Gempak Malaysia's Comic!

Apologies my fellow readers for the seriously lack of update.


>Title: Geng 5405
>Price: RM6.50
>Created by: Virus-AC
>Cover Page by: Virus-AC
>Published by: Gala Unggul Resources Sdn Bhd, February 2010
>Main characters: Brutal, Xerox, Trasher and Icchan

When I first purchased Geng 5405, I thought it would be a story of gang members fighting one another. At the very least, there will be some kind of fierce action going on (the word “Geng” and the number “5405” got me thinking it’s a gang name or some sort). After the first few pages, I was smiling and feeling good. Wait a minute! That’s not how an action genre supposed to sound like!



Don’t feel betrayed because Geng 5405 is definitely entertaining by making you laugh at the shenanigans from these four university students. It tells a tale of four friends wrecking havoc in their hostel, room 5405. That’s all. Seriously, that’s all. Xerox, Brutal, Thrasher and Icchan are showing us the way to have fun in any kind of situations. No matter what happen, they always ended up in a hilarious situation.



They are all equipped with their own personality: serious, happy-go-lucky, playful, and devious with one thing in common, their mischievousness. Of course Xerox and Brutal are the troublemakers as these two usually team up coming up nonsense for everyone!

Then, there is their leader, Thrasher. Hot-temper yet looking cool at the same time, he is the most responsible among them. That’s one way to blend hot and cold. One thing’s for sure, never mess with his hair! Out of the Geng 5405 friends, Icchan is the feminine looking guy. I actually thought he was a she until a certain point in the book. His cheerfulness is indeed a weapon because it is very contagious.

Seeing that this is Virus-Ac’s debut comic, she did a great job with the storyline. There was never a chance for me to get bored of the plot because I feel that this comic has soul. I can believe that the main characters take off and come to like them. It is very smart of Virus-Ac to include a chapter of their origins in the middle of the book just to deepen our connection with them.



Despite the great storyline, there are a few things holding it down. One of it is the amount of dialogue boxes in a panel. It made each panel look so cluttered that sometimes it becomes an annoyance. Other than that, the characters’ designs are great but every now and then, it blends with the background making it a little hard to scan through the whole page.

This is the sort of light-hearted read I need to have after a busy day. If you can forgive the annoying cluttered panels, give this book a go.

Pros: great characters, funny
Cons: cluttered panels

(Rating: 6 out of 10)