Petruk-gareng in three musketeers, A strategy to gain popularity

Abstrak

The development of wayang comics in Indonesia had given birth to a new genre: “Petruk-Gareng” comics. In this new genre, parody style is considerably used, which led Petruk-Gareng to other directions. The characters known as punakawan from wayang stories are Semar, Gareng, Petruk and Bagong. In these comics these characters can enter different background stories. Using qualitative approach, the Petruk-Gareng comics are found to have used parody. It was started with the story of Tiga Serangkai (1963) and 20 Tahun Kemudian, which were written and drawn by Indri Sudono. In this Tiga Serangkai, the parody approach was used for the first time. In popular culture, parody and genre are the tools used to attract readers and to accommodate the taste of the readers. Whether it is regarded as genre or subgenre of wayang comics, Petruk-Gareng was obviously a new way that allowed the interaction with other type of popular culture.

Keywords: Petruk-Gareng; Parody; Popular Culture