Back to Basics - COMICS - and their new Avataar !

Comics are BACK !

Richie Rich, Archies, Tin Tin, Asterix suddenly don't seem a part of a memory left behind long back anymore !!

The last couple of years have seen a resurgence of the COMIC BOOK - especially now for ADULTS !!!

I picked this up a few years ago when I was watching SETH COHEN ( from the uber-hip TV series THE O C) wax eloquent about Comic Books ! It appealed to me inside - but something made it stay inside !

Dilbert did it many years ago. So did the Simpsons - change the way adults were consuming entertainment. It touched movies - I lOOVED the movie SIN CITY and suddenly discovered a huge new dark world of Frank Miller ! And who can forget the inflluence of Calvin & Hobbes ?!

Probably that kept me away - I found the comic books or GRAPHIC NOVELS to be DARK !

That changed when a couple of weeks I took the step and bought my first Graphic Novel !

People recommended I try out Joe Sacco's PALESTINE and I am so glad I did !

What a refreshing story teller ! And the best part was the story he told was al TRUE - a story told through the eyes of a COMIC BOOK story teller !

And the story was no less dark / serious - it was the story of the Palestine struggle - which Sacco picks up after visiting the land first hand.

And, the best thing I loved about his style was the way he got into the gory details but still managed not to get emotionally get sucked into it !

This prompted me to buy his second famous novel - GORAZDE - the story of the BOSNIAN war !

Wow ! Thank you Joe for your gift ! I love the way you portray yourself in the comics ! ( that's him on the left !)

So, Comic books are back - and with a BANG and a whole new DIMENSION ! I am so glad - I believe that we are VISUAL beings ( rather than Text driven !). The Playstation generation kids of today can suddenly connect with characters of yesteryear in a format that they relate to ! I saw Agatha Christie novels in graphic novels form the other day ! Made me suddenly want to read them - something which I have honestly ever done !

Lets dig out those Amar Chitra Kathas - and while we are at it - can we see some Graphic novels of Shakespeare as well ?!