I started reading comics when I was six years old. My older brother gave me my first comic book, which was science fiction, but as a little kid, very little of it made any sense to me. I couldn't understand all those tough concepts, the dialogues were too complicated, and all those black and white drawings seemed too serious. So, my first impression of comic books was unfavorable.
I did not want to read those difficult and boring comics, but my brother and all our friends were comic book fanatics. Also, during the socialist period in Yugoslavia, comics were trendy, and were a favorite reading material among all ages. Most people thought comic books were relaxing, funny, and interesting. After a couple of years, I began to really enjoy reading comics.
Alan Ford and The Group TNT
People bought comics because they were cheap and, most importantly, they were very brief, not more than a hundred pages of drawings, dialogs, and action. You could read them in less than an hour on the bus, on the train, at home, at school - below the desk when the teacher got boring - or in the toilet during a break, and so on. Comics were the best for passing time, but also to escape from reality, especially for the older people who were stressed at work, or the juveniles who were bored, as I was. So during that time I became addicted to collecting comic books, and I started to ask my parents for more and more money to buy comics. My parents were not happy about it because they were preoccupied with surviving in a despair that came to my hometown, Zadar, after Tito passed away. The time was severe and we kids were aware of it, but we did not let it get to us, we had fun.
Tex Willer-The head of the Navajos, known as "Eagle of the Night,"
In the early nineties the war started. The war made our national mood even more depressing, and the war forced us all into claustrophobic bunkers. We children were allowed to go out only when the city siren gave us the signal that it was safe. The siren was usually awful for us because it warned us to go as quickly as possible back into our dark bunkers; in the bunker all we had was a candle, a blanket and some comic books. This was a golden period for the comics industry because children did not get to play nearly as much on the playgrounds and the new circumstances of being stuck in a boring bunker caused the demand for comics to sharply increase; all those children who had previously ignored comics were now becoming obsessed with them.
Mister NO
Reading comics in the bunker was very pleasant because we did not have school and I was safe and secure with my mom, sister, and my brother- with whom I fought occasionally; he was already a teenager and I was still a kid. My mother did not want to see us fighting all the time, especially in front of everyone in the shelter. She sent me to another room with my sister while my brother would go with boys. I was disappointed and jealous, but at the same time it was more peaceful. I read one comic over and over again just to forget the fight and my brother's provocations and mockery. That was the only time when my mother approved of my comic books. Generally she did not like my reading because I ignored books and school. Even though we did not have school classes, we were supposed to read our school books, which were thicker, more complex and much more boring than comics.
Zagor, or "Za-Gor Te-Nay" whose fictional meaning is "The Spirit with the Hatchet"
I improved my passion for comics with drawing the main hero, Zagor, or "Za-Gor Te-Nay" whose fictional meaning is "The Spirit with the Hatchet", as the Indians in the comics used to call him. People liked Zagor because he was strong, sharp, and impossible to deceive. However, his character also represented modesty and courage. This had an affect on my behavior. I started ignoring my brother's provocations, and I understood that my fights with him were ignoble, not worth it. I became apprehensive and more curious. I started to act like Zagor. I believed in Zagor, he was my idol and my only story. One day, my mother made me a Zagor suit for a masquerade, and I literally became him for some time.
However, this surreal dream did not last long because I became older and, most importantly, my country became free and independent. The war finished and my father came home, exhausted and tired. Also that awful siren did not disturb the city anymore, and bunker time was over. I started to play free, I started to study more and school became my number one priority; my mother was very happy about it, and so was I. My perception also changed. I grew older and Zagor became boring and unattractive to read. It was a story for kids, it wasn't real, like a silly fairy tale. I stopped buying comic books. I left them, I abandoned them, and I did not want to see them anymore.
I became a teenager and times changed. Comics were no longer cool or trendy, and new forms of entertainment appeared, like Sega or Nintendo video games. I was not Zagor anymore, I forgot him completely - until recently, during a school break, when my family moved into a new house. During the move, I found my comics in an old closet. They were hidden for more than ten years; seven hundred different comics all in perfect shape, like new, but with a lot of dust all over them. During my reordering and cleaning, I discovered Zagor, the man who maintained peace between Indians and cowboys, but also peace in me, because Zagor helped me think positively, or occasionally not to think about anything but him, which helped me through very tough times, even in a war for independence, where bombs exploded and people died. Zagor showed me what is good and what is bad. All through those episodes he showed me, in his own experiences, how life and people can be unfair. The only way was to never give up, as he never gave up. Zagor was my first and my only idol; he influenced and persuaded me to read more. It helped me to improve my capability of thinking and mostly, Zagor helped me to see the bigger picture. I may have considered him a fairy tale for a short time during my teenage years, but I now see that Zagor the Pathfinder was my guide to the real world, he helped me find my way down my own paths in life, and continues to do so...
No comments:
Post a Comment