SCC's Comics Talk

"Here we go again! From the same team who brought to you the inaugural comic book extravaganza Singapore and Malaysia Virtual Fan Festival (SMVFF), we present to you SMVFF II! We have packed more guests, more panels, more commissions, more merchandise, more livestreams into the two days (5-6 Dec 2020)! This round we would be talking to comic book legend Chris Claremont and comic book artist extraordinaire Nick Bradshaw, along with returning guest mega star Arthur Adams! Stand to win also a Star Wars Heir to the Empire #1 (featuring the first comic book appearance of Grand Admiral Thrawn) worth US$150! Chat with our artists in the region in our virtual artist alleys! So, make a date and join us the weekend of 5-6 Dec!" ~ Myron Tay, Primary Organiser, SCC We have a total of 35 guests who will be appearing on Panels as well as Artists Alley streams.

Ran out of things to do for this weekend? The Singapore Comics Community and MY Comics Community have come together to put up the SMVFF (SCC & MYCC Virtual Fan Festival - PLAY Exhibition)! Their live session schedule for both days have been released, so set your reminders now!  A shout-out to participating artists who will be at the SMVFF Vendor & Artist Alley. If you’d like to purchase their exclusive comics or get commission pieces from them, be sure to be visit the online event this More information about this event can be found in the links below:Live Streams URL: Live StreamParticipating Guest Artists: Guest ArtistsFB Event: EventMembers' submission: Members' Storytime Submission

The Chinese term “manhua” (漫画) is commonly used in Hong Kong to mean “cartoon” or “comics”. Manhua, in Hong Kong today, also refers to “lianhuantu” (連环图) a Chinese term that means picture books featuring a sequence of Chinese line art accompanied by prose, telling stories about traditional characters. These stories have typically been of the martial arts and kung fu genres.

One only has to glance through the pages of the Eisner-Award winning “The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye”, by Sonny Liew, to see the development of comic book art in Asia over the last several decades. True, the titular character created by Sonny is fictional – but Chan Hock Chye’s journey illustrates the myriad influences that have flowed into the region over the years, and some ways in which they were adapted and transformed by local culture.

Comic books are basically fully illustrated story books. To tell the story well in this media, comic book writers not only have to decide on the prose, but also on the way their stories are told graphically. To do this well, the writers at the major comic publishers would typically have to collaborate closely with their co-creators (pencilers, inkers and colourists) much in the same way that movies are the result of a team of scriptwriters, directors, cameramen and actors. While some may think that grown-ups have no need of pictures to get into stories they read, many adults still marvel at visual interpretations of written prose, such as those adapted to movies and television. One other characteristic of comic books is that they tend to have quicker turnaround times compared to some other modes of modern story telling such as movies and television series. They could be published on a...

I've been collecting comics for twenty years now. I love the hobby and would go to the local comics store regularly picking up weekly/monthly issues from my pull list. As I progressed further in the hobby, I started to make more friends that started collecting “key” comic issues.
What we mean by the term “key” is that the issue is significantly important in that it might contain an event that can shock a storyline prompting collectors to collect those comics. Events such as Secret Wars, Civil War, The Infinity Gauntlet, Death of Superman and more recently the death of Wolverine are some examples. These are key events and collectors will scramble to get the best copies, variants and also aim for the best possible “condition” of the book available.

The concept of slabbing collectibles (coins, trading cards, comics, toys, video games) has had its share of (common) problems and controversies over the years. If you are starting or have pondered starting to collect slabbed / third-party graded comics, do be aware of the three concerns below and make a considered decision before slabbing your comics or purchasing slabbed ones.1) You Can't Read the Book Anymore!This is the one thing that amuses me the most when I discuss slabbed comics. Let’s first be clear on what I mean—I really mean that if you remove the book from the (not-unbreakable) slab, you are essentially undoing the grade given by the grading company. That is why people do not remove the book from the slab. Of course, the flipside of this is that you lose one very key reason why the book was to enjoyed and owned in the first place—to be able...

Rarity - a foremost quality to hobbyists. A comic book with a print run of 100,000 is spawned from a single canvas - an original piece that was inked, coloured and then mass-produced. In the quest for exclusivity, novelty and investment value, original comic art is becoming more attractive to collectors. This article seeks to briefly address a few basic aspects of the hobby.

S!LENCE Story/Art: Tanky Big Egg Comics One of the best local comics to come out this year, S!LENCE debuted at this year's STGCC and reading it again, it still holds up as a strong story. Created originally as an entry for the Silent Manga Audition, Tanky has done a SF / jungle manga story that will have you at the edge of your seat and still tug the heartstrings. S!LENCE didn't win anything but it gave Tanky the opporunity to create this delightful silent comic, which reminds me of HK's Lai Tat Tat Weng. The same kind of quirkiness and sense of discovery.  Silent comics have been around for a long time. See David Berona's Wordless Books: The Original Graphic Novels. And for us in Southeast Asia with our myriad of languages, a silent comic actually transcends boundaries and borders. I did a few myself with artists from Indonesia and it...

The Fix Story: Nick Spencer Art: Steve Lieber Image Comics Comics are like cable TV these days. Writers and artists plan their story arcs like TV series seasons. And the way we consume comics is like watching Netflix. Instead of buying the single issues, we wait for the trade and read everything at one go. That’s how most of us would have read The Fix, the new crime / comedy series by hot writer, Nick Spencer and the ever-reliable, Steve Lieber. The first issue had good press when it was released in April (it went into third printing). Four issues later, the first trade is out and it did brisk sales at this year’s STGCC where Spencer was a guest and was on site to sign and promote the book. Two bad LA cops (who rob old men in old folks home among other things) are under orders from their even...

Ratings out of 5 stars.   The Mighty Skullboy Army Vol 1 Story/Art: Jacob Chabot Dark Horse Books The great thing about visiting cons or festivals is that it gives you a chance to browse through new (or old) works that you have not encountered before. Jacob Chabot, an invited guest of this year’s STGCC, is someone I have not known about. Picked up the first volume of The Mighty Skullboy Army and was surprised to find out it’s been around since 2000. This volume one collects the self-published mini-comics from 2000 to 2006 and was originally published in 2007. This reformatted second edition came out in 2015, which boasts a new cover and over 30 revised story pages. The premise is hilarious. What if your villainous CEO of an evil MNC (Skullboy) needs to go to a primary school because he is, well, too young to be that evil and...

Ratings out of 5 stars.   The Magician’s Wife Story: Jerome Charyn Art: Francois Boucq Dover (2015) Some things you need time to appreciate. Like good wine and whiskey that aged well. Like Bob Dylan. The Magician’s Wife, one of the first magic realism graphic novels, is one of those works. I first read this in the 1980s and you don’t quite get it. But it left a deep impression. So when Dover re-released this book again last year, it was on my grab list. It is one of the most wonderful things I have read for a long time. A tale of love and betrayal, obsession and redemption. A magician wrongs his wife and both need to seek forgiveness for all that had gone before. Jerome Charyn’s story has stood the test of time while Francois Boucq’s art is simply stunning to behold. There is a certain purity to his...

Return after a hiatus. Monthly now. Ratings out of 5 stars.   The Vision Vol 1: Little Worse Than A Man Writer: Tom King Artist: Gabriel Hernandez Walta Marvel Tom King is one hell of a writer these days. He likes to pull the rug underneath your feet, sort of overturning conventions and expectations. Just read the first issue of Omega Men he wrote in 2015 – it opens with the execution of the White Lantern Kyle Rayner. The Omega Men is portrayed as jihadists, fighting against the Man and the System. A pushback and critique of neoliberalism? Perhaps. The Vision is no different. This is American Gothic dressed up as a Marvel superhero comic. Nothing is worse than a good man becoming the devil when he tries to do good. That is the tragedy of The Vision. He truly believes what he is doing is the right thing – to...

Ratings out of 5 stars. Mainstream comics available at Absolute Comics.    Mary Wept Over The Feet of Jesus Story/Art: Chester Brown Drawn & Quarterly The only comic you need to read this year. Chester Brown returns after Paying For It (about being a john and the pros of you know, paying for it) and you got to admire his one-track mind on prostitution. He makes a strong argument for it and now he brings out the big guns. It’s alright because the good book and the big man say so. Chester is a religious man in an unconventional way. These are old stories retold but he gets into the psychology of the situation, like why Cain is so unhappy. And Job is really pissed off. Art-wise, Chester is playing with the form without playing with it. Simply brilliant. Have fun reading the detailed notes which make up the last third...

Ratings out of 5 stars.   Providence Story: Alan Moore Art: Jacen Burrows Avatar Those who said Alan Moore is a spent force have no idea what they are talking about. The warlock has just started his sixth decade on this earth and the recent stuff is phenomenal. Many found Neonomicon disturbing and disgusting, but it’s some of the most fascinating stuff I’ve ever read. And scary to the balls. Providence is the sequel and prequel to that and there is more HP Lovecraft sh*t going down here – fishmen, incest, rape and murder. This hardcover collects issue 1 to 4 and is limited to 6,666 copies. (6.66 stars) Comic Book Apocalypse: The Graphic World of Jack Kirby Edited and with an Introduction by Charles Hatfield and Ben Saunders IDW/California State University, Northridge Art Galleries I have waiting to get my hands on this book since I read about the exhibition...

Ratings out of 5 stars. Mainstream comics available at Absolute Comics (Plaza Singapura). Star Wars: C-3PO #1 Story: James Robinson Art: Tony Harris   Star Wars: Poe Dameron Story: Charles Soule Art: Phil Noto Marvel Star Wars mania continues. The Poe Dameron series is a lead-in to The Force Awakens – how Poe is given a mission by Leia to look for Lor San Tekka, which he did in the beginning of The Force Awakens. Phil Noto is a much sought after Marvel cover artist who is drawing more regularly now for Star Wars comics – he did the Chewbacca series before this. Again, fans will like this since it also features L’ulo, who is friends with Poe’s mother, Shara Bey. The better comic to read is C-3PO. I’m really surprized how heartfelt this comic is. The last time C-3PO had his own series was in Droids, which was based on...

Ratings out of 5 stars. Mainstream comics available at Absolute Comics (Plaza Singapura).   Wonder Woman: Earth One Volume One Story: Grant Morrison Art: Yanick Paquette DC This is Grant Morrison-lite as compared to The Nameless and The Multiversity, which is still sitting on a pile of books to be read. This has been in the works for years, way back in 2012. It was announced that Grant Morrison was going to put the sex back in WW, and back to the bondage and submission-is-good roots of the Marsten stories. This is also the book that made Greg Rucka quit DC back then because he was supposed to write the WW Earth One story and JH Williams III drawing it, but DC gave it to Morrison instead. Reading this book now, one wonders how Rucka would have handled the story because his run of the Amazon Princess from 2003 – 2006...

Ratings out of 5 stars. Mainstream comics available at Absolute Comics (Plaza Singapura).   Old Man Logan #4 Story: Jeff Lemire Art: Andrea Sorrentino Marvel Old Man Logan was one of the best Wolverine stories for the last 10 years and Marvel finally got round to exploit it further during the Secret Wars. Mark Millar may be too busy to write for Marvel now, but that is not going to stop them from using his original ideas for Old Man Logan – basically an aged alternative version of Wolverine who is out of place in a corrupt future and how he tries to make right his current reality. Now Marvel has taken a step further by plucking Old Man Logan out of his universe and placing him in the present Marvel universe. He is confused and started slashing first before asking the questions. In this issue, he is finally stopped by...

Ratings out of 5 stars. Mainstream comics courtesy of Absolute Comics (Plaza Singapura).   Patience Story/Art: Daniel Clowes Jonathan Cape The first all-new Dan Clowes story in over half a decade. Expectations are high here and I grab it from the shelves once it hit our shores. The story – love, regrets, and… time-traveling? 20pages into the story (total 178 pages), we jump to 2029 and things get really weird. It’s not quite what we expected. But what do we expect? More Ghost World, David Boring, The Death Ray, Ice Haven, Wilson and Mister Wonderful? You realized most of these stories were originally serialized in Eightball. So it’s time for Clowes to move on and tell whatever stories he want. Patience is it. And it is worth the wait. It’s weird, wacky and really life-affirming if you want it to be. Go buy!!! (4 stars) Back to the Future #6 Story:...

Ratings out of 5 stars. Mainstream comics courtesy of Absolute Comics (Plaza Singapura). Shipment only came in on Thursday this week. Through the Habitrails: Life Before and After My Career in the Cubicles Story/Art: Jeff Nicholson Dover One of the big comic news of last year was that Dover has entered the graphic novels market. What they did was to pick up titles that have gone out of print and reissued them. This has given many lost classics a fresh breathe of life. Through the Habitrails by Jeff Nicholson is one such seminal title. Jeff Nicholson is one of the pioneers of small press comics that no one has heard about. He started self-publishing in the early 1980s, drawing a parody of the Ulraman TV series called Ultra Klutz. He had enough bad experience in the small press that he did Jeff Nicholson’s Small Press Tirade (1989). The anger is seething,...