Galaxioman, the exciting new superhero from Malaysia

 

Galaxioman is a new superhero novel on the market, written by an aspiring novelist. (Robert pic)

PETALING JAYA: For some people, adulthood offers the rare chance to rekindle childhood dreams that were once discarded for one reason or another. While many do not get such an opportunity, one budding Malaysian author is back on the trail pursuing his childhood passion.

When he was a young school student, the author, who wishes to be known as Robert, was deeply fascinated by the world of superheroes.

Today, he is now proudly flipping through the pages of his first book that tells the tale and adventures of his own superhero creation named Galaxioman.

Speaking to FMT, he shared the story behind his superhero passion and what drove him to try his hand at writing.

“Back in 2007, when Iron Man was released, I was totally blown away by the idea of an intelligent inventor using nothing but his wits and technology to save the world,” he said.

Driven to reading the comics, he delved deep into the world of superheroes and soon, he was inspired to create his own superhero.

The fact that the superhero genre is dominated by works originating from outside Malaysia did not escape him.

“I haven’t seen many superhero books written by local authors, and that drove me to give writing a superhero book a try.”

However, his career in the manufacturing industry meant that he could hardly spend time exploring his passion. Still, every weekend, he took the time to work on bits of his manuscript, slowly developing the character that would become Galaxioman.

Throughout this time, there were many moments when he hit mental roadblocks, driving him to question whether he even ought to continue his work. After all, he had little to no prior writing experience and also felt that he lacked his own personal writing style.

“There were moments I felt like giving up. I felt this was a waste of time,” he recalled.

Yet, it was the support of his dear wife that drove him to go on.

“My wife has always been supportive, even when friends and other family members were apprehensive about my work.”

Robert soon found that while writing a book is no walk in the park, getting a book published is an entirely different challenge altogether.

He lamented on the difficulties of being a first-time author, having taken five years to complete the book alone.

“I approached many publishers, but after sending them my manuscript, they were not very keen,” he said.

It took up to five years for Robert to finish writing his book, but he remains proud of his work. (Robert pic)

According to these publishers, Malaysians are less interested in reading superhero stories when compared to romantic tales or ghost stories. Other publishers were willing to publish Galaxioman, provided that Robert be satisfied with a pittance of a royalty payment.

With little choice, self-publication was the only option left to Robert.

With that, Robert engaged the services of a copy editor to perfect his work, as well as an artist to design a book cover that suited Robert’s tastes and captured the essence of Galaxioman.

Garbed in a green and black supersuit, Galaxioman was part of an experiment gone wrong that somehow endowed him with the power of elasticity. While he may share some similarities with DC’s Plastic-Man and Marvel’s Mr Fantastic, Robert assures readers that Galaxioman has his own story to tell.

After all the blood, sweat and tears of realising his dreams, Robert was of course, over the moon to flip through his first copy of Galxioman.

Eager to get people reading, Robert depended mostly on word-of-mouth, with relatives and friends telling others to give his book a try. However, the pandemic has dampened the early momentum behind Galaxioman’s debut.

“Without the ability to sell my book directly or promote it on the ground, sales have plummeted,” lamented Robert.

Hence, Robert has taken to online stores in an effort to get Galaxioman out to the public, with the hopes that his hard work will eventually be a hit with Malaysian bibliophiles. And if people do take a liking to his work, Robert already has a sequel in mind.

“I actually have one chapter of a Galaxioman sequel ready,” he revealed.

He is also open to exploring other book genres in the future, having a fondness for horror novels as well. “Maybe I should write a superhero ghost story,” he mused. “It’s a good idea.”

To Robert, superheroes will always remain timeless as long as people continue to be inspired by the audacious and imaginative genre.

With all that said and done, perhaps the most important question that remained to be asked was what superpower Robert wishes he could possess.

At this, he laughed and chose the highly practical superpower of rapid healing and regeneration.

“If everyone had this power, dealing with Covid-19 would be a piece of cake.” - FMT

Support Robert by giving Galaxioman a read! Galaxioman is available for purchase on Shopee and Lazada. Alternatively, order a copy directly from Robert at 017-8013054.