Comic capers

“Comics are a wonderful versatile medium” says Bill Waterson. I agree completely. Comics show you images as visualised by the author and create a world for you, one you can then cotton on to and explore on your own. I still love comics and enjoy them as much as reading books. And I intend to make sure that my kids are never without them if they show any inclination of liking them. There is a tangibility about the art of comics that makes it more accessible then fine art, making it appeal to a larger audience. This is a collection of my favourite comics.

8. Archie

I’ve been reading Archie Comics since I was 8. Archie and the gang are a bunch of kids in Riverdale USA and are Archie, the all-American boy, Jughead, his sardonic and wise best friend who keeps him out of trouble, Betty the girl next door whose first love is Archie, Veronica the wealthy town heiress and Betty’s best friend at all times unless Archie is involved, and Reggie who is always trying to get Archie into trouble. There are various other teenagers, teachers and parents who make up these stories, which are full of fun, with lots of small little lessons thrown in, like doing the right thing.

7. You said it

R K Laxman is one of India most well-known cartoonists. This cartoon series of his has been appearing in the Times of India newspaper for over 40 years. His creation was the Common man (the little character you see below in checks) which is famous enough to have been translated into mascots for airlines. The Common Man became the symbol for every man in India, the one who listens, hears and is powerless to act on his own due to constraints of commonality. This character has never said a word ever in any strip, he’s just the ubiquitous observer. Laxman’s rapier sharp wit worked very well at turning burning issues that were a cause of great anger among the masses into humour.

6. Dilbert

Created by Scott Adams, the wizard of sarcasm in the late 90s, this strip struck a chord with anyone who has ever worked in a corporate setup. The strip is about Dilbert the engineer, his creations and his life. He has a dog called Dogbert who has to be the most ambitious canine in the world. The series is centered around Dibert’s life, mostly at work dealing with his wise-ass, work-shirking boss, and sometimes at home, dealing with his wise-ass dog.

5. Hagar the Horrible

The story of the terrifying Viking, who still can’t stand up to his wife, Hagar is one of the funniest strips I’ve read. It’s about Hagar the pillaging Viking who regularly goes off to invade England, Helga, his shrew of a wife who nevertheless is a good wife and mother and the crew he travels with.

4. Wizard of Id

I used to reach for the newspaper just to read this strip. I skipped all the political pages just to get right to it. But The Wizard of Id is in it’s own way political commentary. This is a strip about the kingdom and residents of the kingdom of Id. It is hard to say what century this strip is set in as modern technology like ATMs frequently intermingle with people touting bows and arrows. Most strips are centered around the evil king. His Wizard is a hapless character, dominated by his wife and a failure at magic. The strip focuses on the oppression of his subjects by the king and is a gold mine of satire.

3. Tintin

The Adventures of Tintin is about the character who is a Belgian reporter and traveller. He and his dog Snowy (known as Milou in French, the original language of publication) have a definite nose for sniffing out trouble. He is frequently accompanied by the spirits-happy Captain Haddock and the epitome of the absent-minded Professor, Calculus. I originally read this comic in English and it wasn’t until a couple of years ago when I read it in French. Things get lost in translation but I think in this case, while the jokes may have had to change according to language, the nuance of the joke translates as the same, and very well. This is a gem of a comic and is beautifully illustrated. It has been translated into several different languages.

2. Asterix

Asterix, the Gaul of the indomitable Gaulish Village that would never surrender to Julius Caeser. This village has a druid called Getafix who brews invincibility potion, making the residents of this village formidable opponents. So a strange cease fire exists between the village and the Roman Empire creeping up on it on all sides. Asterix is their fierce and shrewd warrior who along with his best friend Obelix, the slow, completely invincible and intensely loyal friend defends the village from all sneak attacks. This series is based on puns with amazing ones worked into the names of characters themselves (their tuneless bard is Cacofonix to name one). The series was created by Goscinny and Uderzo, originally in French and is another series that has translated well. The names of characters differ depending on the language (to justify the pun) except for Asterix. Beautifully illustrated and rich with historical twists (my favourite comic is Asterix and Cleopatra), this is a comic series no one should miss.

1. Calvin and Hobbes

My absolute favourite comic. Bill Waterson created Calvin and Hobbes. Calvin is based on sort of the opposite of what he was as a child. Hobbes is based on his gray tabby cat, Sprite. Very often Calvin deals with issues Bill was struggling with, but very much in his own six-year old way. Both were named after famous philosophers of several centuries ago. Calvin is a precocious kid of six with his pet tiger Hobbes who is also his imaginary friend (though very real to Calvin). He is forced to go to school, which he hates and is always pretending he is in prison and tries to break out. Though Bill Waterson thinks his strip is most humourous without the adults, I think that their putting up with Calvin’s bizarre behaviour even though they are sometimes in abject despair over it makes for very memorable comics.

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Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)

• I Miss the Comics
• Calvin and Hobbes
• Calvin and Hobbes and The Financial Crisis
• The Paper’s Getting Harder to Read

~ by summerlightning on April 8, 2007.