[POP CULTURE] Ario Anindito | About A Comic Artist Who Doesn't Just Draw Good

Indonesian comic artist Ario Anindito (Mahesa ARK / VOI)

Homeland pop culture is growing rapidly. Not a few of them have started to hone their skills in making works. Good at drawing is not necessarily enough. Regarding being a comic artist, we interviewed Ario Anindito who has made many works for Marvel and DC Comics.

From Jalan Sawo, Gondangdia, we headed to Kota Kembang, Bandung to meet Ario. The four-hour trip from Jakarta, we had to go through in order to avoid the unpredictable traffic jam on the Cikampek toll road.

At around 15:20 WIB, we finally met Ario and his wife Farah at a cafe called Giggle Box in the Buah Batu area, Bandung. If he doesn't introduce himself, maybe ordinary people will not realize that this man has brought the name Indonesia on the international scene.

He has drawn many comic strip heroes from Marvel and DC Comics. He has drawn countless superhero characters, such as Hulkverine, Wolverines, Avengers, Agent of Shield, and Star Wars.

"Well, it is often like that (famous abroad, less well known domestically)," joked Ario, Tuesday, November 19.

While sipping a cappuccino, Ario shared his experience of becoming a comic artist for Marvel Comics. The story begins with his love of reading comics every weekend. Ario spent hours enjoying the stories and images of the image heroes.

His hobby is reading comics, he channeled it in scribbles of the heroes on a piece of paper. His diligence in image activities has continued to be developed until now and has a career as a comic artist.

"It's not that I just learned yesterday afternoon and immediately accepted at Marvel. It takes years, from when I met Brian Bolland in 2009 until finally my work went to DC Comic around 2012. There is a process, I have a lot to go through,"

Ario Anindito

Ario Anindito when drawing comic characters (doc. Instagram @Arioanindito)

Get into the world of pop culture

Being able to become a comic artist for a foreign company was actually a surprise for Ario's career. He is grateful that Internet technology has become a medium for him to display his works on various art sites.

Initially, Ario was not sure. However, he finally decided to collaborate with the agency, which in 2012 connected him to Marvel's competitor, DC Comics. One of the comics released by DC Comics is "Red Hood and the Outlaws # 10"

His talent was then recognized by Marvel in 2014. Being able to work for Marvel is not easy. Ario had to go through a kind of audition process with a tight deadline.

By Marvel Ario is trusted as a penciler and inker. Usually, the manuscripts he receives from writers at Marvel are then studied and transferred to paper in the form of comic panels for one comic or 20 pages. The process of working on a comic usually takes five weeks.

"Since then I have been thinking about it, I think it will be fun if I can determine the plot of a story," said the comic artist who was working on the comic Sword Master & Shang-chi: Master Class.

Given that he works from Bandung, the time difference is sometimes a challenge for him, because the working hours are reversed. Not infrequently in working on a comic drawing, Ario has to stay up late until morning.

Late in the afternoon, Ario began discussing the comic industry that was growing rapidly, plus the emergence of online comics in Indonesia. Different from previous years, in displaying his work.

"If the platforms like Webtoon or Ciayo don't go through, there will still be Instagram to display our works and pictures. For example, tahilalats and clear comics, so no more works can't be displayed," he continued.

With the Internet, according to Ario, comic artists can learn through tutorials from YouTube or other websites on the Internet. In addition, the comic industry in Indonesia is also supported by local publishers who are willing to publish comics both physically and comics online via the Internet.

Not to mention the facilities and technological developments that make it easier for people to draw. Producing works is no longer limited to paper, pencil or eraser. Now it can be via a tablet or smartphone plus the many tools and applications that make a work easier.

"Here even my wife can draw pictures, on a smartphone there is an application," he said, who also graduated from the Bachelor of Architecture at Parahyangan University.

So there is no more reason for young comic artists to work. But one has to think about how a comic artist can maintain his consistency in making comics and the quality of the comics that is made, even if it can be improved.

The comic artists must be aware of the quality of the comics. Ario added that sharing among comic artists is also important so that later comic artists will know more about what deficiencies need to be fixed.

"That is why I feel that we as professionals need to share, so that they know what quality to pursue, what are the ways to do it. I can draw, (later to be shared) actually the US comic format is on what paper, Then what about the process until the results are like, because without sharing like that, they don't know what to do, "said the man who also works as an Art Director for advertisements and films in Indonesia.

Fame and Fortune is not a goal

Ario never imagined that he could become famous and often appeared on television. Because that kind of fame was not the advantage he was looking for. Ario only advised young Kiwari comic artists to make more efforts to hone their skills in producing a work.

Ario just wants to inspire young people to keep trying. He shows that he, who is a child from the outskirts of Bandung, has now succeeded in breaking into Marvel. But it's not all instantaneous, it all takes time.

"I didn't care about that (fame and fortune), what I cared about was that I liked drawing. Incidentally, because I like pictures, it finally penetrated to Marvel, from there I just got exposure, exposure to fame, people know who Ario is. But is that my goal? No. I never thought about it, especially I'm an introvert, "he said.

Being a comic artist, is not an easy matter, especially just good at drawing. It takes consistency and persistence in producing a good work.

Ario has high hopes, if the quality of the work of our nation's children is maintained and developed, it will slowly but surely grow like the comic industry in America or Japan.