Are comic books turning into soap operas?

So Archie Andrews, the freckle-faced youngster from Riverdale High, has decided to settle down. After being a teenager for 65 years, Archie will finally grow up, graduate and marry his heiress heartthrob Veronica Lodge.

Following a teaser, readers were in a tizzy about whom Archie would pick to be his wife in the 600th issue — and then the angry fan mail followed, saying he’d made the wrong choice. Clearly, these new twists are turning Archie and the Gang into a comic book soap opera, a Kahaani Andrews ke Ghar Ki. Drama? Check. Jilted lovers and family intrigue? Check. Generation leap? Check, check, check.

It looks like readers want their comic books to imitate the potboilers they see on TV. “It’s a huge creative risk,” says Samir Patil, founder-CEO of ACK (Amar Chitra Katha) Media. “Comic book characters exist in a different plane, and by not being human, even in the way they look, they allow us to escape from reality. Why would you want the real world to intrude on that?” He feels comic book readers, unlike soap junkies, abhor any changes in plot: They want their superheroes to keep battling villains till eternity.

That’s probably why — except for a handful of them — the characters never grow up or even grow old. But not all enthusiasts are distraught by a change in situation. The Flintstones fans welcomed the marriage of Pebbles and Bam-Bam, who started out as two adorable toddlers. Older readers of the Phantom comics were surprised (though not aghast) when The Ghost Who Walks finally married his longtime girlfriend, Diana and had twins. Asterix now has a son, and so do Superman and Tarzan.

It helps that like TV serials, nothing is final in the comic book universe, not even death. Which gives writers the options to try all kinds of scenarios — resurrect the superheroes, take away their powers and bring back the villains. In March 2007, Marvel Comics killed off Captain America, the shield-wielding crimefighter originally imagined to combat Adolf Hitler. Later that week, Marvel boss John Quesada hinted that a comeback was on the cards.

Comic creators have now perfected the art of injecting spice into a flagging story, in any way they can. “The death of a character, or twist in plot doesn’t mean the end of a series. You can always add some dramatic turns in other ways,” says Sanjay Gupta, studio head of Raj Comics. Common ploys include introducing sidekicks (Robin, and a whole spinoff on his tale, Madrake’s evil twin brother, Derek) or having prequels (the forthcoming X-Men Origins will look at the backstory of the four principals, one comic at a time).

“You could also have a whole ‘What If…’ series, where anything can happen,” says Gupta. Raj Comics’ Naagraj lives in the parallel world of Mahanagar, and travels all over the world fighting terrorism. Captain America’s death was followed by Fallen Son: The Five Stages Of Grief, where other Marvel superheroes like Wolverine, The Avengers, Spiderman and Iron Man, gave readers their take on the incident. A change in setting also helps. The latest Batman comic, Batman In Barcelona, out earlier this week, has the masked warrior in Spain.

Sometimes, a twist in the tale could be a creator’s attempt at making the story more relevant today, says an official from another publishing house. “With so much competing media — games, internet, films and television — publishers have to contemporise their comics,” he says. “Same is boring,” says comic fanatic Avinash Mishra. “As a fan, I’m constantly looking for new challenges to be thrown at my favourite comic book stars. The more twists, the better. Publishers need to take the cue from people like me.”