Speculative Comics: Strangely and Surprisingly Familiar

Speculative comics are graphic narratives with a touch of science fiction and fantasy, but what makes them speculative are the questions they ask about our present world.

How do speculative comics take familiar cultural myths and folklore from the past and combine them in ways that are strange and surprising? How might these combinations help us think differently about the past and present, or imagine possible futures?

In this cosy lecture and Q&A, Professor of English Gui Weihsin explores how comics can be portals into reimagined realities. Take a trip with him into the fantastical worlds of Difference Engine comics such as Afterlife: The Boy Next Realm and Work-Life Balance: Malevolent Managers and Folkloric Freelancers and you might just step out of it with a strange but renewed sense of the world around you.

Comics will be available for sale too! This event is supported by Sing Lit Station.