Thursday, February 10, 2005

It's raining like hell and I soon have to paddle my clumsy bike to the station..




Okay - this is just stalling before I have to go out and face that crazy wind and that falling wet cold rain. I just posted a couple of reviews for these graphic novels "Lone Wolf & Cub" and "Samurai Executioner", both by the same creators: Goseki Kojima and Kazuo Koike.
Both books are delivering a very brutal and vulgar way of life of the Japanese in the Edo era. Yet they are not mere cruelty, since each action has a specific cause. This makes me realize, as a reader, that life in that era is not easy - its' full of traditional, feudal laws that are conducted strictly.
But as a reader I'm amazed by the rich information that comes from the arts. I can really see how the Japanese lived by then - either commoners or the nobles - their houses, playthings, food, occupations, and most interestingly, how they regarded one another. This makes me think, as a comic/strip observer and an Indonesian, that we (Indonesians) have resourceful cultures to be depicted as stripworks as well!

See, these Japanese are brave and honest enough to expose the black phase of their society. Novels by Indonesian great authors have, indeed, include this in their writings. But a graphic novel like this is what we lack of.
Therefore, herewith I would like to ask our comic artists and writers to seriously consider creating a classic saga like this. I have to stop writing now; the rain still remains terrible so I'll have to face it anyway. 'Til later...

2 comments:

  1. I could'nt agree more. Actually many Indonesian has the passion to do it, but they're facing the biggest wall of all... Market. Let's face it, Indonesian still likes to read continous series of translated manga, instead of a high quality non-Japanese graphic novels. We can't blame them though (but we can blame Gramedia, heheheh...).
    Me myself prefers TPBs & graphic novels than regular series. Besides it has the start and the beginning under the same cover, we don't have to wait another month for the next edition and it's cheaper. Heheheh...
    Let's just hope it comes true...

    PS: a Pitung graphic novel would be really cool. He's my favorite Indonesian hero. With all the Betokaw accent, the beautiful Aisha, the love of his country, the traitory and the golden bullets... I miss Dicky...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Indeed, the "market" factor discourages publishers to produce original Indonesian comics - moreover graphic novels. Another factor is, I think, there is lack of characters that are interesting enough to have their own series. A strong character guarantees a successful novel, according the creator of Lone Wolf & Cub, and it was proven true.
    Old Indonesian comic series have their avid readers and faithful fans. I wonder if there will ever be such thing again these days..

    ReplyDelete