Comic Love

The first ever magazine I remember 'reading' was a children's' magazine called Misha. Well, technically it wasn't reading, as I hadn't even been sent to school then. Nevertheless, just to get even with my older cousin, I'd pretend to be reading this book, and flip through the colourful pages. When I finally learnt to read, he introduced me to Cheeku the Rabbit in Champak Magazine. And with that began my love for reading. It runs in the family after all, with my Mum, Aunts and Grand-mum, all being avid readers.

Coming to comics per se, the local library had a good collection of Archie comics, and I would bring home the maximum number of books the friendly librarian-uncle would let me (there was a limit after all). Betty was cute, and Veronica, irritating. Back then in the 90s, for someone growing up in a small town, the words burger, pizza, hot dog, etc. meant something very exotic. Those things were unheard of. Vacations spent in Bombay/Delhi meant prized trips to places we rarely step into now (McD, Pizza Hut, etc.), and I'd try to eat the burger the way Jughead would. Yes, again the thing that appealed the most to me even then was food!

When I'd exhausted all Archie comics, I tried Chacha Chaudhary, and boy, wasn't I hooked. Back then, I used to love reading about the galaxy, the planets, and the aliens & UFOs. To consider Chachaji actually had a friend from Jupiter was too much to imagine. Ah, I'd just wonder how it was possible for Sabu to eat that many chapatis and parathas and halwa! 

Apart from these comics, Tinkle was something I'd look forward to. Arriving from school, I'd be greeted by my Grand-dad with the words, your Tinkle has come (I was a subscriber for almost ten years!). And I'd finish the first reading in a jiffy. Then I'd savour my favorite stories slowly, till the next edition arrived. Suppandi entertained, Tantri was a pure kantri (crook in Kannada, it just seems to fit perfectly), Shambu bungled, and Kalia was wise. And the week when one of my contributions got published (under the It Happened To Me section)- that was one of my most memorable days. And to this day, a prized treasure, Uncle Pai's hand-written letter, safely remains in my study. Now I've moved on from comics, but religiously follow many comic strips on newspapers. Which is why watching the Peanuts movie (in an almost empty theatre), was a wonderful experience. 

So, do you follow comic strips on newspapers too? What other comics do you read?

(Picture sourced from Tinkle)