About Me
Showing posts with label Book reviews. Show all posts
I love learning about the progress of storytelling in all
mediums; books, comics, TV and films.
While the latest generation (or people in general) will always complain
the lack of originality with the constant adaptations of books in films, I
believe it is the life cycle of every story; from story to history, legend or
mythology. So, in this article, let’s
highlight the current growing evolution of storytelling in Malaysia, Maple
Comics.
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| Serious doh, aku tunggu title nih sejak Sekolah Menengah...bapak ah, mcm tk logik jugak dengar XD So much has changed since then :P |
Yeah, they’re still new and with barely enough content to
get noticed. But they’re growing! And that’s super exciting to me, to be able
to observe and support this huge possible success. But why and how did this
company started? What are the primary reasons? Well, you can basically Google
that information; reading interviews of the founders. But here, I’d like to point out the answers
by relating it to Malaysia’s history of storytelling (Of course, limited to my
observation and opinions...but feel free to share yours too!)
FIXI
From the Harry Potter books to a major film franchise and
now even a theme park! Every influential story has to start somewhere whether
directly or indirectly. I believe Maple
Comics was inspired by the bold and daring FIXI; a novel publishing company
that is known for its Urban and taboo themes.
Of course, I believe the company itself just wanted genuine good stories
but this trend compliments just what Malaysians are facing and yearning for;
hence forth the generalization of fans and re-occurrence of themes from
writers. FIXI continues to grow but
slowly. They started out by popping out
in events and conventions; opening up a small stall for their books. Now they have their own bookstore with a
strong fan base of their own. Indeed,
FIXI is now a niche, a cult following and this compliments another side of
Malaysians. But will Maple Comics follow
their footsteps or trend in terms of content?
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| Haven't had a chance to visit their shop |
CONTENT
Here’s where it get hazy and highly opinionated but dang
it! I just got to share this fan theory of mine! The titles that are available
now under the Maple Comics publishing are Invasi (I’ve waited for this since
High School!), Kuala Terengganu in 7 days, Taubat Si Tanggang and 5 days in
Beijing. There’s a pattern here, it is
very clear they have a specific target audience. Trust me, it’s very hard to find an audience
at first and you can only make assumptions of what the masses will respond
to. And according to these titles, Maple
Comics are targeting mature audiences; most likely from 18 to 25-ish, 30
max. Titles such as Invasi, a Sci-fy
action comic, and Taubat Si Tanggang, a re-imagined folktale of Malay values,
are very easy to identify as I can personally say I’m intrigued by them; being
a fan of stories that are imaginative and escapism in nature. However, it’s the other two that I’m hoping
to kick-off a new trend in storytelling.
I believe these two light and easy titles really compliment Malaysians
as a whole. We like our local content
light and you can definitely see that in our film industry; with comedy
constantly being slapped into any possible serious stories. This is different
and more honest. Both book plays around
with travelling, a very universal topic for youths (Hence my confidence with
their target audience) and with proper marketing, it can go big. This little hope of mine doesn’t stops here
as more facts come to mind with their future projects.
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| Their current books on sell, check it out here: http://maplecomics.com.my/ |
FUTURE CONTENT
First and for most, you should really follow their Facebook
page. They are constantly updating with up-coming
projects. You can know if they’re
attending any events or having any important meetings with talented artists. One of those projects is an original comic
from Malaysia’s own Marvel Comics artist, Alan Quah. Famous among higher ranks of Malaysia’s comic
book fans, Alan Quah is working on a short comic that centers his personal life
as an artist, husband and father. Again,
this type of content compliments the light and easy print. Haha...they should label that in the
future. Another title, which was recently
announced, is Paradigma Guru. This comic
is a continuation from its short comic online.
It was published for free under Supreme Comics, an online platform for
up and coming local comic book artist.
It’s interface works just as those pirated manga websites. The move was very bold and innovative,
finally bringing new talents from fresh sources; something that people in the
film industry seems to fail at. Of
course, like Alan Quah’s title, Paradigma Guru is also light but with a strong
influence of Anime and Manga (Which is always a welcomed style if done
right). Paradigma Guru tells the story
of a young teacher who’s coping to find purpose while teaching in school; with
a woman as the main character (A very attractive one at that) and it’s
adaptation of manga’s quirky and fun style of character expressions, I believe
many will be able to relate to reading a story that takes us back to high
school.
SIGNATURE PRINT/GENRE FOR MALAYSIAN COMICS
General audience in Malaysia (And even Americans) think that
the U.S only offers superhero with their comics. That’s sad because there’s tons of innovative,
vulgar and unique title that exists now.
But that’s the nature of an ongoing business and franchises; overflowing
with the same genres and titles. I’m
hoping that Malaysian comics can build their own genre. I hope that the light and easy print can
become a big thing because of its cultural value and nostalgic engagement. People from around the world can learn more
about Malaysia’s culture. I really wish
it can be lucrative too because, of course, this can give birth to more opportunities. That's not to say I ignore other genres. Of course, I hope there would be more room for artists and audience to produce their desired content.
Here's hoping for better days in Malaysia's Creative Industry! Thank you for reading.
Alhamdulillah,
this is my second post labelled 'Book reviews' and I really don't do a lot of reading. I'm trying to get use to reading since my ambitions involves creative writing. I believe that you have to get inspirations from many resources; relying only on television isn't much of a good idea. To be frank, I feel really good about myself because I don't read a lot of novels and to finish this one which I've spent more than a month is really satisfying. I'm a pretty slow reader you know and I bet if I would to tell a regular book enthusiast that I spent a month reading a 300 page book, they would laugh. By the way, here's the first post of Book reviews: Comics (DMZ Friendly Fire and World War Hulk)
I stumbled upon this book's wikia about a year ago and the main character's design fascinated me. What makes it more fascinating is that there's rumours that there's going to be a movie adaptation of it and so, with those two facts bearing in my mind; I bought the book. It was sort of serendipitous--well, not really; spontaneously stumbling Mumford and Sons's Sigh No More album was serendipitous because I tried to looked for it for 3 years. They're not popular in Malaysia so it was difficult to find it. I found this book when I was working at MPH Bookstores and since I get 20% off as a result of employee discount; I figured, why not just buy it? So, the story is a combination of detective and magic though I didn't felt much of the detective part. It felt more to a "secret magical society living in our modern world" kind of plot. Did that made sense? I hope it did. Maybe it's just me but the story definitely focus more on explaining the secret magical society's history rather than emphasizing the crime solving. The story starts with an adolescent girl who got herself involve in a secret world when she investigates the curious death of her uncle. Stephanie Edgley met Skulduggery Pleasant, a walking skeleton with good taste in fashion and highly mannered, while sticking up her nose in this awfully dangerous world and thus, causing them to be good friends. In my opinion, this book focuses more on the magical world's history. Don't get me wrong, they are plenty of investigations going on but with the Faceless Ones and The War being told; it just screams out history to me. To know more about the Faceless Ones and The War, buy the book! It's good--I mean, I don't read a lot of novels but it kept me reading; that proves something, doesn't it?
What I love about it though is the main character, Skulduggery. He's the kind of character with a vast vocabulary and manners; a fine combination of making a gentleman. I love smooth talking characters, they look just so cool and fascinating to me. They could give low IQ villains a hard time understanding them with their choice of words. Plus, it makes you sound more intelligent! He's also funny. He makes intelligent jokes which I always choose over slapstick and dirty ones.
Another character's appearance that caught my attention was Ghastly Bespoke. Now, I didn't saw a picture of him before I read the book. After I read it, he's description was sort of weird to me. A man who had a boxing background thus leading him to have a strong upper body strength; big arms and muscular all over. But be that as it may, he chose to be a tailor instead. He's background and physical appearance is quite a weird one. He's face is said to have many scars; an unpleasant sight to be seen. But official artworks of him didn't click with what I expected. So, I made a sketch of my own.
I admit, Ghastly's appearance is quite hard to execute and this sketch of mine didn't satisfy me. Instead of scars, I gave my version stitches. Seeing the movie adaptation of him would be fun to see how they made him into reality.
Now the question for me is will I buy the next book? Well, of course but not now. I'm going to college soon so I need to save money. Besides, I have loads of other things to buy and so I guess, I would probably buy the book next year. Thankfully, this book wasn't a waste of money and I give it a 3 out of 5 for a good read. It's the first instalment; there are loads of story introduction in which I presume the next books should be good with it being build up.
Lately, I haven't been posting sketches of my own design a lot but now, alhamdulillah, I've finished part one of my short comic! :D
I'll post it soon, Insya Allah and I'll be hoping for some constructive criticism.
That's all for now, Salam and have a good day everybody!
this is my second post labelled 'Book reviews' and I really don't do a lot of reading. I'm trying to get use to reading since my ambitions involves creative writing. I believe that you have to get inspirations from many resources; relying only on television isn't much of a good idea. To be frank, I feel really good about myself because I don't read a lot of novels and to finish this one which I've spent more than a month is really satisfying. I'm a pretty slow reader you know and I bet if I would to tell a regular book enthusiast that I spent a month reading a 300 page book, they would laugh. By the way, here's the first post of Book reviews: Comics (DMZ Friendly Fire and World War Hulk)
I stumbled upon this book's wikia about a year ago and the main character's design fascinated me. What makes it more fascinating is that there's rumours that there's going to be a movie adaptation of it and so, with those two facts bearing in my mind; I bought the book. It was sort of serendipitous--well, not really; spontaneously stumbling Mumford and Sons's Sigh No More album was serendipitous because I tried to looked for it for 3 years. They're not popular in Malaysia so it was difficult to find it. I found this book when I was working at MPH Bookstores and since I get 20% off as a result of employee discount; I figured, why not just buy it? So, the story is a combination of detective and magic though I didn't felt much of the detective part. It felt more to a "secret magical society living in our modern world" kind of plot. Did that made sense? I hope it did. Maybe it's just me but the story definitely focus more on explaining the secret magical society's history rather than emphasizing the crime solving. The story starts with an adolescent girl who got herself involve in a secret world when she investigates the curious death of her uncle. Stephanie Edgley met Skulduggery Pleasant, a walking skeleton with good taste in fashion and highly mannered, while sticking up her nose in this awfully dangerous world and thus, causing them to be good friends. In my opinion, this book focuses more on the magical world's history. Don't get me wrong, they are plenty of investigations going on but with the Faceless Ones and The War being told; it just screams out history to me. To know more about the Faceless Ones and The War, buy the book! It's good--I mean, I don't read a lot of novels but it kept me reading; that proves something, doesn't it?
 |
| It's too sketchy, don't you think? |
What I love about it though is the main character, Skulduggery. He's the kind of character with a vast vocabulary and manners; a fine combination of making a gentleman. I love smooth talking characters, they look just so cool and fascinating to me. They could give low IQ villains a hard time understanding them with their choice of words. Plus, it makes you sound more intelligent! He's also funny. He makes intelligent jokes which I always choose over slapstick and dirty ones.
Another character's appearance that caught my attention was Ghastly Bespoke. Now, I didn't saw a picture of him before I read the book. After I read it, he's description was sort of weird to me. A man who had a boxing background thus leading him to have a strong upper body strength; big arms and muscular all over. But be that as it may, he chose to be a tailor instead. He's background and physical appearance is quite a weird one. He's face is said to have many scars; an unpleasant sight to be seen. But official artworks of him didn't click with what I expected. So, I made a sketch of my own.
I admit, Ghastly's appearance is quite hard to execute and this sketch of mine didn't satisfy me. Instead of scars, I gave my version stitches. Seeing the movie adaptation of him would be fun to see how they made him into reality.
Now the question for me is will I buy the next book? Well, of course but not now. I'm going to college soon so I need to save money. Besides, I have loads of other things to buy and so I guess, I would probably buy the book next year. Thankfully, this book wasn't a waste of money and I give it a 3 out of 5 for a good read. It's the first instalment; there are loads of story introduction in which I presume the next books should be good with it being build up.
Lately, I haven't been posting sketches of my own design a lot but now, alhamdulillah, I've finished part one of my short comic! :D
I'll post it soon, Insya Allah and I'll be hoping for some constructive criticism.
That's all for now, Salam and have a good day everybody!
I wanted to label this post within movie review or at least make it all under 'reviews' because of the fact that I'm not much of a reader. But darn it, I'll start reading now! To be a good writer, you need to read a lot and that, of course, includes novels which I'm not much of a fan of it. So, I'll start slowly with comics :)
I'm already reading a novel but I haven't finished it yet. I'm a slow reader =/
I bought this earlier this year. It costs me RM 45 somethin'. The problem is that this is a series and I bought the issue that's somewhere in the middle of the series because it was the cheapest :p
So, what do I think of this comic? It's superb! I don't read a lot of comics and when I do, they're about superheroes and so, reading a comic that centres realistic and mature topics really fascinates me. Even though I had problems to understand what's going on (since I din't read the first few issues), it did thrilled me with it's artwork and story. If I'm not mistaken, the story centres a reporter's view on a war between the government and an anti-establishment militia within the United States of America. Due to this uprising, Manhattan has become a battlefield known as the DMZ. The story centres on how the war affects the people of the DMZ. It's really deep I tell you and to conclude or explain it in this post would be sort of unfair since I didn't read the rest of the series. So, specifically for this issue, I give it a 3 out of 5 for a good read.
And just to make this post longer, I'm doing a review on a comic that I've read two years ago...I think. World War Hulk, to me, is the best superhero comic book I've read so far. I love how they try to send out a message about making the right decisions with the legacy of the iconic character. What's Hulk's legacy? Misunderstood monster and anger....mostly anger. Hulk was send to another planet by the Illuminati (Iron Man, Namor, Professor Xavier, Doctor Strange, Mr.Fantastic and Black Bolt) because he was just too dangerous. The ship's coordinates was meant to send him to a peaceful planet but it somehow landed on Sakaar; a vicious planet ruled by the merciless Red king. In the comic, Hulk was already a king on Sakaar and he and his WarBound friends went to Earth to avenge his wife's death (Not Betty) whom he thought was all The Illuminati's fault. From here, it was total mayhem as all of earth's mightiest heroes dramatically battled The Hulk. I loved that part. Well, to find out what happens next; you should buy the book. It's totally recommended for superhero fans.
Of course, even when I say it's the best comic book I've read, there's still some things that I don't like. Number one, I don't like the wife thing. Honestly, an alien wife? What about Betty? It's a good thing the comic skipped ahead to the Earth part because I wouldn't like the Gladiator in space part. Though I did watch that part. They made an Animation out of it. It was quite okay. Number two and this is a spoiler alert, he had a son in the end. Are you serious? An alien son? There's a spin-off for his son and well, I won't waste my money on that one. I would try to read it but to buy it...that's a no, no. By the way, I didn't even bought the book. I borrowed if from a friend. Haha. So, I give this book a 4 out of 5 for it's combination of The Hulk's legacy of anger and a strong message or theme of making the right decisions.
I'm already reading a novel but I haven't finished it yet. I'm a slow reader =/
I bought this earlier this year. It costs me RM 45 somethin'. The problem is that this is a series and I bought the issue that's somewhere in the middle of the series because it was the cheapest :p
So, what do I think of this comic? It's superb! I don't read a lot of comics and when I do, they're about superheroes and so, reading a comic that centres realistic and mature topics really fascinates me. Even though I had problems to understand what's going on (since I din't read the first few issues), it did thrilled me with it's artwork and story. If I'm not mistaken, the story centres a reporter's view on a war between the government and an anti-establishment militia within the United States of America. Due to this uprising, Manhattan has become a battlefield known as the DMZ. The story centres on how the war affects the people of the DMZ. It's really deep I tell you and to conclude or explain it in this post would be sort of unfair since I didn't read the rest of the series. So, specifically for this issue, I give it a 3 out of 5 for a good read.
And just to make this post longer, I'm doing a review on a comic that I've read two years ago...I think. World War Hulk, to me, is the best superhero comic book I've read so far. I love how they try to send out a message about making the right decisions with the legacy of the iconic character. What's Hulk's legacy? Misunderstood monster and anger....mostly anger. Hulk was send to another planet by the Illuminati (Iron Man, Namor, Professor Xavier, Doctor Strange, Mr.Fantastic and Black Bolt) because he was just too dangerous. The ship's coordinates was meant to send him to a peaceful planet but it somehow landed on Sakaar; a vicious planet ruled by the merciless Red king. In the comic, Hulk was already a king on Sakaar and he and his WarBound friends went to Earth to avenge his wife's death (Not Betty) whom he thought was all The Illuminati's fault. From here, it was total mayhem as all of earth's mightiest heroes dramatically battled The Hulk. I loved that part. Well, to find out what happens next; you should buy the book. It's totally recommended for superhero fans.
Of course, even when I say it's the best comic book I've read, there's still some things that I don't like. Number one, I don't like the wife thing. Honestly, an alien wife? What about Betty? It's a good thing the comic skipped ahead to the Earth part because I wouldn't like the Gladiator in space part. Though I did watch that part. They made an Animation out of it. It was quite okay. Number two and this is a spoiler alert, he had a son in the end. Are you serious? An alien son? There's a spin-off for his son and well, I won't waste my money on that one. I would try to read it but to buy it...that's a no, no. By the way, I didn't even bought the book. I borrowed if from a friend. Haha. So, I give this book a 4 out of 5 for it's combination of The Hulk's legacy of anger and a strong message or theme of making the right decisions.
