A Novel Idea

It's been one of those days, I was stuck in a cold cold room today, attending a course.  I guess I shouldn't complain because it's a chance to learn something new.  I'll try and just give the lecturers my full attention.....I hope.  Thanks for dropping by for The Borneo Broadcast.

Recently I went to a comic book signing right in the heart of Kuching.  I received an email informing me about the signing and I was kind of surprised to get the email. At first I kept asking myself who sent this email?  How did he get my email address?  All sorts of questions.  The email said that the comic book signing would take place on Saturday from noon onwards.

I thought to myself, a comic book signing, here, in Kuching, no way.  But.  I was curious, so I took my camera and went to Plaza Merdeka. Well, to my surprise, there was a comic book signing. 

So as it turns out, this was the signing for a locally written, drawn and published comic book called: THE BORNEO BOYS.

 The Borneo Boys Volume 1, No.1 is the brainchild of Suriani Bte. Sahari and Tom McLaughlin.

They are joined in this graphic journey by 4 artists, they are Natasha Rusdy Wong, Edmund Badun, Helena Goh and Keith Voon.  Here we have a picture with 3 of the young talented artists.

I think this is a novel idea to publish a comic which talks about Kuching, Sarawak and the unique culture that is synonymous with The Land of The Hornbills.  A quick look at the comic shows two stories featuring the adventures involving the Borneo Boys.  The artwork by the 4 artists has a manga influence to it which attracts your attention.  What I liked about the comic is the way the culture, traditions, the city, the food (my favourite subject) is introduced to readers, for instance a description of Laksa.  I think that the idea to merge tourism, culture and comics is a unique brave move and I hope this catches on with readers both locally and internationally.

Since this is acomic book signing, I got everyone involved to autograph my copy and then I asked everyone to take a group photograph.  They were very obliging.  Thank you to the creative team for being so nice to The Borneo Broadcaster.  I heard that they managed to sell quite a few copies that afternoon.  Again I think this is a great idea and I look forward to reading the next issue.  I asked both Tom and Suriani if they'd be available for a chat right here on the Borneo Broadcast and I am making plans to meet up and interview them about the Borneo Boys.  I'm curious how they came up with the idea for The Borneo Boys. 

In the mean time if you'd like to grab a copy, then I invite you to contact Tom McLaughlin on tom02@aol.com

Thanks for dropping by.  This is The Borneo Broadcaster.