On the Loose: Comic Con

Mainstream kids’ literature is constantly evolving, unlike schools’ reading lists

Written by Leher Kala

July 20, 2015 12:00 AM IST

4 min read

Time had stood comfortingly still in magical Riverdale for 75 years. But now, the world’s most famous redhead has been given a deadly makeover. The revamped Archie Andrews in the newest comics looks nothing like the quintessential nice guy beloved by millions of middle-aged people. He has an angular jaw and a trendy haircut, his appearance suggesting he’s a lot cooler than the bumbling teenager we grew up with. New characters and story lines that include same-sex marriage have been gently introduced. The publisher has said the idea behind an edgier Archie is to draw in a larger, diverse readership, to more accurately reflect the realities of the 21st century.

It’s true, the world has changed completely since Archie made his debut in 1941. In many ways it’s a much fairer one with more accepting attitudes towards those who are still figuring out who they are. Every generation has its pros and cons. We grew up in a time when amusements involved nature and board games, similar to the one Archie represented for so long. In the ’80s it was perfectly normal for children in Delhi to ride cycles on roads, unattended. It’s unthinkable now. We climbed trees and played pithoo with cousins. We burst crackers on Diwali without worrying about pollution or thinking of child labour. It was also a time of bigoted rigidity that couldn’t have been much fun for those who didn’t fit in. Society is far more inclusive now. However, we have to contend with the paranoia of stranger-danger, the tragic consequences of smog filled air and an alarming dependence on gadgetry. Who’s to say when we were better off but it’s only fitting that the culture adapt to our sociological progress, whatever it might be.

According to a report on children’s literature published in the journal Sociological Inquiry, nature plays an increasingly smaller role in fiction. There have been significant declines in depictions of natural habitats while built up, city environments are more common. A dog, or any other pet, is far less likely to feature in a kid’s story written after 2008, than before. The universal themes in the stories haven’t changed — of love, adventure, danger and courage — but they’re set in a distinctly urbane background. Again, a true-to-life indication of how we live now. Modern day kid protagonists are tech-savvy teenage spies, texting and WhatsApping, and tracing the bad guys via GPS and Google Maps.

Every city parents’ gripe is kids these days don’t read enough. It’s true, also possibly because the required reading list in most Indian schools could make you weep. English teachers seem to take sadistic pleasure in forcing tedious and outdated works on students, making reading a painful chore. There is an inexplicable dismissiveness of comics and graphic novels suggesting they’re a frivolous visual indulgence that don’t really count. It’s not fair to expect a city-bred Nintendo and iPad-wielding kid with working parents to relate to Malgudi Days or Little Women when he could just as easily choose This Book is Not Good For You by the intriguingly named Pseudonymous Bosch. Like Archie has been spruced up for the year 2015 to keep up with changing mores, it’s time to free kids from educational agendas and let them choose books that suit them.

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