A Mild Case of Mass Hysteria

In 1967, hundreds of men in Singapore face their biggest crisis. Not a shrinking economy, but the terror of their genitals vanishing into their body. Beneath this curious phenomenon, the so-called Koro epidemic, lies a serious anxiety: what does it mean to be a man at a time of changing social mores? A Mild Case of Mass Hysteria is a darkly funny, thought-provoking graphic novel about three men whose private fears echo the growing pains of a young country. Soo Tang, a triad henchman whose die-hard swagger fails him when rejected by a female gangster; Wee Tiong, a closeted gay doctor torn between filial duty and forbidden desire; and James Yong, a layabout drafted into the first batch of national servicemen who discovers discipline-- and his masculinity. As women assert their power in society, these men have to confront the unsettling question: how do you measure up?