and their stress levels are very high. They want the best for their child, but somehow ‘the best for their child’ becomes ‘the best that they get to decide for their child’ and then in a lot of cases they force their own unfulfilled dreams and ambitions on their children. Children get lost fulfilling their parents’ expectations of them, or even if they fulfill them, lose their sense of identity, their happiness and mental peace, their sense of purpose, things that actually once made them want to truly ‘live’ their lives. They start chasing dreams that are not their own but dreamed for them by their mum and dad. They get stuck in jobs that they do not want to do, yet plod on because of the money. And worse, parents then play the marriage card, asking them to get married since they are in a job and of a marriageable age and time is running out and they have to take care of the family since their mom and dad are going to get old and the family needs to grow and it is high time for a child and the others' kids are doing it and so should they! And the Great Indian Marriage Carnival announces its presence. Many cave in to this pressure and have to start a family of their own without wanting to, just because their parents want them to. They are scared of their parents, they can't figure out what to do without looking up to their parents for every little thing because they were never taught something like being able to think for oneself even after a certain age. There is something cruel and unsettling about the whole thing that builds up slowly yet traps an individual early in life.  I had begun on reading and comic books in general and look where it has lead me to.

The lack of reading that I have seen in youngsters my age and those below is a near-tragic indication of the individuals who will be the next generation, bereft of a lot of human values for sure. Again, I am mixing up the themes but the idea is letting a child discover something on his/her own, rather than forcing something on them. 

I am not a savant upon the subject of comic books. And neither would I call myself a comic book fanatic, though I wanted to become one in my childhood. I also don’t own a hoard of comic books. As a kid, I used to get angry when people made fun of and decided to float their ill-informed and ill-judged comments about reading comic books. But as I turned older, I can see now why I started ignoring comic book detractors, even laughed at them, sometimes inwardly, sometimes in their faces. The little kid in me wanted to unleash The Hulk at them, or give them a Bat-slam. Or better shut them up with a throw-web. That was the little kid in me. But the wiser adult thinks in a totally different way. The detractors will remain detractors. And the ignoramuses will always be there. And those who know the value of reading and all things related to it will continue to look forward to and cherish every new reading experience and be a proud species forever.

There are plenty of titles by DC, Marvel, Image, Dark Horse and more which deal with serious topics too and some are specifically not for kids.

I cannot stop people from not liking or having an interest in comics or for that matter, books. And I should not. It is not worth the effort. I would rather pick a silent corner and curl up with a comic book!

DC Films and Warner Bros. Pictures released Wonder Woman, the fourth live-action film of the DC Extended Universe starring Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Robin Wright and others some days back. More power to the feisty warrior princess Diana Prince of the Amazons and to all the comic book fanatics!