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Journalism of Courage
In the 1950s, we grew up in the entertaining company of the Phantom, the legendary nemesis of evil-doers, and Jiggs of ‘Bringing Up Father’ fame — the henpecked but resilient husband who delights in outwitting Maggie, his shrewish wife.
These ever-popular comics captivated us children so much that we often squabbled for the right to read them first, snatching them from each other and sometimes tearing them in the process, much to the annoyance of our elders who also eagerly awaited their turn. The Phantom’s exploits and Jiggs’ escapades unfailingly appealed to the young and old alike.
During our holidays in Munnar, relaxation meant lounging lazily in bed with a stack of comics, devouring fistfuls of groundnuts and the adventures of our heroes. That we were reading these for the umpteenth time didn’t really matter — the colourful treat never palled for adventure-hungry and fun loving boys.
Needless to say, we were ‘authorities’ on our heroes. We could rattle off the names of their creators. We were familiar with the Phantom’s sidekicks — Guran, his straw-skirted factotum, the pygmy Bandar tribe feared for their deadly poison-tipped arrows, the martial Wambesi warriors, Wolf, his fearsome hound and Hero, his dependable mount. The Phantom’s ability to smack his ‘mark’ on the jaws of miscreants wowed us. And his shooting skills were phenomenal.
We also knew that absolutely nothing could keep the bibulous Jiggs away from Dinty’s bar — not even wife Maggie’s vicious accuracy with a rolling pin! And Jiggs was uncommonly resourceful — with countless tricks up his sleeve to fool her. Not to be outdone, Maggie too was wily, sorely taxing Jiggs’ patience — and purse, by splurging on fashionable clothes and jewellery. Of course, Jiggs also had to contend with Bimmy, his dim-witted and parasitic brother-in-law who is quite a trencherman. Not to mention Maggie’s literally wired-together poodle!
By all accounts, the dapper, cigar-chomping Jiggs with his flair for repartee and the formidable Phantom bent on stamping out evil have stood the test of time, entertaining the young and old alike even today. I, for one, never miss reading them.
