Locking Down With Comic Books

Ever met anybody who does not love comic books? You would say, “Of course, plenty”.

To those unfortunate souls who could never lay their hands on a comic book, the only thing I would like to say is “You missed out on an important developmental milestone, which no pediatrician would ever report, but you did miss something very, very pleasurable during your growing up years.”

Well, not all is lost. There, I can see a smile already. And, why don’t we get started on one now? Your mind may resist, but if you persist, this could turn out to be the most pleasant diversion for the mind, given the prevailing lock down environment. In fact, I stumbled upon two old “Archies” comics in one of our rarely opened wooden almirahs. The feeling was akin to stumbling upon a lost jigsaw piece of my childhood. Needless to say, I devoured both of them in 20 minutes–the research-backed time for a beneficial mindfulness meditation session. Those 20 minutes were like being in a time warp. Precious, blissful twenty minutes, unaware of the world around me.

As the saying goes, “First impression is the best impression.” If you enjoyed reading the first page, you will hardly notice that the text is in balloons, or the person on the left always initiates the conversation in every, single page. The houses and sidewalks appear elegant, even though in the gaudiest, boldest colors. Yes, those were our defining colors then.

Hearts in air were indicative of love, stars in the air meant that the character was being whacked.

Flight, speed and precision, you name it, everything is captured beautifully in sequentially arranged inter-related panels.

The above picture is from my niece’s Amar Chira Katha titled “Pataliputra.”Now that I have discovered it, this is going to be my next read:)

Courtesy:

1. Laugh Digest Magazine (ISSN87500612), No.90, September 1990 by Archie Comic publications.
2. Amar Chitra Katha, ISBN 978-81-8482-608-1, Amar Chitra Katha Pvt Ltd.