I think I may have discovered the secret to more frequent blogging. Post something you can't stand to look at, so you're forced to post more just to force that image off the screen!
The image above is a wrap-around cover I did a while back for a manga adaptation of a novel called Chasing the Dragon. Published by Houder & Stouton UK, The story is the first-hand the account of author Jackie Pullinger's misadventures in the massive lawless slum Kowloon walled City, or KWC as it is affectionately known to it's many admirers. No joke, I'm one of them. How could I say no to this gig?
From the excellently comprehensive KWC section of archidose.org:
Inhabiting a block the size of the Tokyo Dome, Kowloon Walled City resembed a
living, breathing creature, born from its inhabitants over its long lifespan.
But the walled city was more than a physical conglomeration of buildings and
people, it was an inadvertent symbol of the long struggle between China and Hong
Kong, ruled by neither. It was an "in-between zone" whose remarkable existence
today can best be comprehended through images, statistics and interviews. These
pages give a brief overview of Kowloon Walled City (KWC) in historical,
personal, architectural and political terms.
Sadly KWC was finally demolished in 1993, but not before getting immortalized as a set piece in Bloodsport (!).
