Whether it's the caped crusaders from DC Comics in the US, the swashbuckling heroes of Japanese Manga or Noo Hin _ the famous Isan character from Noo Hin Inter _ comics the world over have a similar power: they can make us smile.
Yet in the book One Hundred Years Of Thai Cartoons: From Siam Classic To Thai Modern, such cartoons are revealed to be much more serious than we might at first think.
No one knows this better than Dr Prasert Palitpholkarnpim, the respected psychologist who writes the review column "Cartoon Tee Rak" (Beloved Cartoon) for the Matichon Weekly magazine.
"Cartoons are not mindless and cheap entertainment as they have been stereotyped," he argues. "It is a genre of art that can address complex social issues such as religious conflicts, ethnic violence, politics, economics, war, terrorism, human trafficking, sexual violation and child abuse."
In this book, the 10th anthology of his articles, Dr Prasert looks into the content and narrative development of local cartoons during the past century.
The book addresses the history of Thai cartoons through an analysis of content, characters and visual narrative style. An ardent fan of Thai and Japanese cartoons, Dr Prasert has compared the content of Thai cartoons with local and original literature sources, looking at whether cartoons were written to eulogise historic figures and trying to find traces of freedom of expression and self-censorship.
He digs deep into works created during the Cold War era to examine anti-Communism and the propaganda of the time.
However, to ensure comic fans aren't bogged down, the writer makes a comparison between Thai and Japanese drawing and visual presentation. He also offers psychoanalysis for modern content.
The book is, ironically, heavy reading for such subject matter.
A respected psychologist and children's rights advocate, Dr Prasert applies academic theory to enable readers to see connections between neurology and psychology with cartoon images and content. The high-brow content may cause a few yawns in some readers, but those who want a richer understanding of the art form will not be able to look at comics with the same perspective.
One Hundred Years Of Thai Cartoons: From Siam Classic To Thai Modern has its drawbacks. The writer and the editorial team should have worked much harder on organising the content and finding a central theme for the book. It also lacks references and background, making it impossible for non-hardcore fans of both Thai and Japanese cartoons to follow this book and get a full flavour of the medium.
In all, the book is an interesting work, with the ambitious goal of making society understand cartoons and consume them wisely. It does do justice cartoons _ which are major cultural products.
This is ideal for adult readers who take cartoons seriously. After finishing it, you might find yourself picking up some modern Thai manga, like this reviewer.
