I grew up reading the Amar Chitra Katha comics of the Mahabharata. Two years ago, Grant Morrison wrote 18 Days, his version of the Mahabharata.
In Indonesia, the late RA Kosaisih had made the Mahabharata his life defining work. A recent chat with Chris Lie of Caravan Studio at STGCC shows that Mahabharata comics is alive and well in Indonesia. The studio’s new series, Baratayuda, referring to the great war of the Mahabharata, is up to issue eight and selling well. The coolest character in the series is Gatotkaca.
Gatotkaca is also the lead character in another series by Is Yuniarto’s Wind Rider Studio – Garudayana. Garuda, the mythical bird and the national symbol of Indonesia, also appears in the Mahabharata. The Garuda is so popular that there is a kids’ version of the Garuda story, Garudaboi by Galang Tirtakusuma.
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Dr Jose Rizal
Miel did a drawing of Dr Rizal's hat for his last exhibition. Dr Rizal was nowhere to be found.
For Gerry Alanguilan, his new independent project will have Dr Rizal appearing and saving the day.
"It's called The Marvelous Adventures of the Amazing Dr Rizal. People asked me why I don't draw my own superheroes. It's hard for me to do it because that's not reality. I'd have no connection with the character.
My superhero must be grounded in reality. But he must be fantastic as well. So you need a concession. Dr Rizal will be my superhero. He does not have superpowers, but he has super intellect."
Looking forward to that.
For Gerry Alanguilan, his new independent project will have Dr Rizal appearing and saving the day.
"It's called The Marvelous Adventures of the Amazing Dr Rizal. People asked me why I don't draw my own superheroes. It's hard for me to do it because that's not reality. I'd have no connection with the character.
My superhero must be grounded in reality. But he must be fantastic as well. So you need a concession. Dr Rizal will be my superhero. He does not have superpowers, but he has super intellect."
Looking forward to that.
STGCC 2012 Report: Interview with Edmund Wee of Epigram Books
Did not manage to catch the Epigram panel at STGCC, but I went down to Epigram Books the next day to have a chat with Edmund, the boss. So why comics?
“We set up Epigram Books over a year ago. Before that, we also did some publishing on an ad hoc basis. One or two books a year and that’s part of Epigram the design company. Along the way, we did The Diary of Amos Lee, which was very successful. We were not sure whether it’s real, the success, because it’s done as part of the design company. So it’s hard to know the real cost of publishing.
To do that, we set up Epigram Books.
This will give us a sense of the cost to edit, publish, paying the rent and employees.
Why are we doing it? We want to publish and to tell stories about ourselves as a country. If you look at theatre, poetry, they have gone ahead. But fiction is lagging behind. We felt there is a great need to publish local fiction and this is our mission.
We did some food books, design books. But the heart of Epigram Books is local writing, stories about Singapore by Singaporeans.
A few months ago, we felt why must stories be written, why not in graphic form? So we started working with artists/writers like Sonny Liew, Koh Hong Teng, Dave Chua, Troy Chin and Miel. Eventually, Troy dropped out.
We are aiming for the Christmas market this year, so hopefully there is no delay. The artists promised me they are working very hard.
Of course, we are not the first to publish graphic novels in Singapore. Times Publishing did Unfortunate Lives by Eric Khoo in 1989 and you have self-published efforts like The Resident Tourist and Gone Case. But this is the first time a publisher is doing it in a series of books to tell Singapore stories.
Will we regret it and lose money? I don’t know. But as a publisher, we take the risk. MDA has given some funding, so that helps. The artists need the advance.
Is comics literature, art? Of course. It is literature because it tells a story. There are simply not enough stories told about Singapore.
I’m not a big comics fan. I read Green Lantern, Spiderman, Daredevil and Fantastic Four as a kid. I’m not into superheroes, but I’ve read Maus and Persepolis. They are about contemporary life and about their own society, whether it is America or Iran.
We aim for the local market first. If the books do well, we will market them overseas."
“We set up Epigram Books over a year ago. Before that, we also did some publishing on an ad hoc basis. One or two books a year and that’s part of Epigram the design company. Along the way, we did The Diary of Amos Lee, which was very successful. We were not sure whether it’s real, the success, because it’s done as part of the design company. So it’s hard to know the real cost of publishing.
To do that, we set up Epigram Books.
This will give us a sense of the cost to edit, publish, paying the rent and employees.
Why are we doing it? We want to publish and to tell stories about ourselves as a country. If you look at theatre, poetry, they have gone ahead. But fiction is lagging behind. We felt there is a great need to publish local fiction and this is our mission.
We did some food books, design books. But the heart of Epigram Books is local writing, stories about Singapore by Singaporeans.
A few months ago, we felt why must stories be written, why not in graphic form? So we started working with artists/writers like Sonny Liew, Koh Hong Teng, Dave Chua, Troy Chin and Miel. Eventually, Troy dropped out.
We are aiming for the Christmas market this year, so hopefully there is no delay. The artists promised me they are working very hard.
Of course, we are not the first to publish graphic novels in Singapore. Times Publishing did Unfortunate Lives by Eric Khoo in 1989 and you have self-published efforts like The Resident Tourist and Gone Case. But this is the first time a publisher is doing it in a series of books to tell Singapore stories.
Will we regret it and lose money? I don’t know. But as a publisher, we take the risk. MDA has given some funding, so that helps. The artists need the advance.
Is comics literature, art? Of course. It is literature because it tells a story. There are simply not enough stories told about Singapore.
I’m not a big comics fan. I read Green Lantern, Spiderman, Daredevil and Fantastic Four as a kid. I’m not into superheroes, but I’ve read Maus and Persepolis. They are about contemporary life and about their own society, whether it is America or Iran.
We aim for the local market first. If the books do well, we will market them overseas."
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