Penang Asia Comic Cultural Museum is an absolute must-see

One of the exhibits at the Penang Asia Comic Cultural Museum.

The Penang Asia Comic Cultural Museum (PACCM) is an excellent attraction providing an entertaining and educational look at comic history in nine Asian countries and territories: Malaysia, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia.

Those in the comic industry and students will love this museum, as well as seniors who will reminisce over the comics of their youth.

The layout of this museum, which extends over 13,000 square feet of space, is divided up into the nine countries/regions together with an introductory section and Kids’ Zone.

Visitors can have their museum “passport” chopped by the mascots of each of the nine territories and redeem it for a souvenir from the gift shop.

Explanatory information is provided in four languages (Bahasa, Chinese, Tamil and English) which is quite unusual for a Malaysian museum.

The museum is also targeted to tourists who will recognise some of the characters in the exhibits.

You can learn all about comics, their different types, how they have changed through the ages, and the methods and tools of producing comics and so on.

Here are some caricatures of famous personalities.

The difference between cartoons and caricatures is explained.

Famous political cartoonists and comic artists are profiled, such as Malaysian satirical cartoonist Zunar (Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaque) whose cartoons to expose corruption in Malaysia landed him in trouble with the previous government.

Leading figures in Hong Kong comics such as Ma Wing-shing and other regional players are also featured.

Comics were once banned during the Chinese cultural revolution.

Comics were banned during the Chinese cultural revolution and their artists were branded as ‘poison grass’ but the ban was lifted by Zhou En Lai in 1971 who recognised that comics could be useful for propaganda purposes.

Some cartoons are just plain funny! Artist: Zhu Song Qing.

Global martial artist and movie star Bruce Lee gets his own section in the museum.

Verdict

Highly recommended. Whether you are into comic strips, Superheroes, cartoons, manga, art, martial arts, politics, current affairs, history, propaganda, Asian popular culture or graphic design you are sure to find this place interesting.