Because They Deserve It.

When I was a teenager (Since I'm twenty now, I am entitled to refer to teenagers as wimpy little fuckwads), I used to read a fuckload of comics. Not just any comics but local ones. My Mother would go batshit insane when I bought any of it at first, saying it's a waste of good money but meh, eventually she ignored it. Oh man, there's a massive amount of talent in Malaysia and I still remember that one of the awesome moments when I was in Berlin was going into the biggest book store there and finding a shelf reserved for Ben. Fucking pride, man.

Anyway, I thought that everybody in Malaysia knew who the fuck our local artists are but of course, I'm proven wrong. Ah well, here's a list of the local comics that helped me lose the ability to differentiate reality from fiction.

1. Puppeteer.

Verge: The Art of Puppeteer.

This, so far, has to be my favourite illustrator in the history of the fucking multiverse. His works are always twisted, accentuated by the dark, harsh colours and backgrounds. Fucking hell man, I rarely take interest in sci-fi (Think aliens.) but when it comes to Puppeteer, count me in man.

One of his work, what was it... Evolusi Identiti (Identity Evolution) and fuck it blew me goddamn mind away. See, while Tolkien and Rushdie introduced me to fiction, this guy here brought colour and fucking epicness to it. Goddamn, man, go buy his shit already.

Other works: Velocity, Verge: The Art of Puppeteer, Evolusi Identiti, The Plague, Forgotten.


2. Benny Wong @ Ben.

He's the one on the right. Just saying.

Well this guy is responsible of me being sappy. At times.

His artwork is pretty awesome to be honest, even when compared to the prominent Japanese Mangaka(s). It might not be the most original thing out there but the storyline of his works are fuck awesome. From a writer's (If I am to be considered one, that is) perspective, I don't think that the speciality of it is in the main plot itself. It's cliché, to be honest but he cleverly overcame that with a sort of smooth transition in between the chapters, a few twists here and there etc. Also, hell man, his characters are fucking hot.

Right, anyway...

Most of it is romance, except for Fatal Chaos but still it was awesome only lacking the usual depressing twist. If I really have to pick, I say that The Fishes is one of his best, mainly because it had weird mindfuck moments but mostly because-

I kid.

But seriously, this is how most of his characters look like:

I have to say though, his dialogues are corny as fuck in Malay. Like... Beyond corny really, there's no way people actually talk as such in real life. Ah well.

More of his work: Naive, Innocent, Le Gardenie.

Webcomic: Battle of Destiny (This title makes me itch on the inside.)

3. Lu Wun Khang @ Zint.

FUCK YEAH!

Biography here: Zint. It's in Malay, so yeah.

What separates this man from the rest is... I dunno man, it's probably the fact that we could relate to it, especially during the glory days i.e. High School. His works most of the time are about crazy kids doing crazy shit that end up in crazy situations and live to tell the fucking crazy tales. His characters are juvenile delinquents most of the time, not going to school, fighting and fuck it, most of the shit that some of us went through. Reading it back in the days was inspirational to say the least. Then he goes ahead and actually put that part that most kids don't understand: The presence of consequences to one's actions. And he tells us to fucking man up, be an alpha and face that shit. Things kids today would never understand.

Even his more serious piece i.e. Eli has that uh... Zinty(?) fell to it, where the main character is still a goofball but is still dead serious when it comes to his work. I guess that's educational. The background of his work is always constant: urban with a lot of extreme sports involved. In 2 Dudes, it focuses almost exclusively on parkour and by God that shit is awesome.

Other works: Under 18 Series, MFEO, Cheap Shot, K.O. King, 2 Dudes Series and a fuckload more.

4. Sau Lim @ Slaium.

I think that this dude is one of the earliest illustrators back then and his work focuses on one thing and one thing only: Fucking humour. I shit you not, I still find myself bludgeoned with a giggling fit when I think of his work but of course, one might say that I am easily amused. Ah well.

Hihihihihihihi. That's how giggles sound, yes?

His work is simple, clean and there's rarely anything fancy to it. He puts so much humour in everything but never goes overboard to the point that you'd be sensitised to it. Fucking hell man.

Then he goes on and creates Monggo! and Drak and it just blows your balls away. For a guy whose past history of work includes the funniest shit on the peninsular, it's quite the feat. It's like when Puppeteer became apart of Cockroach Boy.

Other works: Utopia High Series, Lawak Cambest.

5. Keith.

Hmmm... I'm not really sure what to say here apart from what I've said about humour and shit above. Still, Wasabi is fuck funny and Lawak Kampus... Lawak Kampus wields the sacred undying fucking awesome flame of comedy. Especially since it's a fucking 4-panel comic strip.

I'm out of ideas. Fuck it, appreciate these fucks.