SCC's Comics Talk

Ratings out of 5 stars. Comics courtesy of Absolute Comics (Plaza Singapura) except for War Stories #13, Mythic #4 and Singapore Subterranean Grapevine Book 9.   Mythic #4 Story: Phil Hester Art: John McCrea Image Comics Released 3 weeks ago, this is still worth hunting down. Phil Hester and John McCrea get back together 10 years after their horror series, The Atheist, for Image Comics. Mythic deals with working class magicians trying to police the mythical world. You know, normal blokes like you and me and working towards our government pension and retirement. (of course, there is no more pension in Singapore, but if you believe in magic…) Imagine BPRD set in Britain and the team knocking back for a pint at the local pub after work, you get an idea of the world of Mythic. John McCrea (Hitman, The Boys) is pretty active recently. Drawing this and also regular...

Ratings out of 5 stars. Comics courtesy of Absolute Comics (Plaza Singapura) except for Island #3, Perfect World Today, Roleplayers #1-3 and Paper Girls #1   Island #3 Story and art: Various Image Comics Another one too good to miss. Even though this came out on 16 September, 3 weeks ago, this is the comic to read now. Just like 8House is the brainchild of Brandon Graham, Island, the new oversized comic magazine (no ads!) published by Image, is conceived by Emma Rios and Graham. Comic magazines are rare these days – the other recent one is Meanwhile published by Soaring Penguin Press. I am really excited by Island’s esoteric stories. It is anything goes. From Kelly Sue DeConnick’s heartfelt essay (with illustrations by Ríos) about her friendship with the late writer and poet Maggie Estep in the first issue to Rios writing and drawing her own story in the...

Ratings out of 5 Stars. Comics courtesy of Absolute Comics (Plaza Singapura) except for 8house #3.   8HOUSE #3 Story and art: Brandon Graham and Xurxo G. Penalta Image Comics One of the most exciting titles in the market now, 8house is a high level sci-fi concept series with rotating creatives and a different kind of scheduling. To quip: There are four 8HOUSE stories. Arclight is created by Marian Churchland and Brandon Graham, and its first two chapters ran in 8HOUSE #1 and #2. Kiem is created by Xurxo G. Penalta and Brandon Graham, and its first chapter ran in 8HOUSE #3. Yorris is created by Helen Maier and Fil Barlow, and its first two chapters will run in 8HOUSE #4 and #5. Finally, Mirror, created by Emma Ríos and the Malaysian artist, Hwei Lim, will run in its entirety from 8HOUSE #6-9. After that, the finales for the remaining...

Ratings out of 5 stars. Comics courtesy of Absolute Comics (Plaza Singapura). A slow week according to Absolute Comics, so only 3 comics were provided for reviews. All from DC.   We Are Robin #4 Story: Lee Bermejo Art: James Harvey DC Comics A few months ago, I bought an oversized Image one-shot, Masterplasty by James Harvey. It was an orgasm of colours and wackiness done by a pop art cartoonist on drugs. You can imagine my surprise when I picked this up to find it’s the same James Harvey running havoc in this standalone issue of We Are Robin. So kudos to the stuffy suits at DC, who show that the mainstream can still take a walk on the wild side. We are Robin borrows the Kickass concept of kids becoming superheroes to protect their city and extends it to Gotham City. In this issue, one of the Robins...

We have stories to tell. Singaporeans, I mean. Which isn't the same as saying that we have stories about Singapore to tell. Yes, there's a place for stories about growing up in Toa Payoh or kampong life – but we're capable of more than that. On the other end of the spectrum, that doesn’t mean we have to carve out our own Marvel or DC universes either. And while that’s not to say that we can't create our own superheroes, we're still capable of more than that too. So, what exactly are we capable of? Well, you don’t really need me to tell you. People talk a lot about the Singapore comic scene as if it’s some elusive phenomenon, or still in its gestation – but we already have comics out there that we can proudly point to as Singaporean, either because of the creators behind them or their subject...