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Miao & WafuPafu
Miao & WafuPafu is a Malaysia webcomic series that created by Jian Goh, began in 2007. PlotMiao & WafuPafu tells the encounters in Miao's daily life. Being an anthropomorphic animal cartoon character and also an alter ego of Jian Goh, he explores and experiences different types of art, culture, travel and lifestyle in his homeland, Kuching, and the outer world. Miao is also surrounded by two hamsters, Wafu and Pafu, his family members and friends, who bring development to the stories. DevelopmentDuring Jian Goh's fourth year as an undergraduate of Bachelor's Degree in Electronic Engineering, his friend introduced him to blogging, which was also a subject assignment whereby students had to blog for an entire semester. In 2007, Goh created Miao, a male orange tabby cat alter ego cartoon character to blog about his encounters through attached illustrations and some texts, which later developed into a series of blog comic strips. Goh also added his real life two pet hamsters, Wafu and Pafu, into his works to fulfill readers' satisfaction, thus creating the title Miao & WafuPafu.[1][2][3] Jian Goh stated that the creation of character settings was not done with proper planning, as they are merely designed based on their appearances, interests and personality. He also dreamed of his comic characters becoming a brand with commercial values, in which the ideas were granted in the later years. Miao & WafuPafu became a registered trademark under Space Voyager Log PLT.[1][2][3][4] Despite Miao & WafuPafu being well received on the internet, especially after making blogging contests participations in Jason Mumbles’s food blog, Lowyat forum and Nuffnang in the beginning of 2010s, and received more award nominations, however, due to lack of real life advertising, the first Miao & WafuPafu physical comic book, Once Upon a Miao: Stories from the Other Side of Malaysia experienced low amount of sales. It was later Once Upon a Miao subsequent volume sales were improved through book fairs, book signings, interviews and art talks.[1][2][3][5] The character designs of Miao & WafuPafu change drastically over the years, but still retaining their essential features. In 2007, due to Jian Goh's limited student budget, he used computer mouse for line art and colouring instead of graphics tablet, giving the illustrations the characteristics of logo design. Around the early 2020s, Goh's digital drawing tool had been switched to tablet.[1][4] Characters
Miao family
Friends
Media
Comics
ReceptionOn Goodreads, the rating of the first volume of Once Upon a Miao is 4.45/5, with 93 ratings and 18 reviews, being known for "hilariously hilarious" and nostalgia for homeland.[6] Two other comic artists, Cheeming Boey and The Potato Couple also gave positive feedback and compliments on the fourth volume of Once Upon a Miao for deep diving into Jian Goh's personal life struggles without losing its "charm".[7] References
External linksInformation related to Miao & WafuPafu |
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