Malaysian comic creator and artist Julian ‘Lefty’ Kam talks about why he decided to return to comics with 'Major Zombie: Mark Of Blood'. — Photos courtesy of Julian 'Lefty' Kam
THIS year is going to be a big one for Malaysian comic book fans, as we’ll be seeing the return of Major Zombie.
Wait, Major who? Well, in case you’re not aware of who Major Zombie is, he is actually an original superhero character created by Malaysian comics creator and artist Julian “Lefty” Kam in 2003 for the first ever issue of the now defunct but once awesome Gilamon Magazine.
In the comic, Major Zombie was once a hugely popular superhero named Superium who got infected with a zombie virus while trying to save a girl named Kaktus from a supervillain named Zombie King.
While the zombie virus did actually kill him, Superium’s superhuman antibodies kicked in and resurrected him as a part-zombie, part-superhero being.
With Superium presumed dead by the entire world, and left with a deformed figure and just half of powers left, he decides to take on the persona of Major Zombie and work as a C-list superhero who takes on tasks that other heroes would not bother with.
A friendly maggot named Mikey helps Major Zombie fight off the zombie virus inside his body.
His super-antibodies also created a smart maggot named Mikey, who wages war against the zombie virus inside Major Zombie’s body with his maggot army.
In a twist of fate, Kaktus, the girl Superium saved before he died, grew up to become highly skilled in martial arts and firearms. She serves as Major Zombie’s sidekick and views him as a mentor and father figure.
The Major Zombie series later spawned two graphic novels (2011’s Love And Loss and The Blood Trail), which won Lefty the Best Comics Series and Best Independent Comics awards at the 2012 Malaysian Comics Society (PeKOMIK).
Mark Of Blood will feature he first time ever that Major Zombie becomes a full-fledged zombie.
After that, however, Major Zombie appearances have been few and far between, which was why it was a thrill to hear Lefty announce in the run up to Comic Fiesta in December 2022 that he was resurrecting Major Zombie with a brand new series called Major Zombie: Mark Of Blood.
At the time, he even released a free comic called Major Zombie: Unearthed to refresh peoples’ minds about the character.
According to Lefty, the idea for Mark Of Blood has been knocking around his head for a couple of years. Then in 2021, fellow Gilamon founder Michael Chuah mooted the idea of publishing an anthology in conjunction with the 20th anniversary of the first ever Gilamon Magazine #0, which fell on August 2023.
“Michael had the idea of doing an anthology of reprints, and I got the idea for writing a new short story for Major Zombie. It was only supposed to be a four-page story, but I added more and more story to it, and in the end I had enough material for an 80-page blockbuster!” he said, laughing.
In Mark Of Blood, Major Zombie comes up against a new villain called The Deadwalker.
According to him, Mark Of Blood serves as a prequel of sorts for that ‘80-page blockbuster’, if he ever gets around to producing it. It is a 48-page comic that has been divided into two books, Book 1 of which was recently released at the Singapore Comic and Games Festival in December 2023. Lefty hopes to finish and release Book 2 by “middle of 2024”.
Mark Of Blood sees Major Zombie returning alongside his teammate, Kaktus, for a new mission. However, what was initially a simple task takes a darker turn when they find themselves up against the sorceress Deadwalker, who possesses the power to control the zombies under her spell.
“This story is interesting because we get to see Major Zombie become a real zombie for the first time!” Lefty says excitedly. “This story is also actually quite crucial, because it is about the transformation of Kaktus, where she has to face her personal demons to use the power she inherited. Book 2 will talk about how the power came to her.”
We will also get to see the origin story of Kaktus and her inherited powers.
To the Left(y)
Born in 1969, Lefty is a veteran Malaysian comics artist who has worked at major publications such as MOY Publications, Gempak Starz and Storm Lion in Singapore.
In 2003, he formed Gilamon Studios with fellow Gempak Starz artists Chuah and Chin Sau Lim, having grown frustrated at doing more administrative work than creative work during their time at Gempak Starz.
With fellow comic artist Tan Eng Huat in tow, they formed an independent comic collective that enabled them to come up with darker and more mature content than they could in mainstream Malaysian comic companies. Kind of like an Image Comics for Malaysian creators, but without the baggage.
Gilamon released its first publication, Gilamon Magazine #0, in August 2003, which featured the first appearances of Major Zombie, Cyber Merkaba by Chin, and the Collector by Chuah.
'Major Zombie: Mark Of Blood' Book 1 Was released last month.
Lefty later left the country in 2017 for a stint in China’s Left Pocket Studios alongside Tan, returning to Penang in late 2018 to help set up a branch for the company there.
Lefty left Left Pocket Studios in 2019, then started to focus on his own art projects. These included exploring the culture, history and traditions of Penang through his Sama-Sama: A Multi-Cultural Art Journey exhibition, which is a series based on childhood experiences and places; as well as contributing to Dr Kuah Li Feng’s I Am Home series, and more.
Lefty started work on his new Major Zombie comic in 2021, but it was only last year that he decided to put aside all his other projects to focus on the book.
Lefty says Major Zombie: Mark Of Blood is a labour of love that got him to enjoy the process of making comics again.
Getting back into the groove of comic creating was hard at first, as the last comic he did was in 2018, which was a 16-page documentary comic about Malaysian coffee he did for a Taiwanese publication. But Lefty says he is now enjoying the process once again.
“It’s a fun process, but for me, it’s also like running a marathon after not doing so for so long! The hardest part was world-building. The challenge was to make it make as much sense as possible, which is why I eventually ended up with seven drafts of it,” he said.
“At first, I was a bit rusty at this type of storytelling, because it is a fictional story and I had to create everything myself, unlike my documentary comics where I interview people and have materials with me to arrange into story format.”
It took him about three months to draw it up from the thumbnail layouts he already had, he said, adding that he had to do the whole thing himself, from writing to drawing, and all the way to finding the printers to produce the book.
At the end of the day, Lefty reckons that he will continue doing comics again as long as he still has fun doing it.
“It’s not a money making thing – this is a very personal project and a real labour of love for me,” he said.
“After the pandemic, life can be so uncertain, and we don’t know what will happen to us next. So, if there is something you really want to do, don’t wait, just do it!”
For more information about Major Zombie and how to get the comic book, follow Lefty at fb.com/leftyjulian.
