A part of my childhood that I loved, suddenly came back just now...
December 14, 2011
suddenly changed his Facebook userpic to that of a little devil, red, with cute little horns, a forked tail, and a trident....and that brought my "comic-book" past rushing back to my mind.
I grew up with a world of comics. Dell,Disney,Classics Illustrated,Gold Key, Harvey,...my mother bought them by the dozen, and had them bound (the whole collection is still there in Chennai!). Little Lotta, Spooky, Casper, Little Dot, Little Audrey, Baby Huey, Richie Rich, Wendy the Witch (Casper's girlfriend!) and Hot Stuff (the little devil mentioned above) were all part of
Harvey Comics ;
You can see some of the images
here
Donald, Daisy, Huey, Dewey, and Louie, and Unca Scrooge....the Beagle Boys, Mickey, Goofy, Pluto and the lesser-known characters like Horace Horsecollar, Clarabelle, and Gyro Gearloose (along with that little bulb man who was SO smart!) were all part of the world of Disney. I particularly loved the work of
Carl Barks
which was very witty and gripping.
Classics Illustrated introduced me to so many works of literature, that I read in the original later. The artwork was always brilliant!
We also got the British weekly comic magazines, The Topper, The Dandy, and The Beano. Some of the characters (a Dennis the Menace different from Hank Ketcham's creation, a Beryl the Peril, a Julius Cheeser, and Mickey the Monkey...) were superb. Earlier, I also remember comics for younger children which had characters like Sooty, and Bill and Ben, the Flowerpot Men...I can't remember the name of those comics.
Oh...these comics...were just wonderful. Off I would go, into a world of fantasy, adventure and laughter, while the new comics lasted...and I would often read the old ones. I realize, now, how high the quality of work was, consistently!
Of course, then the Archie comics also came along and I also loved Hagar the Horrible, B.C., Garfield, some (not all) of Charles Schultz, Blondie, Mutt'n'Jeff, and the magical, superb Calvin and Hobbes...
Amar Chitra Katha was also a major part of our reading, and introduced us to Indian mythology and folklore. Tinkle was a regular part of my daughter's childhood, and she enjoyed contributing, too. Suppandi and Kalia and the rest kept her childish fancies happy....
Comics have always formed a great part of my life...and I salute the extremely talented artists that have enriched my life and imagination. I may not read the depressing headlines in the morning paper, but I never fail to read the comics!
Thank you, Ga, for the happy trip down memory lane.
