Comic art makes a comeback (In Singapore!)

PUBLISHED March 14th, 2012 04:48 pm | UPDATED May 9th, 2018 03:13 am

The other day I stumbled across an exhibition celebrating the comic art industry – Comic Art And Story-Telling (C.A.S.T.) – at the Social Creatives Museum, at Millenia Walk. From the outside, life-size comic super heros welcomed me…and so being the ever curious Nomad about town….I just had to go inside and explore.

Back in the day, comics were everywhere and at 50 cents a piece, however I soon learnt that over time in Singapore they have sadly become a niche market, with only a handful of places stocking them at high prices. Hmm I can’t help thinking that the rise of the game console which seems to occupy most kids of our day has a large part to play here.

While comics are today still cherished by many across the world,  in Singapore however the love seems to have fallen by the way side.  If you think that art seems to have a hard time finding a special place in the hearts of the masses here, sadly comic art is right down on the bottom shelf, and specifically filed under ‘misunderstood’.

According to Samuel Richard, Director of Jove Pater Media (JPM) who are the outfit banging the drum loud and proud for comic art, “People look at comics and they think ‘picture books’. Or worse; picture books with ‘superheroes’. However, much like Harry Potter and Star Wars—which are sometimes thrown aside as ‘kids stuff’ due to being fantasy based—comic stories are also heavily layered tales which function as simple entertainment as well as deeper metaphors for society and culture.”

He continues to explain that, “Most people assume that it isn’t ‘real art’ since its primary purpose is entertainment over expression. However, to say that comic art is not an expressive art form would be inaccurate. If anything, comics strive to find the melding point between novels and visual arts to cohesively and seamlessly tell a story.”

However, C.A.S.T. and the people behind it are on a single-minded mission to change that. They’re here to tell us that despite what people might think, that there is a blossoming comic art industry in existence here…and it’s turning into a viable one.

This makes complete sense given the recent increase and interest in comic movies like the Dark Knight, Iron Man, Captain America and the upcoming Avengers. Yes, more and more people are returning to the “Light Side”.

And once you step into the exhibition, it’s hard not to be impressed by the comic art on display. The exhibition features the work of 7 comic artists, 5 of whom (Wern.u Leong, Gwendolyn Tay, Tobing Pipin, Adeeb Mynul, Mike M. Dizon, Kelvin Chan) are members of a local group called Art Jammers and two (Renzo Rodriguez and Alan Leong) who have already worked with JPM on publications.

It’s blindingly obvious from their work that one thing that can not be ignored is that the comic art industry is somewhat of a hotbed of artistic talent. Let me show you what I mean….

Take the work of Kelvin Chan. Just showing you one piece from his portfolio of amazing, vivid and perfectly crafted comic art probably says it all. Incredibly this is all achieved through tight penciling and ‘speed painting.’

And I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw this work from Adeeb Mynul. Can you believe that this is actually a sculpture? No I couldn’t either. Although his mastery quite clearly lies in sculpting, he has a pretty unique drawing style which gives an exciting taster of the sculpture which will follow.

Then there’s Gwendolyn Tay, at 19 and still in poly, she displays some pretty impressive skills which makes her one to watch!

But I have to say my favourite was Alan Leong. There is something about this graduate of LASALLE’s love of the sinister combined with his commitment to being a full time comic artist as part of the JPM clan against all the odds that I just love. Soon his work will also be up on my walls because prints of his, along with all the others exhibited are on sale for extremely reasonable prices –  ranging from  only $1 – $8 each depending on size.

And if you head down to the exhibition the you can catch Leong there creating his masterpieces before your very eyes…

So what is it that makes comic art so unique? According to Richards and Leong it’s, “the fact that its duty is to first entertain the reader while capturing the visual of the writer. It is an art form that lives by its very strengths of being able to merge the styles and understanding of both writer and artist.”

They continue to explain, “With today’s revenue driven entertainment industry many film makers have also turned to comic writing in order to tell their stories with little to no adulteration. Be it Joss Whedon’s take on Buffy or Kevin Smith on the Green Hornet, comics are a way of a story-teller being able to tell a story without having studio interference. Comic art is also a good form of story telling that has the potential to appeal to people of all ages. It gives the readers a solid vision of the creator’s vision. While the comic itself is a compilation of panels that tells a story, each panel itself has a little story of its own, be it action or emotion.”

So what does it take to become a comic artist? I ask Leong who answers, “With the comic industry constantly evolving, the art form and medium changes as well. There is no limit to how a comic book should be illustrated any more. Anyone can be a comic artist in this time and age, drawing a group of story panels and placing them together.”

“However, being a good comic artist is a different matter entirely. Certain considerations should be made. Firstly, the flow and continuity of each story panel from the beginning to the end must be observed. Secondly, the artist has to understand every character in the story and convey them well visually. The job of the comic artist is to convey the writer’s idea into visuals and the closer it is to the writer’s vision, the better.”

With an exhibition and two comic series – Salvation Sam and Jupiter – under their belts, what’s next for JPM on their crusade to bring comics back into the hearts and minds of people in Singapore? Well, watch this space for C.A.S.T on a larger scale – they plan to bring it to the heartlands, Community Centres, to revive interest in comics and the industry amongst school children. They’re also working on getting affordable comics on more retail shelves to spark a revival of the industry. So if there are any budding writers and artists hiding away out on the local scene…now is your time!

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Written by Ms Demeanour