Panji Koming stood upright and made a saluting gesture. Both of his hands were clasped in front of his chest. On a huge rock below him, there were the words: “Goodbye, Pak Swan.” Meanwhile, Pailul was walking away and saying, “Writing about history is fun.”
The five-panel comic strip was the last one cartoonist Dwi Koendoro Brotoatmodjo made for Kompas. It was published in the Sunday edition on 18 August 2019. The two characters often seen as representing peasantry, Panji Koming and Pailul, were actually saying goodbye to an important figure in Kompas’ history, Polycarpus Swantoro.
Pak Swan, as we often called him, died on 11 August 2019. In our and Dwi Koendoro’s eyes, Pak Swan was never a history teacher but he was an important figure in the creation of Kompas.
As it turned out, Pailul’s words “Making history is fun” were the final words ever written for the character by Dwi Koen. The truthful words, said without any burden, seemed to have signaled Dwi Koen’s own departure. The cartoonist, who was born in Banjar, West Java, on 13 May 1941, died on Thursday (22/8/2019) at 3:14 a.m. at the Premier Bintaro Hospital in South Tangerang, Banten. This is always how cartoonists go. Much like writers, their words are always filled with metaphors and hidden meanings.
Dwi Koendoro – or Pak DeKa as he is often called – died from a stroke that he had suffered from since 2011. His health declined until he was brought to the Premier Bintaro Hospital on Wednesday (21/8). “Dad first suffered from a stroke in 2011. Nevertheless, he always strived to get healthy again,” Dwi’s oldest son Pinot W Ichwandardi, 49, said.
The Panji Koming comic strip was first published in Kompas Sunday on 14 October 1979. On the suggestion of GM Sudarta, Pak DeKa’s senior at the time, the populist comic strip with its seemingly naïve yet witty characters was born.
According to Efix Mulyadi, a journalist who worked with Pak DeKa at the time, Panji Koming carried on the tradition began by the punakawan characters in classic shadow puppet tales. “Panji Koming is the naïve one while Pailu is witty. There were also aristocrat-bureaucrats, who are arrogant yet empty-headed,” Efix said while visiting Pak Deka’s house in Pondok Aren, South Tangerang, to pay his last respects.
Pak Deka’s ingenuity was seen in his deft use of the Majapahit Empire era in his comic strips to tell stories about today. His stories were filled with unique characters, including Panji Koming, Pailul, Dyah Gembili, Ni Woro Ciblon, Denmas Aryo Kendor, Mbah Kakung and Kirik.
Through this invented world, Pak DeKa lobbed criticisms that often brought bitter smiles to the faces of readers, although sometimes some of his humorous writings had to be cut out by the editor.
In the first edition of Panji Koming, Dwi Koen drew six panels. On the first panel, a royal official was being transported on a palanquin with an umbrella above his head. The next panels showed that the official and his bodyguards were crossing a river. When they drowned on their way across the river, fish jumped.
On the other side of the river, a peasant was saluting the official. In the last panel, the saluting peasant says: “Maintaining self-prestige has its consequences.”
Narratives
The first Panji Koming edition signaled how Dwi Koen relied highly on visuals in telling his stories. His pictures were filled with rich narratives, whether with or without words. Sometimes he treated words as a “language of the heart” or to represent his opinion on certain relevant national issues. Often, his criticism drew laughter and amused readers. At times, they drew counter-criticisms.
Dwi Koen once served as head of the production and audiovisual divisions at Gramedia Film. He went to school at the SSRI/ASRI in Yogyakarta, where he sharpened his drawing skills.
According to one of his colleagues at Gramedia Film, Wiediantoro, the name Panji Koming was actually an abbreviation of Kompas Minggu (Kompas Sunday). Since Kompas Sunday was launched in the 1970s, its editions and editorial team were often referred to as Koming. In actuality, Wied said, Dwi Koen based his comic strip characters on his friends at Gramedia Film.
Surely the important thing is not whether the Panji Koming comic strip characters were based on real people or not. However one wishes to see it, Dwi Koen made himself a part of history by making himself an inseparable part of Kompas Sunday. Panji Koming and Dwi Koen are media icons that will last in the hearts and minds of all Kompas readers.
He has left behind important notes on the journey of Indonesia as a nation-state, which he loved through his criticisms. Such is how cartoonists express their deep love.
Goodbye, Pak DeKa. You may be gone but Panji Koming’s journey will go on with us. (SKA)