And that was how I first encountered Athonk's comics. Look for activist sequentialism and synchronicity will provide.

         "I haven't read it" Amber said when I dropped by next. "But it looks strange."
         I pored over the expressive illustrations and skewed wordplay.  Bad Times Story is a fable, following the comical exploits of three furry demons. This tale's twist is that the Devils are the good guys, representing anarchic chaos and freedom, while Heaven and its minions stand for order, organization and ultimately illicit authority.

         I'd initially thought that aspects of this heavenly totalitarianism represented an earthly regime: Suharto's aptly named "New Order" government.  But as I've come to know Athonk and his work better, I think it's largely about any authoritarian system of social control - their methods are usually similar. The polarization of people into "good" and "bad" elements, where legitimacy, power and control emanate from the highest singularity rather than the lowest grassroots.  This could occur in an organization, a government, business, a family, or a religion.
         My curiosity for art knows no bounds, but the comic had no address. Polyester did have a referral number, through which I reached his housemate, Laine.  In Melbourne there's a sort of regular meeting of comics artists the last Saturday of every month at the Stork Hotel (now the Melbourne Bar and Bistro), so I suggested he come by.
         Now, Indonesia is not world-renowned for its freedom of speech.  I imagined a bookish artist scribbling away in the secrecy of his own apartment, much in the manner of European samizdat.  So I was a little surprised to see him in person with hair so spiky you could put an eye out. Athonk is a dedicated punk rocker, and when in Java sings with his own band Black Boots. I've since learned that much of Southeast Asia, from Laos to Bali, see metal and punk as the sound of the underground. 
         As it turns out, his partner Laine is an Indonesian Studies academic, which explained his residency in Oz.
She later explained that boots are a highly potent symbol in Indonesia's counterculture: indicative of the routine force used by the military and police to maintain 'order'.  Accordingly, they feature prominently in his artwork.
         His diverse approach has also lent itself to poster art. Clint Q-Ray asked me to pinch-hit as cameraman during Athonk's segment in the documentary of Melbourne comicists, Comic Book Virus.  There we got a peek at Athonk's sketchbooks and voluminous comic collection, but what was particularly fascinating was his poster art.
         Every square inch of the paper is covered with paint, ink and colored pencil, usually right out to its border.  Some of these contain entire stories, others are single scenes.  All are fairly explicit in their political content, ranging through many themes - ecological, anti-military, anti-corruption.
         It was through these posters that Athonk and Laine first met.  Athonk hangs in the tourist haven of Yogyakarta, Java, where Laine had been studying Javanese language and working with local aid groups for homeless kids. She spotted one of his posters at a protest, and was intensely curious because that sort of direct dissent is extremely rare in Javanese culture. So she tracked him down.
         Others are less enthusiastic about this protest art. For that reason, Athonk's posters have been smuggled from house to house, city to city, and country to country. It's my hope that someday Athonk will make copies of them that can be kept in a safe place.
          Athonk settled into the Melbourne comics scene, doing sporadic tattoo work, suffering through 24 hour comics drawing nights, hanging at The Stork, and working on Bad Times part 2.  I managed to acquaint myself with some of his collection - in particular the Malaysian comic wonder Lat.  I usually found Athonk most involved in things that involved a combination of art and activism…like East Timor protests and the Asia-Pacific Anti-Militarism Forum. 
          This was a small event attended by activists from all around the region. For me it was a great opportunity to learn about the issues you didn't see in the mainstream American press - like the Bougainville conflict, West Papua rebels, as well as issues regarding tiny oceanic countries I'm embarrassed to admit I've barely heard of.  Australia, as a sort of island of the West in this area, has contributed to arming and supporting a lot of repressive regimes. I found it to be a weird echo of American politics - same strategies, different terrain.
          The conference coincided with my household's first 24 hour comics nights. I drew East Timor Funnies in one eight hour stretch, inked it on the tram on the way over, and printed it up on the conference's overworked photocopier.  But Athonk put me to shame with his display of huge colorful posters. And he also was tapped to illustrate the conference's eventual publication of papers and essays.
          It was contacts from this that also led to a further meeting, a packed salon in a private home. There Athonk displayed his work and talked about it along with a friend, Lillian, from Bougainville.
          I noticed that the questions people asked, here as in other places, tended to veer toward the same territory: were you arrested for your art? Was it confiscated? Were you arrested or beaten? Are you 'oppressed'?
          Somehow in the West we feel self-righteously curious about this stuff.  We've heard about 60's protests and civil rights struggles but such blatant injustice is hard to find. I think some of us even wish, a little bit, for a struggle that is more simple and direct.
          But in places like Indonesia where authority is such a direct physical presence, it's difficult to address it head-on. If you talk about it every day, you'll go crazy.  You have to have a strategy for coping. So Indonesians, like most Southeast Asians, are pretty indirect when talking about politics, even when they are activists.  You don't want to dwell on the bad things.  Which is why Athonk is unusual for the relative directness of what he does, and in such a cheerful, positive manner too. Hey, aren't punks supposed to be angry? 
         His enthusiasm also sparked a paper on Indonesian Komiks by Laine.  During Sukarno's time there was a boom in the comic industry, lots of locally produced comics. Athonk's parents ran a comic book rental shop - much in the same fashion as a video store today. Adaptations of myths like The Ramayana, comedy, even slight hints of social commentary.
         The government officially turned against comics, though. While they weren't banned outright, their readership was discouraged from purchasing them. And when Jakarta sneezes, the rest of the country catches a cold.  The local industry went into a tailspin it has yet to recover from.
          Today, all publications must be approved by the government, to guard against "unrest". Which means the unlicensed Bad Times Story could land Athonk in jail, a good reason to leave the address off if there ever was one.
          The comic I'd spotted on Brunswick street first saw its debut in Yogyakarta, and was one of a number of efforts put out by underground artists and university students. Bad Times Story #1 came to Melbourne with Athonk and Laine as she took up a teaching position there. 
            Issue two ("Pure Black") premiered along with Melbourne mini anthology Pure Evil, in a party at Chez Comics.  Athonk gleefully labeled the event "Suck the Purities". There he told me he intended to do some new comics with new characters.
            "Right," I replied. "so - no more bad times." And I hope that's true, in some sense.
        Soon after that, Athonk ventured back to Indonesia - and its financial meltdown, ouster of Suharto, the East Timor crisis and now the elections. Naturally, he had a ball with all the protests - once I caught him on his mobile in the middle of one.  Occasionally I got an email from him, but it was difficult for him to get into the mall that houses the internet lounge - the rent-a-cops there see him as trouble.

        2000 saw the QuickDraw world tour and Java was on the itinerary. There I met up with a host of comic creators, and at the moment am hard at work on my Indonesia issue.  Stay tooned.... 

 

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Links:

        Official Pure Black Site. 

        Bad Times Story reviewed in The Comics Journal.

        Latest komiks - Old Skull at komikaze99.com

        Pictures of Athonk's posters. (More also on official site.)

        Athonk on the Seni Sono generation
        Order Bad Times Story from Plastic Planet Distro.

More on Indonesian Komiks by Laine Berman:

        An article on Javanese Counterculture. 

        Some short komik reviews

A little out of touch with the Indonesian scene? Get up to speed.

            

            Komiks: komikaze99.com

                             Indonesian Komikus list

                             East Timor Funnies

            News: Inside Indonesia