Gempak Malaysia's Comic!

>Title: 143 Siri Maskeret Cinta
>Price: RM6.50, RM7.50 SB/SWK
>Created by: Kaoru
>Cover Page by: Kaoru
>Published by: Gala Unggul Resources Sdn Bhd, 2002
>Main characters: None, Compilation of shorts stories.
>Main language: Bahasa Malaysia + Rojak

First off, kudos to the only successful female illustrator who breakthrough Malaysia's man dominated graphic novel industry. This is a compilation of short love stories, each presented differently. If people thought that the stories in this graphic novel are happy endings, think again. Yes, the main theme is love but in reality, love doen't always end with happy ending, right?

So prepare yourself for heartaches, surprises, fantasies and laughters too. There is also a secret meeting of the characters in the book with the artist herself at the end of the comic. Look out for it.



One of the things you will notice are that the cuteness of the charecters, whether they are male or female. Kaoru's unique strokes managed to brings the cuteness out. The characters that were drawn for this book were able to show what kind of personality they have within such short pages. One thing's for sure, guys and girls alike can tell the personality by the character's fashion sense.

Every stories, the clothing/fashion for the characters changes - giving readers a whole new idea on the setting of the stories. Each of the short stories have a different feel so that one would not get bored of the same predictable scene each time. There seem to be a special highlight in this book, which were the characters of Kaoru's Cake House.

Another important note is that the love stories are not always a happy one. The versatility to twist the short story line is great. It makes the story believable and touching.



One of the things that i find it distracting was that the drawing in the panels for each of the stories. It tries to demand your attention which will cause your eyes to shift around instead of reading continuously. The panelling for this comic is just alright as some of the arrangement will cause you to reread it again.

The dialougues are long but won't really affect the readers much. Even though the drawing is cute, there are some tiny bit of adjustment when it comes to details. Other than that, there are no more complains.



Well, if you are a fan of love stories, this is really the book for you. For others who are looking for a different style, this book is for you too!

Pros: Variety of DIFFERENT love stories, fashion is great, good short stories.
Cons: Eyes will be looking everywhere instead of one spot, panelling can be improved.

Rating: 7/10

Calv out!