The evolution of digital comics : the potential of motion comics in Malaysia / Tunku Yusrina Tunku Nazrin

In Malaysia, digital comics are still considered new as most citizens are still used to physical comics since the golden era of local comic magazines such as Apo?, Gila-Gila and Gempak while online platforms such as Tapas (Tapastic), ComiXology and Webtoons are much more appealing to the younger generation that were born after the year 2000 as they were exposed to communication gadgets at such a young age, giving them unlimited creativity and adapting to the advancements of technology easily. This also leads to further experimentation of digital comics as the medium was then combined with visually animated sequences, sound effects and interactive graphics leading it to the production of motion comics to this day. In hopes of finding more about the evolution of digital comics and it’s potentials to the local market, this research was made to highlight on the evolution of existing digital comics in Malaysia from the year 2010 until 2022 and how motion comics contributes to the growth of our creative industry towards the digitization of the economy in the future. The methodology used to conduct this research is through a qualitative method such as observation and semistructured interviews with experts from the creative field, especially with those who contributed to the development of digital comics in the local scene. The information gathered from the relevant reading sources and interviews was then conducted through a thematic analysis method to extract the themes and findings about existing Malaysian digital comics and motion comics from the year 2010 until 2022. The results obtained from this study managed to provide new information and knowledge on the remarkable discovery of existing local digital comics and motion comics. From here, motion comics was also studied for future development to keep on making an impression as a hybrid medium in the creative industry towards the digitization of the economy.