3 ‘historical’ Singapore graphic novels launching at Singapore Writers Festival
Publisher COSH Studios will launch three graphic novels at the Singapore Writers Festival: Guidebook to Nanyang Diplomacy by Lim Cheng Tju and Benjamin Chee; Coalition of the Savoury Spare Parts by Koh Hong Teng and Oh Yong Hwee; and Final Resting Place by James Tan.
- What: COSH Studios Book Launch @ Singapore Writers Festival
- When: 11 Nov 2017, Saturday 8.30pm to 9.30pm
- Where: The Arts House, Gallery II
- Cost: Free (Just register here)
At the event will be writer Lim Cheng Tju – better known as Singapore’s comics historian, and writer/artist James Tan. Check out the three books on show below:
Guidebook to Nanyang Diplomacy
Comics historian Lim Cheng Tju and artist Benjamin “Charsiew Space” Chee team up to tell a story set against the Sepoy Mutiny in 1915. The lives of four characters – an assassin, an agent, a mutineer and a servant – collide amid a 7-day uprising of half a regiment of Indian soldiers.
Final Resting Place
By writer-artist James Tan, Final Resting Place is about a boy who is abandoned by his own parents at the Bukit Brown cemetery, and has to find a way out. Lost among the graves, he can only rely on his wits and resourcefulness.
Coalition of the Savoury Spare Parts
Koh Hong Teng and Oh Yong Hwee team up again for a new tale, this time about the annual Fifth Milestone Kway Chap Competition! It’s a bit hard to explain, so I’ll just leave the rest of the blub here: “The annual Fifth Milestone Kway Chap Competition looms but the reigning champion old Mdm Lam is missing! Can LORR, her newly arrived intergalactic kitchen helper, defend her title? Or is he deluded by the Kitchen God? Is everything a ploy by Quek Kee Fishballs as the fledgling Hawkers’ Party threatens its domination plan?”
Quite obviously, you can read between the intestines.
A PUBLISHER OF ‘HISTORICAL’ COMICS
COSH Studios – Comics Of Singapore Histories – are a new publisher that focuses on publishing comics based on Singapore’s heritage, history and culture, whether real or imagined. These are the first three books in COSH Studios’ upcoming repertoire: Cheah Sinann’s Terumbu; Don Low’s Kungfu Dough; Joelyn Alexandra and Elvin Ching’s Unstable Foundations; and Dave Chua and Max Loh’s We’ll Eat When We’re Done are all slated to be released in 2018.
While none of these comics tread near the ground covered by Sonny Liew’s Einser-winning effort, The Art Of Charlie Chan Hock Chye, it’s clear that Sonny’s success has helped pave the way for more alt-history tales to be told. I’m looking forward to these books!
