She handed me the comic book, “finally! It’s a shame that the publisher didn’t make it available outside Indonesia, hahah!”
This is a comic book, Indonesian comic book, titled “Abdijiwo” by my sister.
I honestly don’t have any words to write here, other than an immense pride of having my own little sister publishing a work, her own original characters (OCs), under one of the biggest — if not, THE biggest — publishers in Indonesia. “Abdijiwo” is a fantasy comedy comic, telling a story of a boy named Surya and his soul servant (abdijiwa) named Raden, and Raden’s adventures in finding other soul servants that were scattered all over Indonesia so he could go to the afterlife. The story is peppered with Indonesia’s local lore, ghosts, and ghouls in such an entertaining way. I particularly love how her drawings follow Indonesia’s traditional designs. This work initially started as an online comic under LINE Webtoon Indonesia, which I once wrote about here: ‘Abdijiwo’ by Retno Widya
Unfortunately, the publisher didn’t continue the contract, so there is only one edition of the comic. That said, if you would like to get this comic, you can look for it on online marketplace or indie bookstores.
Also, in case you want to check the initial version of “Abdijiwo”, you can check it on LINE Webtoon Indonesia here.
