Rise Of The Supers

It’s a bird, it’s a plane...no, it’s the Supers - and they are everywhere!

- Shalini Minocha-Beri

When Mandrake gestured hypnotically, all would be well. When the Ghost Who Walks rode out on his white horse, many jaws would be left with the imprint of a skull, and trees would whisper Phantom Phantom...! Life was made up of comic books, which one read, re-read, and bartered with, exchanged, bound a whole lot of into a large volume, and, in general, spent many happy hours with.

There was Henry, the lad with a head like a billiard ball, who never said a word. Little Lulu with the two curls and ringlets; Lotta; Hotstuff, the little red devil; Casper, the friendly ghost and his three nasty cousins… the list goes on, depending on one’s own vintage. There were times when comics were made of imaginary creatures and boys drew World War II fighter planes all over their notebooks, when ack ack guns and battle tanks were the precursors to video games, when Commando comics brought out the true meaning of Tom and Jerry (the Brits and Germans)—forever immortalised in Hanna-Barbara’s iconic cat and mouse chase series.

Most of those characters died with their authors; publications came up with newer, smarter, more age-appropriate material. But some survived. And thrived. And grew younger, more powerful; became household names—Legends!