The Red Grade

In the words of Harvey Dent:

“The night is darkest just before the dawn. I promise you. The dawn is coming.”

The dawn is coming indeed.

After 3 years and 2 months, the long-awaited sequel to Batman Begins will hit theaters nationwide next Thursday. Such a feat Chris Nolan did in the first movie that I believe The Dark Knight is the most anticipated superhero movie of all time, beating even The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man and, of course, Spider-Man 3 (bleargh!). Sources say that The Dark Knight will run approximately 2.5 hrs. That’s 150 minutes of solid film/superhero story-telling and would be worth my every cent!

Anyway, the point of this blog isn’t about The Dark Knight or promoting it. I think Warner Bros have done sufficient viral marketing. It is about the state of comic books in Singapore.

Now, recently there was a Toy and Comic Convention held at Suntec City. Needless to say, there was an outstanding turnout, ranging from toy and comic book geeks to cosplayers. I had planned to go, but I didn’t because during those months before the convention, I kept getting the list of programs that were going to be featured and sadly, they mostly encompassed anime and manga stuff. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge fan of anime and manga and Japanese pop culture. A lot of my inspirations are derived from games and anime such as Final Fantasy and Hellsing. But I just can’t and won’t appreciate it in a large crowd that is focusing more on the appearance of anime and manga characters rather than the philosophical and educational values that are embedded within these stories and characters.

Of course, there may be those who are like me. And there may be those who only appreciate American-style comic books, nothing wrong with that. Personally, I believe this country still lacks in the appreciation of American and European-style comics and graphic novels. And that is why a lot of aspiring comic book writers and artists here are doing mainly manga and fantasy (WOW-inspired) stuff.

It’s encouraging that there are a bunch of people out there who are going through with their goals and dreams, but I’d have to ask…isn’t there anyone out there who’s an aspiring comic book writer or artist who is interested in doing American/European-style comics and graphics novels. I’m sure those comic enthusiasts would already know that the mentioned styles have moved away from the conventional men-in-tights story-telling and exploring into other areas that are potentially more interesting and exciting. There are still many different ways in telling a story and with colorful characters, surely an interest or two can be sparked in the minds of casual readers.

Personally, I’ve been writing my own comic book series since 1996. At present, I’ve 2 issues done and in the process of making another 3 before releasing my comic books in .cbr format on a website made specifically for my series. My first 12 issues will be compiled into one volume and I already have the next 250+ issues planned out.

Unfortunately, I’ve yet to find a single Singaporean artist who has the time and commitment to sketch my comics for me. Currently, an Indonesian artist is commissioned to do my comic book series and it isn’t difficult to guess that communication is quite hard because I can’t sit down and talk things through with him. I only give him reference sketches and the script and just leave it all to faith, believing that he’ll deliver exactly as I want it. So far, he’s done an excellent job and his work is amazing!

But still, here I am, calling out to whoever is actually interested, willing and capable to deliver as my Singapore-based comic book artist. And also, I would like to hear from anybody out there who actually has an idea, just dying to pen it out into a comic book series (limited or otherwise)…I’d like to hear from you. What you have, how passionate you are, what are your ambitions like in this field? Because deep down, I believe there are plenty of people who have ideas about comic books, but they think it’s just too ludicrous or it’s a waste of time. Hey! The Japanese don’t think so and they relish in their ludicrosity (if there is such a word). They happily channel whatever remnant of radiation those 1945 A-bombs had left into their workflow and produce works of splendor.

So come on, I think it’s about time we carve a comic book industry for ourselves and express what we truly want to.

So hey, the PM is confident that Singapore can weather through the unpredictable global economy in the upcoming months and why shouldn’t he? Stats indicate that there are more jobs springing up in Singapore and that’s definitely a good indication that Singapore and its people will survive, right? Well, half right and half wrong. See, Singapore WILL definitely survive. No doubt about that. But Singaporeans? That’s highly questionable. ‘Cause according to a Workers Party study, 60% of all jobs in Singapore are taken by foreigners. That’s right 60 FUCKING PER CENT!!! And Singaporeans are mostly left with contractual jobs that bear no perks, no stability, which means we have to work our asses off and then go out to find work every other 6 months or so. Well, that’s an exaggeration, but you get my point. What the fuck is the government doing about this? Zilch. They should be stepping in an enforce a citizens-first policy on the local companies. It’s no secret every fucking company wants to cut cost and what better way than to hire foreigners. But these employers probably don’t realize or enjoy doing is that they are starving their own fellow Singaporeans. And why isn’t our government REALLY stepping in to curb this problem? Because most of the politicians are shareholders of big-time companies and they want more profit as well, so what the fuck, right? Who cares about the little guy anymore?

This year, Singapore turns 43. Another year to celebrate the individualism that thrives in this “One Nation” crap of a country.