Malaysian comics (Malay: komik, kartun, cergam[a][1]) originated in colonial Malaya in the early 20th century as single-panel satirical cartoons in newspapers. Following Malaya's independence in 1957, comic strips became the predominant form of newspaper comics. By the end of the 1970s, humor magazines featuring satirical cartoons had emerged.[2] While indigenous comic book publishing existed as early as the 1950s, it did not attain widespread recognition until the 1980s.
Malaysia is a multicultural nation, primarily comprising Malays and Chinese, with smaller populations of Indians and other groups. The country’s complex geopolitical history, from the colonial period to the present, has been significantly reflected in its comics.[3] Each ethnic group produced comics in its language.[3] Due to the small and fragmented market size, some scholars argue that Malaysian comics did not develop a distinctive style comparable to those of Japan or the United States.[4] In traditional Malaysian comics, identifying a character's ethnic group was important for readers and was often conveyed through stereotyped external features.[5] While many works depict Malaysia as a tolerant society where diverse ethnic groups coexist,[6] some contend that the nation's mixed cultural identity is still evolving, as is its comics.[7]
Before the late 1980s, Malaysian comics were predominantly modeled after American comics.[8] Since then, Japanese manga has increasingly shaped Malaysian comics, reflecting global trends.[9] Japanese manga and anime are often described as “culturally deodorized” (Iwabuchi, 1998), meaning they are not bound to specific cultural or national contexts.[10] Malaysian comic artists of the post-manga era, “whose identities are not bound by traditional geographical and national constraints” (Gan, 2011),[7] tend to adopt Japanese styles to portray a fictionalized Malaysia where ethnic tensions are less pronounced.[11] However, the revealing clothing and other stylistic elements drawn from manga are sometimes criticized by readers and government officials as conflicting with Islamic values.[12]
- ^ a b Karna 2014, p. 6.
- ^ Muliyadi 1997, p. 43.
- ^ a b Lent 2015, p. 153.
- ^ Nasir 2021, p. 63.
- ^ Nasir 2021, p. 64.
- ^ Kamal, Haw & Bakhir 2017, p. 295.
- ^ a b 顔 2011, p. 1.
- ^ Junid & Yamato 2019, p. 82.
- ^ Lent 2015, No.166/342.
- ^ Junid & Yamato 2019, p. 68.
- ^ 顔 2011, pp. 3–4.
- ^ Junid & Yamato 2019, p. 69.
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