Fakhrulanour

Mat Gempak

Mat Gempak is a comic series by a Malaysian cartoonist, Apoh. The series ran in Gempak comics magazine from Issue 1 (June 1, 1998) until Issue 81 (April 1, 2003) and returned starting from Issue 154 (April 15, 2006). The story is about the life of Mat Gempak, the main character, and his friends in their hometown at Kampung Gondolan.

Main characters

File:Matgempakredux.jpg

Mat Gempak, official Gempak mascot

Mat Gempak - The main protagonist of the series. He appears as a bald, yellowish guy wearing a red bandana. He is also the official mascot of Gempak magazine.
Boy - Mat Gempak's main sidekick character. He is adopted by Mat's parents since he is an orphan and often hangs around with Mat.
Ella Meow - Mat Gempak's purple tom cat which appears both as Mat's pet and also as his sidekick.
Linda - Mat Gempak's love interest who is also a student at Multimedia University, Cyberjaya.
Ella - Mat Gempak's ugly female cousin who falls in love with Mat.
Rizal - An evil guy who persuades Linda to follow him to Kuala Lumpur to become a singer but actually his gang manipulates her for criminal purposes.

Supporting characters

Pak Mat - Mat Gempak's father. He appears as a wise man who loves Mat and also becomes Mat's consellor every time Mat feels down. Sometimes, he appears lascivious when it comes to pretty girls. The Name Pak Mat literally means Uncle Mat in Malay.
Mat's mother - In some episodes, she appears as a very fierce woman; however she appears as a kind woman in most episodes.
Kudin - Mat Gempak's friend in Kampung Gondolan, however in some episodes he appears as Mat's arch-rival because of jealousy especially when it comes about girls.
Kak Rah - A poor owner of an ill-fated warung, or food stall. She has a son named Aik. The name Kak Rah literally means Sister Rah.
Salim - A poor fictional cartoonist who draws horror comics but is often rejected by Gempak magazine. He hates Taufan and Oga most because of his jealousy to them.

Story

The story of Mat Gempak took place primarily at Kampung Gondolan, a fictional fishing village located somewhere between the eastern states of Peninsular Malaysia. The whole story can be divided into five main arcs - Kampung Gondolan arc, Kuala Lumpur arc, Back to Kampung Gondolan arc, Love Triangle arc and Mat Gempak II arc.

1. Kampung Gondolan arc

Everything began when Mat Gempak brought home his pen-pal, Linda, on his bicycle. It was the first time they met, and Mat had a crush on her. They spent their time together in the village and their relationship began to grow until Mat's ugly cousin, Ella, began to make his life miserable. Linda was driven off and followed Rizal to Kuala Lumpur to become a singer. Mat became heartbroken, quit school, and went to Kuala Lumpur, hoping to bring Linda back.

2. Kuala Lumpur arc

Mat Gempak and his pet cat Ella Meow went to Kuala Lumpur to find Linda. Mat had no relatives and no place to sleep, when Boy came and told Mat he could stay with him. To afford their living in the city, they sold pirated video CDs.

One day, Mat finally found Linda singing at a concert. He tried to talk to her, but to his surprise Linda seem to have forgotten him completely. Mat finally decided to return to his home village at Kampung Gondolan (bringing Boy with him) for Hari Raya and remained there.

3. Back to Kampung Gondolan arc

Mat Gempak had finally returned to his parents at Kampung Gondolan and continue to live in the village together with Boy and other friends in the village. Most episodes in this arc are single-episode stories and jokes, including the introduction of other characters such like Kak Rah, Salim and Kentelo.

Back to the main plot, Ella returned back to Kampung Gondolan to begin her second attempt to win Mat's heart. She got plastic surgery that turned her into a very beautiful, sexy girl. This time, her attempt to capture Mat's heart worked because Mat didn't know that the beautiful girl was actually his cousin.

4. Love Triangle arc

During the last episodes of the series, Linda finally escaped from Rizal's syndicate and returned to Kampung Gondolan. When she saw Mat Gempak, she burst into tears, apologized to him and confessed everything to him, but before she could continue her confession, Ella suddenly arrived, resulting in love triangle between them. Mat ended up losing both girls after final confrontation with Rizal who re-kidnapped Linda but accepted his fate and was glad to be himself again.

5. Mat Gempak II arc

Three years has elapsed since the final confrontation with Rizal and nothing happened to Mat Gempak between that long time. He preferred staying in Kampung Gondolan even though all villagers asked him to return to Kuala Lumpur for good. Finally, he decided to go to Kuala Lumpur as a full-fledged college student, just because of he felt pissed off when he saw Mat Wi (parody character of Mawi) in a magazine whom he thought may seize his place as an idol. However, life was not as easy as he thought as he had to face all the obstacles and difficulties along the way all by himself. His life as a college student had made him became more matured and positive-thinking.

Plans to continue the series

The creator of Mat Gempak, decided to put the end of the series in Issue 81 of Gempak magazine. During the end of Mat Gempak series, Apoh had hinted that one day Mat Gempak may return, and recently in Gempak magazine issue #151 the return of Mat Gempak series has been announced and the new season began starting from Issue #154 (Mat Gempak II arc).

Graphic novels

Until now, Art Square Creation has published 3 graphic novels of the Mat Gempak series - Mat Gempak, Letz Gempak and Mat Gempak Redux.