Apocalypse Kowloon: artist creates dystopian world based on a Hong Kong he's never seen
A French graphic artist has reimagined Hong Kong as a dystopian, post-apocalyptic metropolis inhabited by giant robots and cyberpunk characters - without ever visiting the city. The artworks could spawn a comic book, he hopes.
Imagine a comic book set in a dystopian future Hong Kong, a post-apocalyptic metropolis inhabited by enormous robots and cyberpunk characters where people struggle for survival. Imagine a mash-up of Japanese anime and the Kowloon Walled City and old tong lau (tenement) neighbourhoods that look as if they have been nuked and overrun by machines.
Now imagine that the artist behind the endeavour has never set foot in the city and took inspiration from 1990s Hong Kong films such as John Woo’s Bullet in the Head and photos of the city. And that he chucked in what looked a dream job with Marvel Comics to come up with the concept.
But that’s exactly what happened to Nivanh Chanthara.
His prayers seemed to have been answered when Marvel Comics came calling in 2007, offering the Frenchman a job as concept artist on the animated show Iron Man: Armored Adventures. Then living in Paris, he snapped at the chance to design settings and characters to stand alongside the company’s superheroes.