Taking place at the Filateli Jakarta office in Central Jakarta on Thursday, April 4, the release also commemorated what would be the 100^th birthday of the late Raden Ahmad Kosasih or RA Kosasih. Born in the West Java city of Bogor, RA Kosasih is widely recognized as the “Father of Indonesian comics”.

The stamps come in different versions, such as a souvenir sheet that consists of three stamps valued at Rp 10,000 (71 US Cents), a standard version where each stamp is sold separately for Rp 3,000 and a limited edition first day cover, Sampul Hari Pertama.

The special edition stamps are the outcome of a collaboration between the Indonesian Comic Association (AKSI) and the Communications and Information Ministry, which manages the postal company.

Read also: 'Dilan 1990' stamps now available for purchase

Seri perangko dan sampul hari pertama pahlawan Indonesia adalah salah satu pengingat hari dan tahun istimewa dalam sejarah komik pahlawan Indonesia. #Prangko Pos Indonesia resmi meluncurkan prangko jagoan Indonesia. Hayo siapa yang pengen mengkoleksi? pic.twitter.com/6JP2Hzg3Uu

— POS INDONESIA (@PosIndonesia) April 5, 2019

Faza Meonk, head of AKSI, explained that every year Pos Indonesia came up with 12 themes for the stamp series that will be released throughout the year. “Indonesian superheroes were selected this year to coincide with the 100^th anniversary of RA Kosasih’s birth, and considering that one of his popular characters was Sri Asih, the first women warrior in Indonesia,” said Faza in an official statement.

Sri Asih is said to be RA Kosasih’s first superhero creation. She was the first female superhero to appear in Madjalah Komik (Comic Magazine) on Jan. 1, 1954, and inspired the birth of other female superheroes in the Indonesian comic word.

Faza added that this year also marked the 50^th anniversary of Gundala’s birth, a famed fictional superhero created by the late Harya “Hasmi” Suraminata in mid-1969. Additionally, 2017 also marks the 50^th anniversary of Si Buta dari Gua Hantu. Si Buta dari Gua Hantu is one of the most popular martial arts heroes created by Ganes TH. “So they were born almost at the same time,” said Faza. “Hence, these three characters were selected to represent the long journey of Indonesia’s comic industry.”

Additionally, Gundala will be brought to the big screen this year. “Bumilangit Studios and Screenplay Films will release Gundala to celebrate the comic's 50^th anniversary. […] We’d like to introduce a comic character that was famous in the 70s to the younger generation,” said Andy Wijaya, commercial general manager of Bumilangit Entertainment Corpora, a character-based entertainment company. (wir/mut)

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