Batul, Bantul, Batul the Great, or Bantul the Great ( bn, বাঁটুল দি গ্রেট) is a popular

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

comic strip character created by Narayan Debnath. It was inspired by the famous comics character

Desperate Dan Desperate Dan is a wild west character in the now-defunct Scottish comic magazine ''The Dandy'', and became its mascot. He made his appearance in the first issue which was dated 4 December 1937. He is apparently the world's strongest man, ...

drawn by Dudley D. Watkins. It first appeared and still appears in a children's magazine called Shuktara and is widely read, not only by children but by adults as well. It has since appeared in

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

format and as an animation series.

Origin

Narayan Debnath's first comic book characters in color were for the comic strip and book ''Batul The Great''. By Debnath's admission, he thought up the idea of the superhero while returning from College Street, Calcutta. He has remarked that the character of Batul was influenced by his friend Manohar Aich, the famous Bengali bodybuilder. The name came to him instantly and he thought up the figure of the protagonist rapidly. Initially, he did not know what he foresaw as a future for Batul and did not give him any

superpowers A superpower is a state with a dominant position characterized by its extensive ability to exert influence or project power on a global scale. This is done through the combined means of economic, military, technological, political and cultural s ...

. This character has similarities with

. When the

Bangladesh War of Liberation The Bangladesh Liberation War ( bn, মুক্তিযুদ্ধ, , also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, or simply the Liberation War in Bangladesh) was a revolution and armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali n ...

, also known as the

Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military confrontation between India and Pakistan that occurred during the Bangladesh Liberation War in East Pakistan from 3 December 1971 until the Pakistani capitulation in Dhaka on 16 Decem ...

flared up, he was asked by the editors and publishers to add an aura of invincibility. Debnath was reluctant at first because he was worried about legal implications. On assurance, he made Batul a superhero. Bullets began to bounce off of him, much like Superman. Batul was still drawn by Debnath for ''Shuktara''. It has been argued that the historical and cultural significance of Bantul is that he “became a symbol of formidability, a much needed push for the Bengalis in the Bangladesh Liberation War, 1971.”D. Ghosh Dastidar, “Prospects of Comic Studies in India,” ''Gnosis'' 3 (2019), 113–128 (116).

Theme

The protagonist of the story, Batul, is a superhero, with a well-built body and god-like strength. He is so strong that he can lift the whole earth, run through a wall breaking it to pieces, kill whales and sharks barehanded, and even missiles cannot pierce his chest. He has a great appetite and sometimes has a whale for his breakfast. Unlike other heroes, Batul does not wear any attractive attire. Rather, he is always seen clad in a pink or orange vest and a black shorts. He is the terror of

dacoits Dacoity is a term used for "banditry" in the Indian subcontinent. The spelling is the anglicised version of the Hindi word ''daaku''; "dacoit" is a colloquial Indian English word with this meaning and it appears in the ''Glossary of Colloqui ...

and hooligans, and protects the good. Sometimes, Batul's amazing strength is the cause of his downfall. This is especially true when he is trying to operate machinery, since he usually breaks it. Another example, depicted in the panel, shows him trying to ride a bull in a rodeo, but due to his weight, the legs of the bull get embedded in the ground. He is also a detective. With him stay two mischievous boys viz. ''Bachhu'' and ''Bichchu'' (also sometimes referred to as ''Goja'' গজা and ''Bhoja'' ভজা ), who regularly play truant at school, often conspire with robbers and commit daring crimes like bank robberies. Other characters in the comic strip include ''Lambakarna'', who has long ears and superhuman hearing. Batul's aunt, who cooks food for him; Batul's formidable pet dog ''Vedo'', and a pet ostrich, ''Uto''. He can also ignite flames by rubbing "Uko" on his head.

Animation Voice Artist

References

External links

Read Bantul Comics on the internet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bantul the great Superhero comics Indian comics characters Indian comics titles Indian Bengali comics Bengali comics Fictional Bengali people

Origin

Theme

Animation Voice Artist

See also

References

Further reading

External links