The comic was first published in 1979 by Berita Publishing, The Kampung Boy was a commercial and critical success. The book made Lat an international figure and a highly regarded cartoonist in Malaysia. After winning several awards, The Kampung Boy became a hit franchise, with the characters of the comic decorating calendars, stamps and even on airplanes.
The district apparently has changed considerably since Lat’s youth; this book describes a life that is all the more attractive for its disappearance. The protagonists himself must leave this world behind, in this case, a mixture of excitement and regret as he departs for boarding school with his grandmother’s words ringing in his ears: “Be humble because we are a humble people. Always remember God and don’t forget about us back here in the kampung.”
The book’s audience not only won’t forget, they’ll wish for more (which brings us to his second installment of this autobiography, Town Boy). Town Boy, the sequel, is a story of Mat’s adventure to the multicultural city of Ipoh, where he attends school, learns of American pop music, and makes new friends of various races. Mat grows into his teens, he dates Normah, “the hottest girl in Ipoh.” Town Boy’s story is a collection of Lat’s reminiscences about his teenage days in Ipoh. The book’s layout is more varied than The Kampung Boy’s, featuring “short multi-panel sequences with giant double-page-spread-drawings.” The comic is filled with vigor and raw energy, entirely based on eccentric stylizations but grounded with an eye capable of wonderfully accurate observation of the real world.
Talk about a blast to the past!
Reference:
http://us.macmillan.com/kampungboy/lat
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kampung_Boy
