志异 Draft by Drama box July 2014 (english) | Page 45

for decolonisation. Discussions
in the university (eg. University
of Malaya Socialist Club) and in
the newspapers were allowed as
part of the political education for
the Englisheducated elites,
for the latter to
take over from
the British. I am
reminded of
what the late
theatre doyen,
Kuo Pao Kun
said once during
a forum at The
Substation,
the first
independent
contemporary arts centre in
Singapore, founded by Kuo himself
in 1990. He paraphrased Lu Xun –
that artists and politicians joined
forces in times of revolution. But
once the war is over, they go their
separate ways.
It is appropriate to end Koeh’s story
and the story of political cartooning
here, as the 1980s was the start of
comic book era in Singapore. In
1983, Roger Wong quit his job as
senior manager of a departmental
store to draw and publish Pluto
Man, the first superhero comic

book in Singapore. It only lasted for
two issues. Captain V fared better.
Sponsored by the Singapore Police
Force in 1986, it lasted three issues
with stories written by Siva Choy, a

pioneer pop singer in Singapore.
The late 1980s and 1990s could
be considered as a vibrant period
for comic books in Singapore. The
first graphic novel of short stories,
Unfortunate Lives: Urban Stories,
Uncertain Tales by Eric Khoo (now a
famous film director) was published
by Times Publishing International
in 1989. In 1990, Johnny Lau, James
Suresh and Lim Yu Cheng put out
the first Mr Kiasu book to much
commercial success. The rock
magazine, BigO also published
comic stories by Khoo and Lau and
other emerging talents. The Sunday
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