Back in the 80s, comic book was a must-read thing and became the one of the most successful narrative medium in Indonesia. While the art style was heavily influenced by the western comic industry, the golden era of Indonesia cergam has its own uniqueness contain mystical stories and superheroes with the touch of local cultures.
Sadly, that golden era didn't last long. With the invasion of Japanese manga such as Dragon Ball or Kungfu Boy, Indonesian comic book artists and original ideas had disappeared and only a few left. The name like Hans Jaladara even changed his art style to fit the mainstream demand of Japanese drawing.
But that doesn't mean there are no single comic-book artists left, there is a lot of people who still work with passion, tells their own story, and draw with their own creativity. These are the names of awesome modern Indonesia comic book artists that you need to know.
1. Sweta Kartika
This man with a fancy traditional name is undoubtedly one of the best comic book storytellers. He has a lot of ideas and his work has many of its own uniqueness. Grey and Jingga is a sweet romance story that leads us to the moment of falling in love with our first crush, H2O is a breathtaking masterpiece with the complex science fiction world-building, and Journal of Terrors is a frightening journey through many horror scenarios.
Sweta Kartika has a big concern with the Indonesian comic industry. Alongside Alex Irzaqi, he made several videos about comic-making and his point of view in the comic book industry. You can find it on Spotify with the title "Comic Sense" and on the Ragasukma channel.
2. Alex Irzaqi
One of the "elders" at Padepokan Ragasukma, a community for Indonesian artists that focused on the action genre. The title doesn't come merely from the time where he started the community, but it also proved his skill in drawing and create an amazing panel for each scene. Even with scrambled scratches, it still turns out to be an appealing illustration.
With Irzaqi's ability, he was able to win an international silent manga competition and his work got adapted into a short film. The motion comic and short film of Excuse Me (the title of the silent comic by Irzaqi) can be watched on youtube.
3. Kharisma Jati
The infamous Kharisma Jati, a man with lots of controversies around his works. His comic book best known for its gore illustrations, satire humour with sensitive topics, and adult story. You can read his notable works "God You Must be Joking" or buy comic books made by him on his social media. Disclaimer, if you seek a pleasant experience with Kharisma Jati's adult story, then you'll most likely be disappointed because he never tells a love story through a romantic scene. Unless you have a "bloody" liking of love.
Besides his "sick" comedy, you can't deny the fact that he has a clean drawing. His method of inking and hatching is top-notch and it creates a neat series of lines and shade.
4. Adelia Maghfira
With more people on Instagram, the social media is slowly becoming more than photographic collage. This also leads to some famous comic accounts such as Tahilalats or Komik Pairman. One of the first names is Maghfirare, a series of strip comics with a combination of anime style and gentle digital colouring. Also, turns out the name Maghfirare comes from the author's name itself, Adelia Maghfira.
What makes Adelia Maghfira's comic so special is its comedy style influence that can be found in many strip comics. This especially can be looked at the shocked expression and absurd dialogue in other titles. Besides that, the colouring style of Maghfirare become one of the guides and inspiration to many beginner illustrators and comic artists in social media.
5. Dhean de Nauli
Dhean de Nauli may not be very famous in the Indonesian comic book reader, this fact is understandable due to her low profile attitude and her absence in the big publisher comic industry. But in the comic book artist community, she is very well known and even did series in KMI Rocket and a collaboration with several famous names in Cerebral Vortex.
Another thing that special about Dhean de Nauli is the story building around her works is truly mesmerizing. She has a lot of details about each character, their conflict, and the world where they live in. The whole interesting story created by her also delivered in a beautiful illustration through a fully manual method of drawing. She believes that everyone can make a comic book and the limit of tools can't be considered as an obstacle to stops someone's creativity. Now, if you want to check her works, once a while she makes a pre-order for her works and an adaption of her works "Waras" can be found on youtube.
Well, maybe that's all the comic book artists name that can make into the list for now. They are undoubtedly the prove that our comic book industry is still alive and when you are going to search for a creative medium created by Indonesian people, those names may be the right one to fit in your Instagram or Google search.
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