Exciting 1979!

Chapter 338 Comics and Animation Both Flourish, Hong Kong and Shanghai Win Big

Zhou Huimin will be a junior high school student when school starts. At an age when she is no longer immature, she begins to suffer the pain of love. After separating from Wei Ming, she longs for a reunion every day and night. Her mind is filled with his tall and upright figure.

The cultural performance held on the first day of school for all teachers and students intensified this longing, as the song being performed was "Tomorrow Will Be Better".

This time, her classmates in the choir were no longer just background singers singing harmonies. After being arranged, all members had a line of lyrics, and she was still the lead singer and the absolute center.

At this moment, Zhou Huimin has become the spiritual leader of the choir and a star student at the school.

She heard that boys from other schools came all the way to St. Stephen's Church School just to see her, to which she could only say "childish".

While her Ah Ming was already concerned about the world's troubles before enjoying its pleasures, these boys were still skipping class for pretty girls. The difference was like heaven and earth, there was no comparison.

Of course, besides skipping class for pretty girls, immature boys will also fight over a comic book.

Cheng Yee-kin, who is the same age as Vivian Chow, is an ordinary secondary school student in Kowloon. If there is anything extraordinary about him, it is probably that he is handsome.

But being handsome didn't make him a popular figure at school. On the contrary, he was introverted and even a bit aloof, and didn't usually fit in with others.

In the days before video games became popular, his favorite thing to do was read comics.

He usually enjoys watching movies like "Dragon Tiger Gate" and "Bruce Lee". Since Shangguan Xiaobao joined Jade Dragon International, he feels that the quality of "Bruce Lee" has improved even further.

Today, when he was looking for comics at a bookstore near the school, a magazine called "Madman Comics" suddenly caught his eye. The ancient costume characters on the cover made him pick up the magazine without thinking.

The cover features several main characters from "Qin's Moon," both male and female. The men are handsome, the women are beautiful and even a bit sexy, and the illustrations are incredibly detailed and artistic.

I touched the paper and felt its thickness; it looked like a very high-quality magazine, or rather, a very expensive one.

However, upon looking at the price tag, Zheng Yijian was pleasantly surprised to find that it was only two yuan, the same price as other poorly made comic magazines.

Conscience!
So Zheng Yijian started looking at the table of contents with peace of mind.

The story on the cover should be called "Qin's Moon," with Liu Yunlong as the main writer and Wei Kuangren as the screenwriter. These two names sound like something out of a comic book.

There is another one called "Heroes Have Always Emerged from Among the Young," which also features these two people.

Hey, this name sounds familiar.

Oh, I remember now, there was a movie with this name before, I think it was a comic book of the same name.

Because there were no left-wing cinemas nearby at the time, Zheng Yijian was unable to see this famous film, but this time he can make up for that regret.

He glanced at the first page of the magazine and noticed something: the editor-in-chief was Wei Kuangren, and the acting editor-in-chief was Liu Yunlong.

I think I've heard of this Wei Kuangren somewhere before, but I can't remember where. Oh well, it's not important. Let's just read the comics.

He immediately started reading the beginning of "Qin's Moon". It started with the Sword Saint Gai Nie unleashing his ultimate move and leading Jing Tianming to escape from the Qin army's encirclement. However, the Quicksand organization was still pursuing them, and Wei Zhuang's four assassins were all incredibly powerful.

Zheng Yijian was engrossed in the exciting story when the bookstore owner suddenly passed by behind him, coughing twice.

The cough wasn't directed at him. When Zheng Yijian looked up, he found that several boys of similar age around him had picked up the new magazine and were flipping through it.

When the boss coughed at him, Zheng Yijian immediately took out his money. Although his family was just an ordinary one, it was only two yuan, which he could afford.

After buying the magazine, Zheng Yijian returned to school and began to read it seriously.

The art style of "Qin's Moon" is very beautiful, even a bit gorgeous in his opinion. Whether it is the background, the characters, or the fighting, the quality is much higher than that of the current Hong Kong comics.

The pre-Qin era was truly a fascinating one!
Unfortunately, the story is short; he has already read to the last page, and the rest of the story will not be available for another two weeks. It is a semi-monthly magazine.

Next, he went to read "Heroes Have Always Been Born Young". It can be seen that it is written in the same style as the author. However, "Heroes Have Always Been Born Young" should be an earlier work and its quality is slightly worse than "Qin's Moon".

As Zheng Yijian was looking at the magazine, he felt the urge to urinate, so he put it in the drawer.

However, when he returned, the class bully, Chicken Bro, and a few of his underlings were sitting around his seat, holding their magazines and shouting loudly.

"Holy crap, this is amazing!"

"This is awesome!"

"Brother Chicken, turn the page slowly, I haven't finished reading yet."

Zheng Yijian thought about it for a while and ultimately didn't go over. He thought that Brother Ji would leave after class started. However, after the class bell rang, Brother Ji left and took his comic book with him.

“Brother Chicken…” Zheng Yijian finally called out to him.

"what."

“Me, my comic book.” He pointed to Chicken Brother’s claws.

"I'll return it to you after you're done reading it." After saying that, Chicken Bro went straight back to his seat in the back of the classroom and continued reading "Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky".

A younger brother of mine just found this comic book. He was immediately drawn to the bloody and violent scenes in "Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky," and he also immediately remembered the main artist, Niu Lao, and the screenwriter, Wei Kuangren.

Zheng Yijian kept turning around, worried, and found that Brother Ji was still reading comics. He couldn't help but want to remind him that it was the homeroom teacher's class today and he should keep a low profile, but unfortunately, the distance was too far and he couldn't reach him.

Chicken Bro isn't just reading comics; he's constantly flexing his arm muscles, or lifting his shirt to look at his abs, lamenting the gap between himself and the protagonist, saying he needs to work out more.

He was engrossed in reading when suddenly a shadow fell over him. Looking up, he saw his balding homeroom teacher staring at him with a deathly gaze.

Before Chicken Bro could react, the homeroom teacher confiscated his comic book, and Zheng Yijian's heart was bleeding.

The homeroom teacher, Mr. Song, is a history teacher. After class, he took the comic book and went back to his office.

He wasn't really interested in these kinds of comic books, but when he casually flipped through one, he saw Wei Kuangren's name.

If I remember correctly, Wei Ming, the mainland writer who spearheaded a charity concert a while ago, has a pen name called "Wei Kuangren" and another name called "Wei something".

Old Song is no stranger to Wei. Ming Pao is currently serializing his novel "The Legend of the Heavenly Book," which his son is reading and finds quite interesting. He has also read it. It is adapted from "The Tale of the Demon Slayer" and seems to have a hint of political metaphor. The author's skill is indeed very strong.

Driven by his curiosity about Wei Ming, Lao Song flipped through the catalog and was intrigued by a comic book titled "If History Were a Group of Cats." He was not only a history teacher but also a cat lover.

He turned directly to that page, where the first story was about the beginning of the world and the myths and legends of Pangu the cat, Kuafu the cat, and so on.

Although the mythological figures are depicted as cats, the stories are not wrong; they are all from the Records of the Grand Historian. It's just that the characters have been given a cat's skin and some feline elements have been added, making the serious history more endearing.

Old Song couldn't help but laugh after reading it. "Not bad, not bad. If this comic is published as a standalone volume, I can buy it for my son to read."

After class, seeing that Brother Chicken was about to leave as if nothing had happened, Zheng Yijian finally mustered up her courage and went up to him: "Brother Chicken, my comic book..."

He hoped that Brother Chicken could help him get the comic book back, since he was the bully in the class, and maybe Old Song would give him some face.

However, these words seemed to remind Chicken Bro, and he said, "Oh right, comic books, I haven't finished reading 'Madman Comics' yet, why don't you buy another one, I'll continue reading it tomorrow."

Zheng Yijian: "Huh?"

"What do you mean 'ah'? I'll buy it just because I tell you to. You have to buy it every time from now on because I don't want to spend money," Chicken Bro said matter-of-factly, and then shoved Zheng Yijian away.

At this moment, Zheng Yijian only regretted that he was not the Sword Saint Gai Nie, and really wanted to kill this thing with a single sword stroke.

However, Zheng Yijian eventually went to the bookstore to buy "Madman Comics" obediently. Firstly, he was afraid that Brother Chicken would make things difficult for him, and secondly, he wanted to finish reading the magazine, as there were several stories in the later chapters that he was interested in.

To his surprise, it was sold out.

The shop owner laughed heartily: "Yes, sold out. No one bought anything on the first day, but it's all sold out today. Everyone who saw it said it was good. But the more we sell, the more money the owner will probably lose."

Zheng Yijian didn't understand what he meant, but he knew he was probably in deep trouble.

Sure enough, the next day, when Chicken Bro couldn't find "Madman Comics" in his bag, Chicken Bro became very agitated, beat him up, and told him not to stick to one bookstore and to go to other stores to buy it!

Zheng Yijian may not know that "Madman's Comics" comes from Lu Xun's "Diary of a Madman", nor does he know that Lu Xun once said: "Either erupt in silence or die in silence."

But he actually did it. Driven to desperation by Brother Chicken, Zheng Yijian completely exploded and attacked Brother Chicken, who was causing trouble in the class, like a madman. Even Brother Chicken's underlings didn't dare to step forward.

Chicken Bro was only a 14-year-old boy, not much taller or stronger than Zheng Yijian. Under Zheng Yijian's berserk attack, Chicken Bro gave in.

"Brother Jian, stop hitting me! Brother Jian, I was wrong, Brother Jian..."

~
"Brother Long."

"Brother Long."

Good morning, Brother Long.

At the "Madman Comics" magazine, the cartoonists there were increasingly respectful of Liu Rulong, the acting editor-in-chief who wasn't much older than them.

The inaugural issue of "Madman Comics" has been out for three days. They've all been browsing the bookstores near their homes. Their "Madman Comics" is selling very well. Everyone's work has people who like it and praise it. They feel like they've finally made it big.

Liu Rulong remained calm and composed, displaying the demeanor of a great general. He walked into his office, hesitated for a long time, and then dialed the printing company's number.

"Print another 10,000 copies!"

The first print run of the inaugural issue was only 10,000 copies. After all, the Hong Kong market is only so big, and there were no comic book publications with print runs of 100,000 or more at that time.

Ten thousand copies is even a bit risky for a new publication.

However, judging from feedback from many bookstores, word-of-mouth for the magazine started to spread within three days, and 10,000 copies were definitely not enough. So, he added another 10,000 copies, which was also the last reprint. They couldn't add any more, because they would lose one dollar for every magazine sold!

Liu Rulong wasn't good at accounting; that was his father, Liu Bin, who was in charge of that.

Because "Madman Comics" uses better materials and is of far higher quality than comics priced at two yuan, the production and distribution costs alone are more than two yuan.

In addition, Wei Ming instructed that bonuses should be given to cartoonists and that creators should not be stingy, so salary expenditures should be higher than those of their peers.

All things considered, with a circulation of 10,000 copies, the cost of one copy of "Madman Comics" was about 4 yuan. In order to break through Huang Yulang's monopoly on the market, they could only use a low-price strategy at the beginning to let readers know about "Madman Comics" and "Qin's Moon".

Wei Ming gave instructions that the price should be raised only after at least four issues and two months, and "Fengyun" would premiere in the fourth issue.

Fortunately, Wei Ming had several hundred thousand US dollars in his HSBC account; otherwise, most small companies wouldn't be able to afford it.

Fortunately, expenses such as wages and rent are relatively fixed. As long as the circulation is high enough, the cost per copy can be reduced to less than three yuan.

Even so, by the time "Madman Comics" breaks even, Ah Long will have lost at least HK$100,000!

Thinking of this, Liu Rulong felt unworthy of owning 20% ​​of "Madman Comics" and dared not slack off even more.

So he quickly spread out his drawing paper and began to carefully polish "Qin's Moon," an original comic adapted from history, which is now the top brand of "Madman Comics."

He had been drawing for over an hour when the receptionist came to find him, saying that someone had come to apply for the job.

"We don't need anyone right now."

The receptionist said, "The other party claims to be a cartoonist who said he wanted to join us after reading our comics, and that he also knows Huang Guoxing."

Huang Guoxing was good at humorous comics, so he was assigned "Sha Wujing's Diary".

The man who came to join them was one of the top comedic geniuses in the Hong Kong comics industry. His works even influenced and inspired Stephen Chow's nonsensical creations to some extent. He was Gan Xiaowen.

Looking at the thin young man in front of him, Liu Rulong asked about his basic information. He was 19 years old and used to submit articles to newspapers and magazines, drawing humorous comics.

Liu Rulong also read some of Gan Xiaowen's proudest works and found that he was indeed very talented, comparable to Huang Guoxing.

In a few years, Gan Xiaowen will join Yulang International, but for now, he is attracted by "Madman Comics".

When Liu Rulong asked him why he wanted to join "Madman Comics," Gan Xiaowen bluntly replied, "I came here because of Wei Kuangren."

Of course, there's also the good treatment, which I heard from Huang Guoxing and his friends.

Gan Xiaowen took out the "Madman Comics" he bought and said, "I have read several serialized comics here and found that all the writers are Mr. Wei Kuangren or co-writers. Guozai and I are old acquaintances. He was not as successful as me before, but now I can only draw some jokes. But I also want to draw works, like 'Sha Wujing's Diary'."

Although "Sha Wujing's Diary" is also quite humorous, it has a complete theme and storyline, and can already be considered a work of art. Moreover, it is really funny, making him burst out laughing. He never thought that Sha Wujing could become the comedic relief in the Journey to the West team, which shows how strong the scriptwriter's skills are.

He needs screenwriters like this to help him evolve from a joke writer into a true cartoonist.

The current staff of "Madman Comics" is actually sufficient, but Liu Rulong really cherishes talent, so he decided to keep Gan Xiaowen and discuss with A Ming later whether to give him a project.

~
A craze for "Madman Comics" has recently swept through North Point Cooperative Secondary School in the Eastern District of Hong Kong Island.

At first, only boys watched it, but later even girls started watching it.

Li Lizhen saw that her deskmate was also reading comics, and wondered what was so interesting about them.

15-year-old Li Lizhen is extremely popular in her class. Not only is she beautiful, but her clothing and style no longer give off the impression of a little girl; she is developing into a mature woman.

This change began last year when she first filmed an advertisement. Now she's a little advertising star and feels that she's no longer on the same level as her classmates.

"No, this is really good, especially 'Happy Ghost.' I wish I had a Zhu Xiucai by my side, even if he was a ghost, I wouldn't be afraid," the girl sitting next to me said wistfully.

"Are you alright? You actually wish there was a ghost around you!" Li Lizhen was very surprised and curious, so she also started reading the article "Happy Ghost" in the magazine. The story was about four girls and a ghost. The ghost was dressed in Qing Dynasty official robes and spoke in classical Chinese, which seemed very funny and interesting. Li Lizhen quickly got into it.

After that, I also read "Sha Wujing's Diary" and "If History Were a Group of Cats", both of which are comics that can be read by both men and women.

As for fighting-themed comics like "Qin's Moon" and "Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky," they are definitely for male readers. However, they wouldn't find comics like "Happy Ghost" unreadable, since the four female students are dressed quite scantily, making them quite pleasing to the eye.

For example, a male middle school student named Ma Weihua really liked "Happy Ghost" after watching it, and felt a sense of déjà vu.

As it happened, he was in the school's drama club, so that very night after reading the work, he began to write a stage play script based on the comic, called "Zhu Xiucai".

Meanwhile, this "Happy Ghost" comic also caught the attention of one of the Seven Wonders of Cinema City.

The Seven Devils of Cinema City are now somewhat divided, stemming from the dissatisfaction that Karl Maka felt about the concert Teddy Robin attended last month.

Teddy Robin used to go out with his old friends to sing and perform "No More Hesitation," indulging his passion for rock stardom, and now he rarely comes to the company anymore.

Fortunately, Cinema City's film business is doing very well. Karl Maka's "Chasing Girls" in July and Tsui Hark's "All the Wise Men" in August were huge hits, with a combined box office of over 17 million HKD. Moreover, the production costs were not high, so it can be said that they made a lot of money.

Both of these films were written by Huang Baiming, the third-in-command of the company, including "Aces Go Places," which Zeng Zhiwei is currently filming.

At that moment, Zeng Zhiwei placed a comic book magazine next to Huang Baiming's head and asked Xu Ke and Shi Nansheng, "Does it look like him?"

Xu Ke nodded, stroking his chin, while Shi Nansheng exclaimed in delight, "It's so similar!"

Zeng Zhiwei said proudly, "I told you it looked similar, right? And let me tell you, this comic magazine was started by Wei Ming, and he wrote these comic stories himself. I've read them all, and the level is quite high. In my opinion, it's no worse than Bai Ming's."

Huang Baiming calmly replied, "He's a famous writer from mainland China and a world-renowned musician. He made 150 million yuan from a single concert. I definitely can't compare. Alright, let's get to work."

After saying that, he took the comic magazine and then curled up in his office to read it.

"Happy Ghost, it really does look a bit like me. I'd like to see what kind of ghost it is."

~
Huang Baiming read "Madman Comics" with a playful attitude, but another boss, Huang, was not so relaxed when he held "Madman Comics" in his hands.

"Damn it," Wong Yuk-long cursed. "They actually managed to produce the magazine, and such an exquisite one at that."

I originally thought that having only one "Qin's Moon" was not a threat, but I never expected that the few apprentices left behind by the Shangguan Xiaobao brothers would actually support this magazine.

Apart from Liu Rulong's two works, the rest were drawn by those comic apprentices, and they were all quite good. These two have taught their apprentices well!

Of course, the key is that Wei Ming's story is well-written. What a Wei Ming! What a madman!

Wong Yuk-long only regrets that Wei Ming is no ordinary person now. He has connections with several wealthy people, is a guest of the Governor of Hong Kong, and has raised more than 100 million. He also has the support of the mainland, which eliminates the possibility of Wong Yuk-long resorting to any underhanded means.

He stroked the exquisite cover of "Madman's Comics" and asked his assistant, "How much did you pay for this magazine?"

"Two yuan," the assistant replied.

"What, two dollars?!" Huang Yulang stood up in surprise, then sat down again, looking much more relaxed.

As a seasoned player in this industry, he knows all too well the cost of comic books. Generally, comic magazines and newspapers don't make much money; they just aim to build a reputation and sell individual volumes, just enough to break even.

This "Madman Comics" is well-made, using high-quality paper. The cost of such a book alone is more than two yuan. Moreover, bookstores and distributors also need to make a profit, not to mention the labor costs.

In this situation, the higher the issuance volume, the more losses will occur. Wong Yuk-long thought to himself, "Let's see how long you can hold out!"

Once "Madman Comics" can no longer hold on, it can only release standalone volumes to alleviate the pressure. Wong Yuk-long felt that at that time, the only one that could pose a threat to him was "Qin's Moon," but its distribution channels were definitely not as smooth as his, and it did not have as many best-selling works as he did. Hong Kong comics would still be decided by the Wong family!
Shangguan Xiaobao and Shangguan Xiaowei were also curious about how long Wei Ming could hold out.

They had already read "Madman Comics," and the two brothers had mixed feelings. It turned out that their apprentices were all so amazing. It seemed that following the new boss would offer more opportunities.

However, they also knew that "Madman Comics" was currently operating at a loss to gain publicity, and if it could not turn a profit, the business would eventually fail. Although they were rival companies, they hoped that they could persevere for longer.

Shangguan Xiaowei had another question: so many of his apprentices became chief writers, so why wasn't his most promising disciple, Ma Rongcheng, given important responsibilities?

~
While the comic book world in Hong Kong was fiercely competing, Shanghai TV quietly aired an episode of "Black Cat Detective," which focused on "annihilating the warehouse rats." This episode featured important characters such as Black Cat Detective, White Cat Officer, and One-Ear.

Nine-year-old Xu Zheng still has hair and is quite cute, with a round face and big eyes. He is also an active member of the arts and culture group in his class.

Because both his parents were involved in the arts, he also played small roles in stage plays and was a minor star at school.

When the young star got home, his parents weren't there. He calmly turned on the TV, intending to have some entertainment before doing his homework.

When I turned on the TV, it was Shanghai TV. After a commercial, an animated scene suddenly appeared, accompanied by a little girl's clear and melodious singing voice.

"Eyes wide like copper bells, gleaming with lightning-like shrewdness; ears perked up like antennas, listening for any suspicious sound..."

Xu Zheng was overjoyed. It was Black Cat Detective! It was Black Cat Detective! The detective in the animation and the illustrations in the novel were almost identical, both so spirited.

Like most children his age in China, Xu Zheng is a loyal reader of "Black Cat Detective". He even begged his parents to subscribe to the first issue of "King of Fairy Tales" next month for the sake of the detective.

Seeing whether it was one ear or two ears on TV, Xu Zheng became even more curious. Would Black Cat Detective be able to catch the cunning one-eared creature in the next episode?

This question has also lingered in the minds of many children in Shanghai, and this 20-minute episode of the "Black Cat Detective" animation has greatly increased the weight of the novel version of "Black Cat Detective" in their hearts.

Because it was done so well, it was exactly what they imagined Black Cat Detective would look like when he came to life from text and pictures. It was so awesome!

~
At director Dai Tielang's home, he invited many neighborhood children to watch the first episode of "Black Cat Detective". After the first episode ended, he also imitated the serialized version, with the last scene showing the police chief taking out a pistol and firing the words "To be continued" in big shots.

The children immediately asked, "What happens next?" and "When will the next episode air?"

(End of this chapter)