At a comics store in Ginza, Tokyo, thousands of comic books were on shelves for sale. Among them, the original Chinese comic Outlaws of the Marsh -- adapted from one of four famed classic Chinese novels -- were put in pride of place. According to the store owner, they sold very well.

 

 

A Japanese comic fan said, "The style of the drawings is very powerful. I think the comic book has vividly presented the story."

 

One may wonder how the comic book first earned acclaim from Japan, while remaining unknown to Chinese readers, since it is an original creation by Chinese artists.

 

Outlaws of the Marsh was created and edited by Chen Weidong. Comic artist Liang Xiaolong contributes his wonderful drawings to Chen's ideas and production, The New Express reported yesterday.

 

Chen said he had great passion and feelings for traditional Chinese culture, especially the Four Classics which include A Dream of Red Mansion, Journey to the West, Outlaws of the Marsh, and Romance of Three Kingdoms. However, he said he found out that many Chinese youngsters had not read any of the classics. Many just read some simple comics or watched adapted movies or TV series.

 

"What a sad thing to know! This also makes me wonder: why did teenagers choose not to accept and read our extraordinary classics? I think the language is one of problems since the original novels were written in old Chinese language. Children won't like it. So there have to be a compromise. "

 

In 2002, Chen's God Zone Studio started to create comics based on the four classics.

 

But his four-year efforts resulted in entering Japanese market at first. Chen was resigned to the face that Chinese people are not confident and passionate enough for their own culture. "Especially some youngsters," Chen said, "they often think that anything from abroad is good, which bothers me very much. But business dealers have to face the reality."

 

One and half years ago, God Zone Studio published 10 volumes of Journey to the West and Outlaws of the Marsh black-and-white comics respectively in China. The results were disappointing. God Zone ended the publishing campaign and decided to publish them in color form in the future when they find a powerful publishing agency which can do good promotion and packaging.

 

Compared to the struggle in China, Chen is more confident in Japanese market. "Japanese artists have created their own versions of Journey to the West, Outlaws of the Marsh, and Romance of Three Kingdoms. But they do it for commercial purposes, changing the original story so much, it ceased to resemble our own. The reason why they continued to do so is because the subjects have market potentials."

 

The creative images of comic characters in Chen and Liang's Outlaws of the Marsh are totally different from Japanese versions. Every hero has lifelike expressions, inspiring and strong characters. The fight scenes are vivid. Comic artist Liang Xiaolong admitted that he drew inspiration from movies and TV, and he doesn't like those Japanese drawings.

 

"Though Japanese artists draw Chinese classics, the expression and speaking styles were all theirs," He said.

 

Before Outlaws of the Marsh, there were no other original Chinese comic books which had won Japan's market. "Frankly speaking, our drawing techniques are not far behind any countries' artists in the world," Liang explained. Chinese artists helped to accomplish many famous foreign cartoons in production through years when foreign cartoon companies thought it was cheap to hire Chinese artists to work on their projects. "But the biggest problem is that we have very few original and creative works to sell. That's why we failed to be a big cartoon nation. I saw many kids imitate some masters very well, but they can only imitate but not create. What a waste!"

 

"If we want to enter Japanese market, we have to make some unique stuff of our own. The Four Classics comics were created by Chinese, have traditional brands and special way to tell story, and the personality. All those factors attract Japanese people."

 

Chinese people have always been concerned about how classics are adapted. Not long ago, upon hearing the news that a Japanese movie crew has come to China to shoot a movie based on Journey to the West, in which the Monk Tang Xuanzhuang was played by a female (male in original story), fury ensued.

 

At the same time, a new comic book based on Journey to the West also provoked public debate.

 

Gu Baoxin

Comic artist Gu Baoxin, born in 1960, recently published a series of comics adapted from Journey to the West under Yinlin Press a month ago.

 

The debate mainly focused on whether the Monkey King Sun Wukong should be depicted ugly or handsome. The character in original story has a nick name of "Gorgeous Monkey King", but Gu's works were terrifying.

 

In many people's traditional opinions, Monkey King should be smart and cute, even handsome. The most viewed TV-series shot in the 1980s also presented a nice and friendly portrait of the fairy monkey.

 

But Gu made it a thrilling monster with great powers, spiky teeth and sharp eyes. This comic series was made for four years.

 

"I don't think Monkey King penned by me is ugly," Gu said to Modern Express. Despite the fact that many said he tried to make a compelling difference, he explained that he's the one who showed what Monkey King truly is.

 

"In the original book, Monkey King always had a face of the thunder god, which is very terrifying in Chinese ancient mythology. And he always terrified common people in original stories. So I don't think this monkey was as cute as some said after all. My take is, at first, he's a monkey; second, he's a fairy or monster. His fellow colleagues are also from the monster world."

Before his creation, he said he had studied the classic novel so well. He said a famous Japanese comic director Syuzo Noguchi behind the animes City Hunter and Slam Dunk was so thrilled when he read his comics that he later flew to Nanjing to visit Gu and tell him that his creation is near the original description and spirit of the original novel.

 

The editor of his publishing house Hong Peiqi said, Gu's version of Journey to the West stunned him immediately when he first glanced it. But he was worried if domestic fans could accept the noir style.

 

Gu thought that a rebel, cruel, vanguard, heroic, mixed monkey is the true character of Monkey King. He didn't care much about the controversy. "Don't Chinese people like the Lord of The Rings? It is true decline when people only worship those sweet things, but not the true powers, from the aesthetic perspective," he said.

 

He established his studio with his wife in 2000 after returning from abroad. He believes computer graphics will help make the comics more compelling. Journey to the West is his first comic work, but Gu is also looking forward to related merchandise like video games, toys and films while his other comic books will be published next year.

 

Time will tell if the new-style comics will win diehard old classics supporters' hearts. But the key is -- when Chinese artists produce really wonderful works, and Chinese people have confidence back again, Chinese comic artists can fully conquer their home ground.

 

 

Gu Baoxin's Monkey King

 

(China.org.cn by Zhang Rui November 23, 2006)