Comics Quotes & Facts
from CHINA/HONG KONG, TAIWAN, SOUTH KOREA, and THAILAND [ASIA Page 2]
Information about secular and general circulation comics literature from around the world
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CHINA / HONG KONG
Hong Kong's finance chief has printed and distributed free manga-style comic books about budgeting in an effort to interest young people in the government's 2009 and 2010 budgets. 30,000 copies of the latest financial comics were distributed to schools and 18 district offices. (From the Hong Kong Standard newspaper, January 2010)
"Broadly defined, Chinese comics have a long history, from woodblock prints in imperial times, over anti-Japanese cartoons of the World War II era, to didactic drawings used to teach communist values to the illiterate masses. But the current frenzy was kindled in the 1990s with the advent of Japanese comics, or manga. And it shows. From the style -- the trademark huge eyes of the characters -- to the subject matters -- martial arts, teenage love and science fiction -- the main influence on today's Chinese comics is overwhelmingly Japanese ... China was a latecomer to the comics scene and its community of creative story-tellers feel compelled to go for the tried and proven if they want to earn a living. 'Chinese comics are in the early phase of development,' said Zhang Zhou, an employee at a Beijing-based advertising company and an avid reader of local comics. 'Our artists are still looking for their own style.' ... An entire subculture has grown up around comics in China, with youngsters dressing up as their favorite heroes with wigs and costumes that make them look like something in between Tolkienesque elves and Tokyo punks. Their enthusiasm and growing purchasing power is what instills confidence in the pioneers of the Chinese comics industry. 'Comic magazines in China have a combined circulation of three million,' said Xu Tao, secretary general of the Institute of Chinese Comics, an industry association. 'But if you count everything, including comics on the Internet and imported magazines, the total market is at least 10 million readers,' he said." (From the China Daily, July 2004)
The #1 humour comic created and sold in mainland China is called Humourist, and it sells 400,000 copies per month. The next biggest seller is Aomi Zazhi ("Mystery Magazine") which sells 250,000 copies per month. (From a representative of Chinese publisher Aomi Pictorial at the Festival International de la Bande Dessinée in Angouleme, January 2003)
"For many people, reading comics is an indispensable part of life in Hong Kong." (From an article entitled "Comics craze has long and colourful history" in the South China Morning Post, April 2001)
"Hong Kong's comics festival and cyber carnival are attracting the attention of local comics fans. Over 350-thousand youngsters and comics fans are expected to visit the five-day festival ... at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center. Organizers say they added the cyber carnival to the comic festival to meet the youngster's demands for comics on the internet." (From The People's Daily in China, August 2000)
The Hong Kong government has published a comic book, called Dor Dor Tell You, to teach children how to protect themselves from sexual abuse. (From a Sept.'99 article in the South China Morning Post)
"It is faintly ironic that Dengist China's programme of market-driven reform should have flooded the traditionally xenophobic Middle Kingdom with all manner of foreign cultural inputs. Much to the chagrin of the very policy makers who are responsible for this state of affairs. American culture seems to have summarily displaced Confucian traditionalism among China's younger generation. Walt Disney comics, for instance, have captured a large share of the market. Up to 1,800,000 copies of Mickey Mouse or 'Mi Laoshu' as he is known in his Han avtaar, are sold in China each month. Hundreds of thousands of kids also have cajoled their parents into buying Disney's 'The Lion King' and 'Toy Story' comics after seeing the films. The Disney operation finds an eager and expanding audience among China's 'little emperors', the children of parents who have grown rich through Deng Xiaoping's programme of economic reforms." (From The India Tribune OnLine Edition, January '99)
"[In World War II, when] the Japanese invaded China, cartoonists took up the cause of resistance, most fervently a group calling itself National Salvation Cartoon Propaganda Corps that practiced 'cartoon warfare.' Realizing the importance of cartoons, the Japanese government used them to mobilize its people, ally other Asians, and demoralize the enemy. Key to this work were cartoon propaganda leaflets, the newspaper strip Fuku-San, and Manga cartoon Magazine." (From the book Themes and Issues in Asian Cartooning, 1999)
A comic book on dental health was produced [in Hong Kong] to promote the importance of oral hygiene among students, featuring the artwork by students. (From the South China Morning Post, January '97)
The Beijing Publishing House in China published a "socialist heroes" comic book in an attempt to counter the appeal of foreign culture with mainland youngsters. The 12-volume series was distributed to celebrate Communist Party role models "with a touch of humour." (From the South China Morning Post, December '96)
The popularity of Japanese manga/comics has not gone unnoticed in China. In June 1996, Communist Party Chief Jiang Zemin added cartoons to the aims of his "spiritual civilisation" program, and the Propaganda Ministry instructed children's publishing houses "to boldly develop cartoons with Chinese characteristics." One project, Soccer Boy, was released in 1996 by Sichuan Children's Publishing House ­ one of the biggest cartoon publishers. The story is about a "group of kids who dream of forming a soccer team but cannot do it alone. They find a wise coach to draw a winning game plan: obey authority and work together." The educational element is not concealed and is aimed especially toward the generation of single children now growing up in China. (From the Far Eastern Economic Review, October '96)
Comic books proved to be the biggest draw during the opening-day frenzy at the Hong Kong Book Fair. (From the South China Morning Post, Aug '96)
"[In Hong Kong] novels and plays were once leading sources for film scenarios; today, the comic book is king." (From an article in the South China Morning Post, August '96)
"Comic book reading is becoming more and more prevalent among [Hong Kong] teenagers these days. On buses, on the MTR, in restaurants - everywhere you see young people with their heads buried in comics." (From the South China Morning Post, May '96)
"[In Hong Kong] there is a new comic book for young readers - but it has a serious theme: equal rights and opportunities for women and men."(From the South China Morning Post, April '96)
"Deng Xiaoping's 'Socialism with Chinese characteristics,' the ideology which has presumably guided China's experimentation with mixing capitalist market practices into the socialist political system, is the subject of a new series of cartoon books unveiled last Friday in Beijing's Great Hall of the People, Reuters reports citing the Liberation Army Daily. The comic books, entitled 'Deng Xiaoping, What's Socialism?' are intended to explain complex economic concepts without technical jargon. 'By explaining profound ideas in simple terms, the book promotes the basic ideas of Deng Xiaoping's theory of building socialism with Chinese characteristics,' a report from Liberation Army Daily explained." (From China News Digest - Global, December '95)
"Japanese comic books are garnering a bigger share of Hong Kong's $82.15 million comics market, Reuter reported. Experts in Culturecom, which claims to be the biggest Hong Kong comics publisher with about half of the market share, estimated that Japanese titles would make up about 60% of the whole market this year, a huge jump from 50% last year and 20% in 1992. With diverse stories, good quality and TV cartoons' support, Japanese comics keeps up with the changes of lifestyle in Hong Kong, and attracts middle class and more educated readers. By contrast, traditional Kung Fu comics has seen its market shrinking along with the population decline of Hong Kong's blue-collar workers, who comprise the bulk of its reader. (From China News Digest - Global, September '95)
"Youngsters packed the Hong Kong Book Fair ­ and zeroed in on [the comics]... An increase in the price of comics following a worldwide hike in the cost of paper has done nothing to diminish the 'comic craze' among Hong Kong youngsters." (From the South China Morning Post, July '95)
The communists propagandized Nationalist China with cartoon booklets before their takeover (From a missionary broadcaster in Asia) and, more recently, produced comics in a campaign to promote national patriotism and combat Western influence.(From an AP story)
TAIWAN
The younger generation in Taiwan is "more accustomed to Hollywood movies, American and British rock stars and Japanese comic books than things Taiwanese" according to a news story about teahouses and Starbucks coffee shops. (From an AP story, April 2002)
KOREA
"In the traditional manga strongholds of Japan and Korea ... the market is changing ... in Korea, Heewoon Chung of Ecomix Media Co reported that, while the traditional market for printed manga was shrinking due to youth’s preference for the internet, there had been a big growth in the number of consumers who were happy to pay to read manga online. Chung felt that internet publishing would ‘be the primary medium for publishing comics’ in the future." (From Frankfurt Book Fair's "Newsletter Daily," October '06)
"In 2002, more than 9000 titles were published annually, with Korea comics covering approximately 40% of it. Aside from the traditional book stores, comics are being read in the private libraries (called 'Manhwabang', 24-hour shops where they sit down, read comics, and pay by the hour), on the web, and even on the private cell phones." (From the sampler book "Manhwa: The World of Korea Comics" distributed by the Korea Culture & Content Agency at the Frankfurt Book Fair, October '05)
"The reading of comic books... has always been one of Koreans' favorite pastimes..." (From the Korea Herald, March 2000)
With print comics facing stiff competition from booming "PC Room" Internet access across Korea, a new venture firm is offering its comics through a free web portal site with editions for teenagers, adults, young girls and underground cartoon readers. The comics will be updated daily, every other day, weekly and monthly. The company, N4 ("N" stands for "N-generation" or network generation) signed on the 100 best-selling cartoonists affiliated with the Korea Cartoonist Association before its debut. The number of Internet users in Korea has surpassed 10 million (in Seoul alone, there are several thousand "PC rooms"), and a hot-selling cartoon sells at least 50,000 copies after first publication. "So, we are venturing into a huge and still untapped market, keenly watched by the conventional cartoon and animation industry," says N4's executive director, a former editor of the popular IQ Jump comics for teenagers. (From the Korea Times, March 2000)
"Comic books have long been branded in Korea as a mere form of entertainment. But improved quality and increased government efforts to develop the nation's pop-culture industries, has started to lead to a change in attitudes. 'The public perception of comics has improved a lot recently,' said an official of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. 'Comic book design is significant because it forms the backbone of the animation industry, which will occupy an important place in world pop culture in the next century.' Over the past couple of years, whole departments for comic book drawing and animation have cropped up at various universities. According to statistics from the Korean Publishers' Association, 7,000 new comic book titles appear per year, resulting in the publishing of a total of 25 million volumes. About 8,700 comic book rental stores and 7,600 comic book arcades exist nationwide. And they're not just for kids. Dealing with subject matter that ranges from teenage love to international trade disputes, comic books have become a pastime for everyone, even middle-aged men... Overall, industry insiders paint a rosy picture for the future of the Korean comic book industry. 'Presently, Korean comics can't compare with the Japanese ones, who are leading the global market. But in ten years from now, Korean comics are expected to compete favorably with Japanese comic books,' said [the] president of Cartoon Culture Institute." (From The Korea Herald, April '99)
Bootleg Korean versions of Japanese comic books account for 47 percent of the $302 million domestic comics market. (From an Oct. '98 AP story)
"Japanese pop culture will now be allowed to enter the Korean market on a gradual basis, the Culture-Tourism Ministry announced... In the publication sector, Japanese comic books and cartoon magazines will soon be available... The decision is based on the belief that original Japanese comic books will not have a significant effect on the Korean market, which is already dominated by a huge number of either licensed or pirated Japanese comic books. The import of comic books and magazines in Japanese, therefore, will merely add to these numbers." (From the Korea Times, October '98)
A Korean educational comic book was developed to warn children of dumping by foreign manufacturers. (From a Newswatch item in The Comics Journal, Feb. '91)
"To get an idea of how popular comics are both for children and adults in Korea, visit Comics, Etc. [in Chicago]. The large store is full of bookshelves packed with Korean paperback comic books. To keep lengthy browsing in check, the shop has an innovative rental policy and provides couches and chairs for its readers, the majority of whom are boys and young men. (From the Chicago.citysearch.com web site)
THAILAND
The top 2 Thai comics are Kai Hua Roah ("Laughter for Sale") and Mahasanook ("Super Fun"). Together they sell over 8 million copies a month, based on an independent audit. (From a Banlue Publications licensing & distribution management representative at the Frankfurt Book Fair, October 2005)
"Call it a fad, or a Japanese invasion, Japanese comics have been children's best friends for quite some time. They have even become part of Thai culture. The Japanese comic book business is booming. In Thailand alone, it is believed to be worth more than 3 billion baht [over US$ 66 million]." (From the Bangkok Post, Jan 2001)
An article on teen trends in Thailand reports that Japanese comics are included among the most "popular reads" of both teen girls and boys. (From the Bangkok Post, May '99)
"In the face-paced, modern lifestyle [of Thailand]... Japanese comics have replaced the storytelling tradition." (From the Bangkok Post, December '97)
"An irony of Thai cartooning is that although 19th-century King Rama VI became the country's first cartoonist by caricaturing a member of his Council of Ministers, today Thailand's royalty is completely off-limits to [editorial] cartoonists.... All cartoonists know the boundaries, staying away from taboo subjects such as representations of royalty, religion, the judicial system, [and] officials drinking alcohol... Political discourse also spills over into the few locally-drawn newspaper comic strips. The oldest and most popular of these is Poo Yai Ma Kap Tung Ma Muen (Headman Poo Yai Ma and the Village of Tung Ma Muen), featuring characters who symbolize the ineptness of government bureaucracy and the naivete and poverty of upcountry people..." (From the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists web page, Summer 1997)
"College students in Bangkok read literally hundreds of Japanese cartoon books that have been translated into Thai." (From a missionary worker in Thailand)
MULTIPLE COUNTRIES (listed on this page)
"Comics in eastern Asia are more than just a form of popular entertainment. MANGA (in Japan), MAN-HUO (in China), and MANHWA (in Korea) is a part of the cultural life itself." (From the sampler book "Manhwa: The World of Korea Comics" distributed by the Korea Culture & Content Agency at the Frankfurt Book Fair, October 2005)
Japanese manga/comics are read all over Asia, but, until recently, many of the copies sold in other Asian countries were pirated versions. Now Asian economies are developing systems for licensing publication of translated editions from the Japanese creators. The percentage of pirated manga has fallen to about 10% in Taiwan and Hong Kong. In some countries such as Indonesia, however, pirate editions still account for 80% of all manga publications. In South Korea, the government forbids the import of Japanese films, pop songs and comics. But, despite being illegal, Japanese manga have already captured about 70% of the local comic market ­ with pirate copies. (From 1996 articles in the Nikkei Weekly and the Economist)
"In the past, distribution problems in Asia made following weekly US comic series difficult but today many people in the region have good access to the muscle-bound superheroes' latest adventures. It is still early days but the comics have won a firm following in Hong Kong, Singapore and the Philippines, while Thailand, Japan and Taiwan look likely to follow suit... [but still] far more Japanese and Hong Kong titles are sold in Asia than American comics." (From a TimesNet ASIA article, Feb '95)