Oh yes, and be ready for the mysterious student... Unknown! Who could he be, yes?
Lawak Kampus, also known as Kuso High School in English and Chinese-speaking countries, is a long-running Malaysian comic book series illustrated by Keith Chong Kah Hwee, commonly nicknamed as just "Keith", and Zelo (formerly). Ever since Zelo left the Art Square Team in December 2003, Keith continues the work of Lawak Kampus all by himself.
The comics mostly consist of 4-panel strips about the life of teenage students at the titular school. Among the most commonly featured characters are the lazy protagonist Vanness, a smart frog humanoid named Froggy, the misbehaved athletic Aditas, the unattractive romantic Xena, Hopeless Suitor Anthony, the twins Ami and Yumi, the extremely pizzafaced Bepop, and Si Kosong (Zero), the dumb student who takes advice from his personal hand puppet.
See also BoBoiBoy Galaxy x Lawak Kampus: SUPERIOR, the 2018 crossover comic with animated series BoBoiBoy Galaxy made to commemorate the comic's 15th anniversary.
Lawak Kampus contains examples of:
- Arc Symbol: Froggy's silhouette head can be seen most of the time in the cover art, mostly to denote the volume number.
- Cameo Cluster: Only in Volume 31, it takes the theme of superheroes. Froggy has web-slinging skills (Spiderman), Vanness has a cape (Spiderman), Bepop has a cape in black (Batman), Aditas runs at the speed of light (Flash), and Xena has her own lasso (Wonder Woman). However at the back is where some characters cosplay as notable villains. The characters at the back cover were Yumi (Harley Quinn), Boss (Penguin), Cikgu Noodle (Mr. Noodle, as Loki), Unknown (Joker), and Si Genius (The Genius, as Lex Luthor).
- Cultural Translation: A localized example, but the comics are available in Malay, English, and Mandarin Chinese to reflect the various races in Malaysia, with some differences in the gags depending on the language used. Notably, in the Malay version the characters are clearly Muslim and celebrates Hari Raya Aidilfitri, while in the Mandarin version they're celebrating Chinese New Year (a ketupat joke in the Malay version was changed to the Fu [福] symbol in the Chinese version).
- Disproportionate Retribution: Many jokes have used this concept,
- In League (Volume 4), Cikgu Noodle pull a prank on Vanness by giving him a fake money drew by him, in another one, Log In (Volume 5), he take Vanness's phone away from him (with is very understandable, as phones aren't allowed in school), in both cases, he ended up dealing with the police (with the later actually show him being arrested).
- Early-Installment Weirdness: A given since the series has been around for two decades, and it's especially prominent when re-reading Lawak Kampus (2004) and Rebound (2005).
- The first issue runs less on animesque and has an art-style closer to localized, Malaysian comics (think Ujang magazine) with thicker pen lines, dotted eyes, and a somewhat inconsistent art form (because it's the only book with two artists, Keith and Zeloo).
- Black Bead Eyes are used for the main characters in the first volume, and then phased out for background extras, before getting dropped entirely.
- The gross-out humor the books are known for are downplayed, only comic strips featuring Bepop or Aditas (respectively acne problems and sweatiness) would use this type of humor. Later books uses it everywhere.
- Cikgu Noodle was formerly known as Cikgu "Nicholas". Before, Keith intended the character to be a parody of the Hong Kong actor Nicholas Tse, but later parodied a Hong Kong actor/singer Ekin Cheng, also known by the stage name Noodle.
- Some running gags prominent in the pilot issue are dropped altogether, like Vanness complaining he's too "average" as the comic's main character, Agira's father running a pirated DVD business and Mickey and Sharkhead being avid photobombers.
- The earlier strips are less contemporary, unlike later issues (when the book is in double-digits) which relies on current pop-culture, resulting in later books feeling more dated - for instance, issue 11 containing multiple references and an author's dedication to Steve Jobs (since it's published in 2011, the same year Jobs passed away), while issue 17 have multiple strips cracking jokes about Superman losing his underwear (a reference to the then-upcoming Man of Steel).
- The Friend Nobody Likes: Bepop, holy hell.
- Lions and Tigers and Humans... Oh, My!: Downplayed. So far there are only two anthropomorphic animal characters, Froggy, and Koala, the 7-Eleven clerk's workmate.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Both Atuk KFG (KFG Grandpa) and Pak Cik McW (Uncle McW) are parodies of both Colonel Harland Sanders (KFC) and Ronald McDonald (McDonalds) for the sake of both of these characters bickering over whose fast food chain is better. This also applies to Siv Jobs, parody of the late Steve Jobs.
- Pastiche: Only in Lawak Kampus Add-On. The cast realized that Keith, their sole artist, were absent (when in reality, Keith was at the airport, before realizing he forgot his passport), and thus forced Alson and DARK, Keith's assistants, to continue the series. Alson's art style is more likely resemble a cutesy, chibi-styled anime, whereas DARK's art style were based off of ikemen, a style of very good looking men in Japanese media.
- Product Placement: The PSP, a handheld gaming console manufactured by Sony, is owned by many characters, notably Vanness and Aditas at all times, whereas other characters, such as Budak Kaya (The Rich Kid), and Si Kosong (Zero) owns one. Additionally, the PSP is seen numerous times throughout the series.
