The other day I was browsing for upcoming movies and was pleasantly surprised to see that 'Wanted' is going to be released later this month. Having enjoyed the comic, I couldn't wait to check out the trailer online. Like most men, I'm always happy to see Angelina Jolie on screen. Something about her holding a gun does a lot for me.
The trailer started off well enough and for a moment I thought the story might actually follow the comic but I was wrong. From what I could make of the trailer, it seems to be just another action flick like Mr and Mrs Smith. While that may make a lot of box office sense, I'm disappointed to see the loss of a great opportunity. Let me attempt to explain.
First, a small introduction for those who haven't read the comic. 'Wanted' is a six-part comic written by Mark Millar. It begins with a frame of a girl stripping in front of a guy with the narration "This is my girlfriend fucking my best friend." in a very matter-of-fact way. This is followed by several other panels describing other aspects of his life. The gist of it is that he establishes that he is a typical blue-collared guy who never takes a stand against anything no matter what life dishes out to him.
One day, at a diner, a girl introduces herself and tells him that he's got to come with her. And before he can offer an opinion, goes on to shoot everyone else in the diner in cold blood. Virtually kidnapped, he's introduced to a cartel of hi-tech, costumed supervillains (some from parallel dimensions) who run the world (as we know it) behind the scenes with a mafia-style understanding between the main 'families' who have split the continents between them (much like The Godfather).
The head honcho (The Professor) tells him that his father (who abandoned him long back) died the previous day and left him fifty million dollars in cash. The catch, however, is that to get it, he must spend the next 6 months getting trained to "be a man" and in control of his life. He accepts and begins training. This involves getting desensitised to morals, ethics and basically everything that modern society rests on. Beginning with 2 weeks in a slaughter house to rapes and killing sprees. With a standard weapons drill thrown in, of course. Sound good so far?
Millar dishes it out over 6 issues. The internal politics. The conspiracy. The betrayal. The mutiny. And an abrupt conclusion. Back comes the narrator. And then comes the ending. And though I wish I could tell you that, I won't spoil the surprise. It needs to be read from start to finish. A violent ballet that mixes two cult movies: Fight Club and The Usual Suspects.
While adapting it directly to a film would almost certainly trivialize it, I feel a manga-style anime akin to 'Ghost in the Shell' is called for.
(un)Wanted
Why Ironman failed...
Some weeks back, the movie "Ironman" premiered, and though I enthusiastically went for it, I was quite dismayed to find that the theatre was relatively empty. I don't know what happened worldwide, but I'm sure it wouldn't have been quite as bad. Thinking of it, I guess I shouldn't be surprised at all. After all, I don't remember seeing too many Ironman comics in stores 15 years back, and I haven't come across too many of them on shelves even now. I have a theory on why this is so.
Unlike the west, comics in India are targeted at ages 8-15. Only in the past few years has the concept of 'graphic novel' for more mature readers caught on. Tony Stark a.k.a. Ironman was created by Stan Lee in March 1963. Tony's character is that of a glamorous genius -millionaire-playboy businessman… possibly too much for India's youth to digest back then - especially the ladies' man bit. This would have been chiefly due to a fewreasons.
First, India's weak economy at the time made the capitalist consumer's 'good life' a bit far-fetched. For instance, back then, there were barely 3 types of cars available to the common man (after being on a waiting list for at least a year) while Tony Stark was buying sports cars.
Two, the middle class was not given to squandering money on comics and only the most popular ones ever really made it to the stands. Laurel & Hardy, the Phantom, Mandrake the Magician and some Disney were the popular ones, along with Asterix and Tintin. The DC comics which did make it (like Superman and Spiderman) were more expensive, as were Disney's Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse.
Third, and most important, was the conservative traditional outlook that the majority maintained. Anything remotely related to sex and nudity was frowned upon and there was an atmosphere of 'moral policing'. The cinema of the time is testimony to this. The Indian film industry, popularly called Bollywood, was churning out movies with messages of classical ethics and morals, where the good guys always won, and, more to the point, were virgin monogamists.
Times have changed now, and a teen hero like Superboy (not to mention Knockout!)does well enough in the market. Perhaps now would be a good time to introduce Ironman in the market here.
The Sadhu
Yesterday, at the bookstore, I overheard a 15-year old asking an attendant for "The comic that has Nicholas Cage in it." I wasn't sure how to react. Smile because he had his facts jumbled? Or feel sorry that he hadn't heard of it till he saw the news on TV? I remembered reading the series last year and decided that it wasn't much to write about. But I also wasn't surprised that it was going to be adapted into a movie. Why? Because it’s the stuff shoddy Hollywood flicks on eastern ascetics is made of. And getting Nicholas Cage on board will help the box office. I suppose it was a natural thing to do after the hastily put-together National Treasure (which Disney used to cash in on the Da Vinci Code hype).
Anyways, for those of you who aren't familiar with The Sadhu, here's a brief overview of the first part of the series. The story is set in colonial India, when the East India Company ruled. The story begins in 2 parts: in India, the British army is fighting a group of rebel bandits led by a sadhu called Dada Thakur. Outnumbered and outgunned, the bandits are fighting a losing battle, but Dada Thakur is visited by a goddess who tells him that help is on the way.
Meanwhile, in England, two unemployed brothers, James and William are looking for work on the docks. While William manages to get a place on one of the ships, James is approached by a soldier who offers him a chance to join the Imperial Army in India. He reluctantly accepts, knowing that it is the only way he can earn a livelihood for Tess, his pregnant wife.
In India, James finds himself under the command of an especially brutal Col. Timothy Townsend. Townsend has his eyes set on Tess, and following an altercation with James, has him beaten up. He sexually assaults Tess and later kills her and James' new born son in front of him. Though left for dead, James flees to the jungles where he is saved by Dada Thakur.
Impressed by Dada Thakur's mystic powers, and a burning desire for vengeance on Townsend, James starts training under Dada Thakur, who believes him to be the help that the goddess has promised. After 3 years, James quits his training abruptly to go to England, trailing Townsend. He discovers that Townsend is a 'demon sadhu' and loses the ensuing fight.
Although not dead, James is badly wounded. Recovering from his wounds, he determines to continue on his quest for revenge.
The first series of books ends here. The story continues in 'The Silent Ones', a 5-issue mini-series. Still have to get my hands on that series, but I've heard that James discovers that his son is not dead, but in the clutches of an evil cult. Should be interesting. Do feel free to write in and add to this synopsis.
The New Commando Comics
Just a few weeks after I wrote about the 'True Brit' collection, I walked into a bookstore and staring me in the face was a stack of Commando comics. But the format was wrong, I noted. These seemed larger. Picking up one, I saw that these were indeed a far cry from the Commando comics of yore. A closer look revealed that these were printed on higher quality paper as well. In keeping with the earlier Commando series, these had colour covers, with black & white illustrations inside. Priced at Rs.60, this is the latest offering from Euro Books to hit the market has 24 titles on offer. Instead of picking up a single, you might want to pick up the '3 in 1' compilations, which are available at Rs.150 each. I couldn't help myself as I picked up five compilations! Having read 'True Brit' some time back, I've become truly hooked again.
There is, however, one major goof-up that I spotted: one of the stories was not complete. In the 'Journey to Freedom' compilation, the last story 'Battle Shield' is incomplete… or at least I think it is. Unlike every other Commando story that I've read, this one seems to end in failure. Perhaps it’s a satire, which I very much doubt. If its supposed to be a story in two parts, then it'd have made sense to put them both in one compilation. Or, from a marketing/sales perspective, another compilation with the second part would have made readers buy that one as well. But that's not the case. There's no second part.
The other thing that bothered me was the quality of the stories themselves. I don't know about other readers, but I felt they weren't as good as the older ones. While the majority of the stories dealt with WWII, there were a couple that were stories of brave tribes (like the afore mentioned Battle Shield). Perhaps Euro Books could select better stories next time. After all, the name 'Commando' hardly brings feathers and war paint to mind. But, all in all, I must say that I'm pleased to see Commando books back in the market.
Ramayan 3392 A.D.
Very few cultures in the world can boast to have an 'epic'. In India, we have not one, but TWO great epics - the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. While these masterpieces have succeeded to capture the interest of both, scholars and children, for generations, they've met with severe competition in the last decade. First, there are the badly produced and widely dubbed 80's television series which I think continue to play on some TV channels , and are no match in quality when compared to today's epic fantasy sitcoms. Second, there's a whole generation of superheroes whose powers, thanks to great illustrations, seem more awesome than those to be found in yesteryear's Amar Chitra Katha's.
Virgin Comics, in conjunction with noted film maker Shekhar Kapur, has brought out a series of comics based on the Ramayana. Based in 3392 AD, these are stories centered around the same characters in a post-apocalyptic future. Since the earliest edition I found was #2, it took me a bit of research to catch up with the story.
The stories take place after World War Three, which was a nuclear war. The world is divided into two continents: Nark and Aryavarta. Nark is where the demons reside, and Aryavarta is home to Armagarh, the last kingdom of humans. The kingdom is governed by a council headed by a man called Dashrath, who has four warrior sons - Rama, Laxman, Shatrughan and Bharat. With two strategically important outposts under attack, Dashrath sends his sons to help; Rama and Laxman go to one, and Shatrughan and Bharat travel to the other.
Having suffered heavy losses, and unable to defeat the demons, Rama makes a deal with them: the town in exchange for safe passage of its civilians. Back home, the council is less than pleased with this, and banishes him into exile. Dashrath passes away and Laxman dons the mantle of Council Leader. Unable to cope on his own, he decides to seek out his other two brothers - Shatrughan and Bharat - for help. On the way, he meets an ascetic, Vishwamitra, who guides him to Rama instead. Then on, the two brothers take off on a quest to find the fabled city of Mithila.
I'll spare you a spoiler since this series is definitely worth a read, especially for those of us familiar with the Ramayana. All in all, an excellent answer to the western fantasy genre.
Rediscovering the Commando comic
About 20 years ago, when WWII was the worst thing the world had seen, like millions of kids around me, I was fascinated by it. Back then, you could be interested in war without taking sides, and no one would arrest you, or point fingers at you. Being too young to read my grandfather's collection of WWII books (and he was an avid reader of the subject), I turned to the only other alternative: Commando comics.
Being odd-sized, they stood out on any shelf; their covers were reminiscent of war movie posters; and they told stories of heroes. And that they claimed to be actual stories from WWII (don't know how far this is true) made them irresistible to a 7 year old.
Not having seen them for over a decade, I grew out of the habit of collecting them, and recently, was pleasantly surprised to come across a copy of one of the Commando collections - True Brit. Needless to say, I bought it immediately. As I started reading it, I rediscovered the simplicity that comics once had. Good and Bad were clear - no characters like Batman who had shades of grey; the Hero was not fighting any internal moral conflict; and no one had any superpowers - just regular people with extraordinary courage.
Sure, there's some degree of stereotyping involved - such as the Nazis always being the bad guys (all the good ones always turned at the end) and all the Allies were gentlemen Officers, but at the end of it all, it preached courage, patriotism, and instilled in the reader a certain degree of respect for these traits. The major difference, it occurred to me, was that these comics didn't give the reader any excuse to behave otherwise themselves. For instance, one can say that Superman can afford to be brave because he's superhuman and Batman can afford to take a stand against crime because he's a millionaire with amazing gadgets . In addition to this, they operate out of imaginary cities like Metropolis and Gotham City, where there are super-villains… all in all, they give the reader a clear way to not get involved in the story, or identify with it. Whatever other values they hint at, the likes of Superman and Batman stop being role models for readers above the age of six.
This is perhaps the main differentiator between comics like Commando and the Justice League variety. I wonder if there'll be a time again when comics will just revolve around regular people.
Quick & Flupke in India (finally!)
Heard of these two? Not surprised if you haven't. Way back in 1930, it was published regularly in Le Petit Vingtieme as a black & white cartoon by the eminent Herge. After his Tintin stories took off, he was forced to devote more time to it and hence had to stop the Quick & Flupke series. In 1985, after Herge's death, Studios Herge got them coloured and published in 12 volumes. It was only a full five years later that these comics were translated for the english-speaking audience. And 18 years after that, the series was released in India. That's right… they came out here in 2008.
The series follows the misadventures of two street urchins in Brussels - Quick and Flupke, who're incapable of staying out of trouble. The only other main character is the neighbourhood cop, and their parents turn up once in a while. There's no real order to the series, so you can just go to the store and pick one up at random. Released by Euro Books (who also re-launched the Phantom), each digest is priced at Rs. 199 and good fun to leaf through. Remember, don't expect it to be a Tintin, or even a Jo & Zette - it’s a collection of comics that were originally syndicated for a newspaper; 18 panels to a story at the most.
For all Herge fans, it’s a definite collectors item. And for children-toting parents, it’s an quick and easy read for kids - stuff they can't ask you to read out to them (which is a great reason to get them).
A bit of interesting trivia - here's a list of the appearances that Quick & Flupke have made over the years in Tintin:
- Tintin in Congo - They are among the crowd seeing Tintin off in the first panel
- The Shooting Star - They can be seen running towards the docks as the expedition sets off.
- On the back cover of some Tintin editions - about to fire a slingshot at Captain Haddock
Matt Groening before The Simpsons
Not too many people know, or bother to know, what Matt Groening was up to before The Simpsons. While media stats argue that The Simpsons, being America's longest running sit-com, is his greatest work, a true comic buff would never agree. As early as 1980, nine years before The Simpsons became a household phenomenon, Matt's cartoon 'Life in Hell' was syndicated by the Los Angeles Reader, and is still carried regularly in 250 weekly newspapers.
While it can be a wee bit hard to get your hands on US dailies in India, the good news is that all these cartoons can be found anthologized in a series of comic books including 'Work is Hell' (which fellow cartoonist Nicole Hollander hailed as the Kama Sutra of employment), 'School is Hell', 'Childhood is Hell', 'The Big Book of Hell', and 'The Huge Book of Hell'. Matt himself is so attached to the series, he said he would "never give up the comic strip. It's my foundation."
One of my friends recently lent me 'Childhood is Hell' and 'Work is Hell', and I can tell you that you can't pay too much for them. So, if you've got a friend or relative coming down from the US, you know exactly what to ask them for.
The Ghost Who Walks is back!
Remember the masked man from the Deep Woods who lived in a tree-house, had offices in the Skull Cave, and sought out evil-doers? Well, Euro Books has re-launched Lee Falk's 'Phantom' in India.
Over the past 3 decades, the Phantom has been re-introduced by publishers several times. In terms of format, first, it was the Rs. 2 comic book (remember those good old days when comics would only cost that?); then, it came as a A5-size digest of stories, and then, it disappeared from the scene for a long time. You could only find a dusty copy or two in some corner of the book store, and of course the vendors at train stations always had a few.
With the recent import of superheroes, like X-Men, Spiderman etc. from the likes of Gotham and DC Comics, its hardly surprising that kids today have little respect for mere humans. I'm hoping this latest avatar of Phantom comics changes that a bit. Each of these hard-cover magazine-sized digests has 2 full-length stories. Priced at Rs. 199, the digests come with special sections like 'Legends', which give the reader a peep into some of the Phantom's secrets (the one I bought presented Excalibur, the sword of King Arthur, as one of the Skull Cave's treasures) and articles on various objects associated with the Phantom. The stories, too, seem to be stuff that's not been released earlier in the market. I, for one, had never read 'The Ghost who Died Twice' or 'The Assassination of President Lincoln' earlier. As of now, there are a total of 15 such digests available in the market.
While there seems to have been an effort to modernize the product, I'm sorry to say that there's still a long way to go if it has to keep up with the quality that today's readers have come to expect. The paper and printing quality can easily be better, as can the quality of lamination on the cover. I'm guessing this is a test phase, and if the market laps it up, hopefully there'll be several more titles in the offing.
