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Interview with French Comics Writer Regis Hautiere
September has a good month for comics. We have STGCC and AFCC, and then IAF last weekend (and if you were in Jakarta, there was Popcon Asia). To end it off, the Alliance Francaise (AF) has brought in...
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SWF 2018 - interview with Paul Gravett Part 2
Here's Part 2 of my interview with Paul Gravett who is coming for SWF in Nov. Check out his two events...
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SWF 2018 - Interview with David Collier
In March 2002, David Collier and I were driving around in his car in Hamilton and we were tempted to visit Devan Nair, the at-that-time disgraced ex-President of Singapore. We didn’t, wanting to give...
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SWF 2018 - Interview with Harumo Sanazaki
Shojo manga has always been popular in Singapore, although we may not always be cognizant of the differences between shonen and shojo manga. From the classic Candy Candy series of the 1970s to...
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SWF 2018 - Interview with Aisha Franz
There are so many good comics out there these days that it is hard to keep track, especially those from Europe and not translated into English. I wish I could read French or German, but I can't. So I...
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SWF 2018 - Interview with Meguru Hinomoto
Fans of shojo manga would be happy to know that another shojo manga artist is coming for SWF next month. Meet Meguru Hinomoto who made her debut as an artist of girls’ manga in 2003. According to her...
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SWF 2018 - interview with Mariko Tamaki
Mariko Tamaki requires little introduction. From her coming of age graphic novel, Skim to She-Hulk, Mariko has been exploring issues of identity and what it takes to be comfortable in one's own skin -...
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SWF 2018 - Interview with Margaret Stohl
The news is real. YA comics are selling way more than your regular superhero titles. If you have not heard of Raina Telgemeier, you are missing out on the true makers and shakers of the comics industry...
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SWF 2018 - Interview with Lewis Trondheim and Brigitte Findakly
Some of us have been hoping that STGCC would bring in indie comics creators like Chris Ware or Adrian Tomine. But the chances of that happening are higher with SWF. Thanks to Guy Delisle who made the...
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Life is not shit and you survive: Interview with Ancco (Bad Friends)
Memory is a tricky thing and sense making of the past is important. What is remembered of a particular event, how we remember certain friends and why - they are our ways of navigating through the...
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sexsexsex: interview with dave cooper (swf 2019)
Thanks to the Canadian Embassy, the Singapore Writers Festival are receiving some cool comics guests for the last 2 years. (in fact, Canada is the country of focus for this year’s SWF) Last year, it...
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Forgive but not forget: Interview with Rani Pramesti (SWF 2019)
The politics of remembrance and commemoration is complex. One can forgive but one should not forget. In places like South Africa, East Timor and Aceh, truth and reconciliation commissions have been set...
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Interview with Chris Riddell (SWF 2019)
Chris Riddell is in town this weekend for SWF. The UK Children’s Laureate is promoted as a major illustrator of children’s books by the festival, and rightly so as Riddell’s books like The Edge’s...
View ArticleTatsumi and Liquid City Vol 2
Times flies. 5 years ago, Tatsumi sensei passed away on 7 March and 10 years ago, Liquid City Vol 2 was released.In September 2011, gekiga pioneer Yoshihiro Tatsumi returned to Singapore for the...
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Reality Bitchslap: Interview with Arif Rafhan
Epigram Books is restarting their line of graphic novels, this time getting the rights of comics from the region and translating them into English for the local market. Earlier this year, they...
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The Art of Ian Kennedy
In his new book, Masters of British Comic Art (Rebellion, 2020), David Roach described Ian Kennedy as “perhaps the most important artist at Air Ace (for Fleetway) where he drew strips and painted...
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Comics Studies by Clio Ding
Clio Ding is a comic artist friend who went overseas recently to do a master’s in comics studies. Although I have been researching and writing about comics for some years and have contributed to edited...
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Mr Tino: Interview with Russell Molina and Ian Sta. Maria
Mr Tino (original title in the Philippines: Sixty Six) by Russell Molina and Ian Sta. Maria was a breakout indie comic title in 2013. I described it as Superman coming to Earth as an old man instead...
View ArticleWild Pig Mandibles and a Drawing: An Adventure in the Bay of Bengal
Once a while something good comes your way and you wonder why you have not heard of the artist before. Except that Wild Pig Mandibles and a Drawing: An Adventure in the Bay of Bengal is Amitabh...
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Let's Not Talk Anymore - Chatting with Weng Pixin again in 2021
I can’t remember when I first heard about, met or read Weng Pixin’s comics, but I suspect it got to do with Andrew Tan/drewscape. He drew this comic about us visiting Pixin at her Bali Lane shop....
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SWF 2021 - Year of the Rabbit by Tian Veasna
The thing I like about the Singapore Writers Festival is that it exposes me to new writers and new books. I tried to keep up but there are so many books out there that sometimes you just need that push...
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Drawing the Line
The first piece of comics scholarship I wrote back in the 1990s was on political cartooning in Singapore. Since then, I have written about comic books, graphic novels, manga but not so much on comic...
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Review of Cockman by Ken Foo
Can one write an objective review about a book they have helped to sponsor? Should you write a review of a book drawn by a friend? Can you be critical or should you be ‘nice’ and go gentle on said...
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REVIEW: SINGAPORE HIP HOP HORROR BOOK 13: SINGAPORE MASTERS OF DECEIT
Time flies. Can't even remember when Singapore Hip Hop Horror Book 12 came out. A check on Ye Zhen's IG says it was in 2021. So that's during the pandemic. Maybe I met him during those dark days but I...
View ArticleSINGAPORE HIP HOP HORROR BOOK 13: MASTERS OF DECEIT - PLAYLIST
I asked Ye Zhen for a playlist.Music playlist 1. Danzig, I Luciferi2. Danzig, 6:66 Satan's Child3. Danzig 44. Willie Colon, the Hustler5. Willie Colon, idilio6. Willie Colon, greatest hits7. Hector...
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