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Bumilangit universe expands to Southeast Asia
Poster boy: The English edition of Gundala, titled Destiny, is published in neighboring Asian countries in partnership with Singapore-based Shogakukan Asia
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oster boy: The English edition of Gundala, titled Destiny, is published in neighboring Asian countries in partnership with Singapore-based Shogakukan Asia. The comic was an adaptation from the movie released last year as the start of the Bumilangit Cinematic Universe. (Courtesy of Bumilangit Enterprise)
The English edition of Gundala has landed in bookstores in Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei.
The release of Destiny, the first English edition of the comic adaption of Indonesian superhero movie Gundala, marked the start of a series of strategic partnerships between Indonesian intellectual property company Bumilangit Enterprise and Singapore-based Shogakukan Asia.
Officially launched on Feb. 1 at Kinokuniya bookstore in Plaza Senayan, Central Jakarta, for the Indonesian market, the comic book has been marketed in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and other countries in Southeast Asia since last December.
“This collaboration will open doors for Indonesian comics and IP works under the management of Bumilangit to reach new readers in the region and further beyond,” Bumilangit CEO and founder Bismarka Kurniawan said at the launch.
Also attending the event was Shogakukan Asia CEO Bunshio Kajiya, who expressed a positive impression about the
partnership.
“We are looking forward to continuing the cooperation with Indonesian talents in the future,” he said.
The original comic, Takdir, was named the best-selling local comic ever by publisher Gramedia last year and to date has seen a fourth printing for nationwide circulation.
The comic was written by Oyasujiwo based on the film script by Joko Anwar, who directed Gundala the movie, produced by Screenplay Bumilangit.
The film’s producer Wicky V. Olindo said the partnerships would have a positive impact on Indonesia’s creative industries.
“The public can see that Indonesian movies and comics could be accepted abroad. Another direct impact is that the ever-expanding Bumilangit Cinematic Universe could easily be more recognized internationally.”
As a supplement to the movie, the comic, as well as the next ones to come, served as a bridge between the movies in the Bumilangit universe — bumilangit translates as “universe” — to give a better description of the characters’ arc with some Easter eggs.
Comic artist Ardian Syaf, who formerly worked for DC Comics and Marvel Comics, lends his skill as penciler, Ecky as inker and editor, Doni Cahyono as colorist, while Erwin Prima Arya is in charge of layout and lettering.
In the wake of the release of Takdir last September, there has been controversy and a call for a boycott due to the inclusion of Ardian in the creative team.
Ardian ended his international career after being caught inserting religious references in some panels of Marvel Comics’ X-Men Gold #1 in 2017 without the company’s consent. This led to his dismissal.
Last year’s debate on social media, however, soon died down as the fans of Bumilangit took to his defense.
Bismarka said that his company’s decision to hire the artist despite the controversial case was largely due to his
professionalism.
“Let’s be honest here. Ardian was among the top comic artists this country has and his work meets our expectations on the characters’ visual. It would be hard to find artists whose works are on par with his,” he said.
“From the start, we had our cards on the table and talked to him about our goals in promoting Indonesian IP globally and he agreed to join us. After all, a comic is the product of a team that works closely together.”
Ardian, who has been involved in other titles of the Bumilangit universe, said that all creative decisions for the Gundala comic were made by writer Oyasujiwo.
“I just visualized the detailed instructions that came in the file,” he said, adding that he had watched the movie prior to its release to determine the angle, gestures and the dramatic effects in the comic.
Ardian also made some adjustments to his original style, drawing more curvy lines to visualize a character instead of the firm and sharp lines he used while still working on the American comics’ superheroes.
To emphasize the Indonesian physical traits of the characters, the team also decided to give them slender, lean muscles; the best example could be seen on the character of Sang Penari (The Dancer), which in the movie was played by martial artist-cum-actor Cecep Arif Rahman.
The storyline of Destiny was divided into chapters, each of which was bookmarked by the full body drawing of the character being introduced in the chapter.
The coloring was also made in a certain tone to describe the mood of the characters, such as blue hue for Sancaka, the protagonist who was struck by lightning as a boy; orange for the villain Pengkor, who was always associated with fire; and a multitude colors for The Orphans, Pengkor’s squad of assassins.
According to Ecky, the creative team carried the task to introduce Indonesia to the comic by inserting relatable aspects to it, including the views of a town or the wet market in the background and the food.
“The fact that our foreign partners had a lot of questions on how to translate these things unique to Indonesia means that we succeeded in putting them out in the comic,” said Ecky.
Oyasujiwo added that all Bumilangit products would be built on three main pillars of the story construction, which would include the grand history of the archipelago, local wisdom, and the portraits of Indonesia today.
“We’re promoting Indonesian content in each of our products to inspire other creators and to sustain the creative industry,” he said. (ste)
