stunning.
A portrayal of multiracial camaraderie during a time when life was a lot simpler,
It's very rare that I spend hours scrutinizing the artwork accompanying a graphic novel,
In Lats work, there's a lot of hidden humor, Especially if one pays attention to background characters,
The illustrations are so clever in this book and the story is very simple,
This is the second graphic novel in the "Kampung Boy" series and it picks up right where the first one leaves off.
Mat is now a young adult living in Ipoh, the city, and going to school, We get to meet his best friend Frankie and see some of their mischievous acts as they grow up, We also get to see the little romance popping up and a goodbye between best friends at the end,
I enjoyed it, This book follows the action of Kampung Boy, with Lat's character Mat having left the kampung to go to school in theyou guessed ittown.
The events depicted give a peek intos Malaysian life, while also displaying the universal experiences of coming of age,
Lat's art may seem crude, but it is very vibrant and expressive, I love the characters' expression amp the way they move! His backgrounds give a real sense of place I've never been to Malaysia let alone in thes, but I've spent time in modern Singapore, and Lat's penandink depiction of local architecture amp food culture take me right back.
Town Boy, like Kampung Boy, ends as the action continues, once again leaving me wanting more, hoping there is a next volume to discover.
The graphic novel, Town Boy by Mohammad Nor Khalid, is based in Malaysia, and surrounds the life of a young Malaysian boy, Mat.
Mat recently moved away from from the quiet streets of Ipoh to the quickpaced streets of the town where he attends a boarding school.
Through his love for music, he meets Frankie, his best friend, Although there really isn't a specific plot to the book, he maintains his friendship with Frankie, That is the only identical feature throughout the whole book that remains, Mohammed Nor Khalid illustrates some exceptional work of art, Adding life to every character shown, you could almost feel like you were there on those streets, Frankie and Mat talk about what they want to be when there older, which leads to the ending, Frankie ends up moving to London to pursue his dream, ending with the goodbye between the two best friends, Overall, this book was fairly entertaining, mostly because of the illustrations provided, I would recommend this book to fans of graphic novels and anyone who would enjoy an extremely quick read, I was curious to read this because Jason Shiga my new cartoonist crush mentions in an afterword to "Double Happiness" that he was very much inspired by Lat's work amp "Town Boy" in particular.
And in fact there are a few scenes in Town Boy that Shiga basically replicates in "Double Happiness," only shifting the scene from's Malaysia to presentday SF Chinatown.
I think I liked "Kampung Boy" a bit more than this one, although I did really love the street scenes in "Town Boy.
" Lat's drawing style is so different from most cartoonists I normally like looser, more kinetic in a way but I still enjoy it.
I especially like how he uses the entire twopage spread to stretch out a scene, A coming of age story that comically narrates the antics of young adulthood without compromising its challenging moments, Kudos to the author for capturing deeper themes such as politics and multiculturalism in lates Malaysia, all within the pages of a short graphic novel.
I liked this one better than Kampung boy, Everyday life in 's Malaysia, where the kampung boy is now a studying town bit, trying to become an artist, making friends with a Chinese boy, running after the most beautiful girl
Really like it Yet again, I learn not to be prejudiced against international comics, even when they appear to be coming of age stories.
Town Boy is more Sergio Aragones than Robert Peck, and while its narrative does cover the years between ten and the late teens, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of structured growth in any of the characters.
Its story exists at all mostly to provide Lat with a chance to fill some pages, and, really, Aragones is the comparable artist who comes to mind, each page overflowing with weird, fatbellied, spindylegged, completely goofylooking characters who fight and gawk and shop for brassieres and whatever else you can think of as a background to our main character Mat's wanderings.
It's not a particularly deep book, but it's tremendously enjoyable and a quick read, Last year I went gaga over a Malaysian comic from the seventies, Doesn't a sentence that like sound cool Like I'm some kind of obscure comic enthusiast with a penchant for the best overseas comics of decades past The truth is far less sexy, I'm afraid.
First Second brought to our American shores the comic book Kampung Boy, a title that original appeared in Malaysia long ago, Initially the format didn't intrigue me, but after a test run I found that I liked Lat the onenamer author and his work quite a lot.
The story was an unpretentious memoir of growing up in a small kampung village and the typical mischievous boy adventures that occurred in one kid's life.
At the end of the book our hero leaves his home to go to Ipoh to pursue his studies, This year the sequel, "Town Boy" is out and continues Lat's story, With all the humor and visual aplomb of the first book, this second story crosses the critical boundary from being a boy to becoming a man.
Our hero, Mat, has moved from village boy to city boy and the transition has come with a host of different changes.
His family has moved to Ipoh with him and the life and excitement that comes with such a transition is thrilling to them all.
Other changes are in the works too, Mat befriends Frankie, a Chinese student, and when they discover their mutual love of music and records the two really hit it off.
"Town Boy" follows Mat's growth and adolescence, He falls head over heels in love with Normah, a stunner of a girl, He goes to dances, learns art, and is even in the marching band, But age brings change and soon Mat finds himself losing his best friend and trying to decide whether or not to follow in his father's footsteps or find his own path through life.
First Second took a bit of a risk publishing a graphic novel as thin and long as "Kampung Boy", Reading the sequel, I was struck by how necessary that move really was, To force this book into a square rather than a rectangle would be to cut off crucial portions of the action not to mention some great visual gags.
It would be the equivalent of panning and scanning a great film, So many portions of the book rely on full landscapes for the joke or the idea to make sense too, At one point we learn that Normah is officially the hottest girl in town, Yet our first glimpse of her is the top half of her head exiting a frame as an entire street scene of men on bikes, buses, and cars stare agog.
It's great. Almost as good, really, as the moment when our two heroes attempt to cheat a race by running across an illegal bridge, unknowingly heading towards their principal and disciplinary master hiding in the bushes at the far far far end.
I also really gained an appreciation for Lat's art, For example, in one scene we see our hero explaining to his family at dinner how great it would be to own a record player.
The next panel shows his father giving us, the viewers, a skeptical sideways glance, Lat does this entirely with the eyes and the eyebrows, It's subtle but you catch the meaning immediately, It has been said that Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons, has been a fan of Lat for years and I definitely believe it.
They both have an eye for getting just the right amount of slackjawed idiocy in a character's face,
Altogether, it's a great sequel and wellworth a glance, Even if you've never read the original, "Town Boy" deserves a little love, A great discovery for anyone, regardless of age, Read this when i was very young and it left a lasting impression,
An overarching sense of entrapment within the present is prevalent within the novel as the author fondly reminisces his past through the medium of a graphic novel, reinforced by the unique and unmistakable artwork as seen before in Kampung Boy.
Although it lacks the narrow scope that was seen in Kampung Boy, it certainly does not lack depth and heart, both of which make this book a very, very enjoyable read.
Sequel to "Kampung Boy". Mat moves to a much larger town, Ipoh, Indonesia, He attends middle and high school and makes a posse of friends, including Frankie, who is Chinese, All born in the early's, the boys are listening and dancing to the best of rock and roll from the early daysedgy, raw, forbidden.
Mat's friend Walter has records and a phonograph, so they make friends through listening to rock and roll and continue to spend lots of time together.
More fun from the artist, but now darling Mat is a teen, Probably more relevant to YA's, who could skip the charming "Kampung Boy" yet miss getting to know Mat as a little boy in the kampung.
After all, many teens have little brothers,
Town Boy is the second book to Kampung Boy, Town boy picks off right where Kampung boy left, Town boy is about this Malaysian teenager who doesn't really know what to do with his life, The book is funny at times but not very exciting, Not too many events are being described and the only thing being told is the daily life of the teenage Malaysian kid, For example, he goes with his friends and hangs out, Or he finds a new friend and they share a common interest: music,
Yes Kampung boy was an amazing book filled with traditional information I found myself interested by, although, town boy, was not like Kampung boy.
I feel like I only enjoyed Town Boy was because of the drawings and the characters, but not necessarily was was talked about throughout the comic.
I would have loved to see more facts on Islam and Malaysia like Kampung Boy so that I could relate to it more.
Update
I bought this book last week while browsing through MPH, I always wanted to get a copy of LAT books because it reminded so much of my fond childhood memories.
I remember back when I wasoryears old, My grandpa used to keep stacks full of Lat's comics for us to read whenever we come to visit him.
I remember sitting down on the floor with my sister just looking at the drawings and laughing at the absurd comical drawings while our mom fed us lunch.
Ahhhh . . memories!!!
This is one of my favorite books because it shows the growing up part of Lat's life, How he moved to town and then growing up with bunch of friends and getting into all kinds of trouble, I love how much this book captures the essence of IPOH, the people, the scenery and livelihood of Ipoh town back in the days.
I just finished reading this book again and I suddenly realize how bittersweet the ending was, because back in the days
you don't have face time or video call and etc, so if your friend decided to go overseas chances are you might not see them for a long time or sometimes never.
Oh I absolutely loved the drawing of Malaysia back in the days, people are so ethnically traditional yet very Malaysian at the same time.
Its a sort of unity you will only get in a multiracial countries, I do hope Malaysia will never loose this unity in the future,
My parents were eager to read the book after I finished it just now, I guess, really Lat's childhood is their childhood for real and since my parents were born and raise in Ipoh and northern states of Malaysia in their childhood, this book real is a nostalgic read for them :
I hope to buy my other favorite editions soon :
I read this book at Nu Central MPH while waiting for my sis to show up again.
That means I read this book for free HAHAHAHA
This book was not your typical LOL, but it does make you sit back and go back to the old days.
Although I was not born in the's but i can appreciate this comic because it really shows how Malaysian were back then.
Again I like to emphasize that I love how Lat always include other race in Malaysia, They might not be the main character but they are always there,
I've always loved his work and omg the Malaysian essences is captured expertly in all his arts, This book ended on a bitter sweet note, How your friend who you spend half your childhood slowly goes away as he/she closes a chapter in their life and move on to another, and that does not really mean that you will always be there with you.
Back then going overseas may have been like going to another planet LOL,
Gather Town Boy Fabricated By Lat Visible In Softcover
Lat