"My Spidermen are immortal afterall. They survived the fire, and now they're killer bunnies!"
Otto Fong
BLACK PEONY SERIES
Set in the border town of Mae Sot, Thailand, the young centaur warrior Peony Gallop comes from outer space, and is the lone protector of Earth from inter-dimensional creatures such as zombie kangaroos and dinosaur thieves. To fit in, she disguises herself as an orphan living in an orphanage filled with abandoned yet hopeful Burmese children. The Black Peony series is Sleepy Hollow meeting Hunger Games!
WELCOME TO OTTONIUM COMICS
Since 2008, Ottonium Comics has published Sir Fong’s Adventures In Science, a successful, popular comic series on the Singapore science syllabus. In 2013, an adult horror novel, Bitter Suites, was also published to critical acclaim. A new series of sci-fi adventure thrillers for teen readers, Black Peony, is launched in 2014.
WHAT'S UP NEXT!
After writing the first two books in his new Black Peony series, Otto Fong has just completed his 5th installment of the Sir Fong's Adventures In Science series, called The Quantum Bunny, in collaboration with National University of Singapore’s CQT (Centre for Quantum Technologies) on Quantum Mechanics! Ottonium Comics is excited in presenting fans with the new book. See our NEWS page for more details!
Also, we are working on our 6th book which will be launched in 2017. Book 6 of the Sir Fong's Adventures In Science series promises to bring our book to a different level, so watch out for it!
SCIENCE & COMICS
In secondary school, my happiest memory was of my Taiwanese classmate and I laughing at the Science textbooks. It wasn't because the textbooks were any good - in fact, they were terribly dull. That was why we took great joy in scribbling Spidermen onto them. While my friend started the idea, it was me who decided to dunk a Spiderman into a beaker of acid.
Subsequently, our Spidermen participated in many of the books' experiments, suffering multiple blows, lacerations and indignities in the name of Science.
The only super power our Spidermen had was that (like all great cartoon characters) they could not die.
When PSLE neared, the joy of learning was replaced by the stress of preparing for the exams. After my exams, I gleefully tossed the old textbooks into the trash, and my army of Spidermen was lost in the incinerators.
When I became an engineer, I was increasingly aware of the great gap between Asian engineers and American ones - we were just technicians with university degrees, while they experienced the real joy of creating a powerful new computer component from scratch. They had passion for their work - I was just doing a job.
Looking back, had my passion for learning not been overshadowed by the single-minded pursuit of high grades, I undoubtedly would have turned out as a much better engineer.
When I taught Science in Raffles Institution, I asked myself what I could do to make Science more fun.
The memory of my Spidermen started me scibbling for my students. In turn, my first batch of students, born in the year of the Rabbit, inspired Sir Fong and the Bunnies. For the years that I was a teacher, my students and I enjoyed a great rapport in our shared love of comics.
Now that I put 100% of my energy into comics, I asked myself:
"What needful things should I draw?"
The answer lies in your hands. 'Sir Fong's Adventures In Science' is a series designed NOT to replace textbooks, but to add joy to the learning of Science. The more our children love Science, the better engineers they will grow up to be.
Not only that, the world is changing. The best technologies are the ones that seamlessly combine Art and Science: just look at how Steve Jobs and Singapore's very own Sim Wong Hoo turned MP3 players into a cultural force.
The challenges that Asia faces demand that we have better engineers, better scientists and better designers. SARS, earthquakes, tsunamis, global warming, fuel shortages and bird flu are but a few challenges that require a world-class generation of Asian science enthusiasts and geniuses.
'Sir Fong's Adventures In Science' is one step towards that. One day, an Asian scientist may say, "Hey, I grew up loving Sir Fong comics!" By then, our world will have become a much better place in which to live.
And you know what? My Spidermen are immortal afterall. They survived the fire, and now they're killer bunnies!
While comics with Science are typically illustrated textbooks, "Adventures In Science" are unique as characters and plots are interwovened with Science concepts. Readers will see the intimate connection between Science and humanity.
In kids' terms, they will love the story, humour and still get the concepts!
~Sir Fong~
~Sir Fong~
~Sir Fong's Adventures In Science, Book 2~
