Malaysian Games & Comics Convention (MGCC) 2012

Last weekend KDU University College hosted the Malaysian Games & Comics Convention (MGCC) between May 19th and 20th. The 2-day event was much more intimate and personal as it brought together both local Malaysian talent as well as popular foreign talents. Some fans dressed up as cosplay characters including children. Various vendors were allowed to showcase their products on stage including the Malaysian crowd funding site Pitch-IN. Several talks and interviews were also given including the History of Malaysian Comics, Style and Market Demand for Comics, and interviews with comic artists Billy Tan, Leinil Yu (Supercrooks), and Carlo Pagulayan (Hulk).

History of Malaysian Comics

Moderator Muhamad Azhar Abdullah shared the history of comics within Malaysia between 1920 and 2004. The medium began within Malaysian newspapers with only one panel before evolving into a 3-panel comic strip during the 1950s. The comic strips had a much more Western influence during the 1950s as there was more room to tell a story. During the 1970s the comic medium emerged as a one page story bringing other genres including horror, sci-fi, and romance to attract a larger audience. The romance comics were heavily influenced by Bollywood films aimed at attracting a female audience.

By the 1980s Malaysian comics were primarily aimed towards a male audience expanding and becoming more diverse which led to the first Malaysian anthology comic called Apazine. During the end of the decade, Datuk Lat published Malaysia’s first graphic novel called Mat Som in 1989 leading to more graphic novels during the next decade.

During the 2000s many comics were self-published and short-lived as competition increased within the Malaysian market. The current market consists of scattered readers, who enjoy various styles of comics from Western comics like Marvel and DC Comics to Japanese Anime and Manga.

Style and Market Demand for Comics

Datuk Mohammad Nor Khalid AKA Datuk Lat appeared on the panel hosted by History of Malaysian Comics moderator Muhamad Azhar Abdullah. Datuk Lat explained how styles follow trends which centered on finding style and identity. The first Malaysian stories were humorous stories about daily life before they evolved into escapism. He believes the media influenced the stories of the 1950s including characters such as detectives, undercover agents, and gangsters. Datuk Lat was influenced by legendary Malaysian icon Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr. P. Ramlee and discovered there was a demand in the local Malaysian comic market.

Comics were considered a non-necessity as parents provided money for food and drinks rather than supply money for entertainment. However children saved their extra money at the end of the week to watch a delayed movie from Hollywood. One such movie was Charlton Heston’s The Ten Commandments which was shown 10 years after its initial release in 1956. Datuk Lat also mentioned “protest songs” from artists like Bob Dylan whose songs became anthems for US civil rights and the anti-war movements against Vietnam shaped his storytelling styles. These songs encouraged the search for truth and peace which Datuk Lat admits would not be revealed until decades later. Much of Datuk Lat’s work promoted social harmony and understanding through his cartoons.

Malaysian Crowd Funding with PitchIN

Co-Founder of PitchIN Sam Shafie promoted his site which will be launched on June 12th 2012. PitchIN is modeled after the popular US-based crowd funding site Kickstarter. Crowd funding is developing a community of people who are willing to pool their financial resources together to bring a project into fruition. Mr. Shafie offers the platform for individuals living within Malaysia and currently has six categories including technology, games, publishing, music, photography, as well as film and video. Comics are under the Pitch-In category yet however Mr. Shafie assures the crowd as the site matures, more categories will be added to the site.

Interview: Billy Tan, Leinil Yu, and Carlo Pagulayan

The panel interviewed three popular artists as they are asked about how they got started and advice for future upcoming artists. Malaysian born artist Billy Tan began his comic career in 1994 as he was chased out of the Marvel office after requesting to see an editor. Tan later entered the Top Cow talent search and began drawing trading cards before moving on to other characters for Image Comics.

Both Filipino artists Leinil Yu and Carlo Pagulayan participated attended last year’s Singapore Toy, Game & Comic Convention (STGCC). Carlo Pagulayan began his career in 2002 starting off at Dark Horse Comics drawing a 3-page sequence to aid 9-11 victims. However Pagulayan quit his job to pursue his career. Leinil Yu began his career under Wildstorm Productions. The advice these artists gave to upcoming inspiring artists is to keep themselves fresh and learn from it. Good work will transition over boundaries whether or not you have connections at a publisher advised Pagulayan.  

MGCC Wrap Up

China will overtake the United States to become the largest economy by 2017. India is currently evolving their comic market hosting multiple comic cons across their country. Creators need to be able to target and tap into these markets. The MGCC is a step forward to promote the next generation of artists, writers, and game developers. It educated fans with their programs of the history of Malaysian comics and promoted an atmosphere of creativity.