Action Figure Planet: Man Hua: Hong Kong's answer to Manga and Western Comics

Jademan Comics' initial U.S. Comic Book offering

Lately, I encountered some cheap comic books that kind of rekindled my memory of my trips to Hong Kong during my younger years. I could still vividly remember when I was strolling on the side streets of Hong Kong where I encountered some fascinating Chinese comic books being sold on the news stands alongside newspapers and magazines. I was captivated by the fine looking art of detailed action and violence that I have never seen in a comic book before. Though I never could read Chinese texts, the art that I saw was enough for me to try out the comic books, especially during the heyday of the Street Fighter II arcade games. Published under the imprint Jademan Comics, my curiosity for these comic books amp up when I saw Chinese Comic Books of the hit arcade game. Being a 12 year old kid with no money but with a few pocket change, I purchased my first two Hong Kong Comic Books, both Street Fighter comic books. Now 25 years later, I encountered these comic books once more thru this Jademan Comic Book called Kung Fu Special. But this time, in English translations.

Kung Fu Special served as a primer for the U.S. comic book market to get to know what Man Hua comic books are. The book previews four initial Jademan Comic Book offerings set to be released in the U.S. Market. Curious to know more about these books, I decided to do a little research to give myself more information about these books. And one name stood out. Tony Wong, the so called Stan Lee of Asia!

Tony Wong on top of his game

Tony Wong started his comic book career from the ground up. Doing errands as a copy boy for publishing companies which brought his love for comic books to the next level. Writing and drawing his comic books at such a young age, he found a measure of success when his juvenile stories caught the attention of the Hong Kong comic book readers. This led him to start his own comic book publishing company, Jademan Comics and his dreams to become the Walt Disney of Asia. His comic book style draws heavily on ultra violent Kung Fu fighting imagery and also dwell on the sexual violence against women. I could still remember being exposed to a Street Fighter comic book story his company released where Chun-Li is being raped by M. Bison. While Tony is being recognized as the Stan Lee of Asia, familiar problems in the U.S. comic book industry such as credit grabbing and ghost writing is also a common occurrence in Hong Kong, even so that Tony was even found guilty of credit grabbing Ma Wing Shing's (more about him later) creation, The Blood Sword.

The very first Jademan Comic Book I bought way back in the 90's

Jademan's Street Fighter

As shown in the picture above, this was just one of those artworks that captivated me when I first laid my eyes on a Jademan Comic Book. The Art Style of Man Hua comic books are very much different when compared to the Japanese Manga Comic Books, which are usually drawn in a more cartoonish style. I could probably say that Man Hua is a blend of Japanese Manga and Western Comics in the sense that the characters' art style are grounded in realism. But Man Hua didn't actually started off that way. In fact, Tony Wong's art during his younger years resembled those of Osamu Tezuka, the Japanese illustrator and cartoonist who created Astroboy.

Tony Wong's Drunken Fist. A sample of his earlier work

Tony Wong's Oriental Heroes showing an improvement of his art style as compared to Drunken Fist

As you can see in the Drunken Fist Comic, the art is far off from what Man Hua is now. The art is not yet as sophisticated as it is now. You could clearly see a disproportionate anatomy where the character looks like a boy in an adult's body. But like all artists, Tony Wong's art improved along the way. And I wouldn't be surprised if Ma Wing Shing had a hand on it. Ma Wing Shing is largely being said as Hong Kong's answer to Jim Lee. He revolutionized the way Man Hua is being written and drawn through his Blood Sword Comic Book series. Working under Tony Wong's guidance at Jademan Comics, Ma Wing Shing would write and draw an exciting action packed sword fighting Martial Arts epic. But just like Jim Lee, Ma at the height of his popularity left Jademan to form his own Comic Book company called Jonesky.

Interior art of Oriental Heroes

Going back with what I said before, Tony Wong's signature style is one of ultra Kung Fu violence and you could clearly see it in the panel above. The exciting action packed art is quite appealing to martial arts fans. The amount of detail with how Tony executed his martial arts drawing is quite mesmerizing. You could basically feel the power of the punches and kicks leap out of the pages of the comic books. Oriental Heroes is perhaps Tony Wong's most popular comic book to date that there was even a Hong Kong movie adaptation of this comic book released and re-titled in theaters as Dragon-Tiger Gate with Donnie Yen (of IP Man fame) playing the lead role. The story of this comic book appeals to our Asian sensitivities because the stories are relatable in the sense that the setting and the plot threads involves Hong Kong Triad mafia stories set in modern Asia. Though I never was able to finish the book (because complete copies of this book is hard to come by), I could feel the compelling story being told thru the random issues that I was able to read. It also helped that I was able to read the final two issues of the comic book series. Good thing also that Tony Wong managed to bring in veteran comic book writer Mike Baron to do the English translations. And being a Kung Fu fan himself, Baron must have gotten a kick writing the English translations of this book.

This is how Man Hua comic books look like nowadays

Oriental Heroes ended at Issue number 55. And by this time you could largely see the amount of improvement the art has achieved as seen in the photo above. This was the kind of art that I encountered in the streets of Hong Kong that compelled me to buy a Man Hua book many years back. These English translations and releases that I own now by the way are straight up reprint from the original series with Mike Baron doing the translations. I however don't know the amount of success that these books achieved in the U.S. market but probably enough for Jademan Comics to continue releasing the books until the very end. However in the latter part of Jademan's publishing career, Tony Wong was jailed for forgery. Now in jail, Wong was forced out from the company that he built, with the company still publishing his creations. Unfortunately the Jademan Wong magic was never rekindled without Wong's guidance. Thus started the downfall of Jademan comics.

Mega Dragon and Tiger, Tony Wong's return to the U.S. comic book scene

In 1993, Tony Wong would later be released from jail, just in time for the closure of Jademan Comics' U.S. operations. But Wong lost the rights of his creations, this however did not deter Wong from continuing his comic book writing and illustrating career. Creation of new stories under a new imprint called Jademan Dynasty would allow Wong to have a career resurgence in Hong Kong, even getting a chance to release a creator owned series in the U.S. under Image Comics, the third biggest comic book publisher in the U.S.

A sampling of the interior work of Tony Wong for Mega Dragon and Tiger

Mega Dragon and Tiger lasted for 5 issues and had a cliffhanger ending that wanted me to get to know about the story more. Set in a Post Apocalyptic world where Earth is now an Utopia, Individuals are engaged in a gladiatorial battle to determine the best of the best. The comic book is like your typical Martial Arts comic book with tons and tons of epic Kung Fu battles. Fans of Martial Arts in general would surely love the comic book because Tony Wong has greatly improved his art style, giving us a blend of oriental fighting art form and scenes of technological advancement as this series is set in a future Earth. The artwork is breath taking and I could probably say that this is the final evolution of Man Hua's illustration style. The distinct Chinese art style that distinguishes it from the cartoony Manga and the more grounded art of Western Comics. Perhaps a combination of both influences even.

Tony Wong brings Sexy to a whole new different level when compared to his old works

But since this is still a Tony Wong Comic Book, old habits die hard as we are still treated to some sexual imagery as seen above, though he has toned down his antics as compared to his older works. But his improved art style greatly veered his presentations of this nature from being crass and crude to a thing of beauty. He even draws beautiful women now compared to his old simplistic style.

Tony Wong's Ultraman

Interior art for UltraMan Tiga

Tony Wong's success in the U.S. continued to roll when Dark Horse Comics (a comic book publishing company that specializes in movie/T.V. licensed properties) published Wong's UltraMan maxi-series. UltraMan is one of Asia's most recognizable Superheroes, and by getting the license, this helped reintroduce its popularity in the U.S. shores. Tony Wong served as the writer of this series but as you can see in the interior art above, the illustrator Khoo Fu Lung (Wong's frequent collaborator for Jademan Dynasty's Solar Lord) clearly is heavily influenced by Wong. Even during Wong's heyday at Jademan Comics, it has been largely known that Wong frequently hires illustrators to mimic his style just to meet the publishing deadlines. In the comic book and illustration circles, this practice is popularly known as "House Style", a publishing company's initiative to maintain a certain imagery that would make their comic books achieve a distinct style that would last over the years. Archie Comics and Disney Animation Studios are just some of the biggest companies who practices this.

Chinese Ad for Batman: Hong Kong

Batman Hong Kong

Tony Wong's creeping success finally hits an all time high when DC Comics (Top 2 with Marvel Comics as the biggest U.S. Comic Book publishing company) hired him to do the illustration chores for Batman: Hong Kong. Paired with long time Batman scribe Doug Moench (whose Batman works mostly revolves around mystery and suspense), Wong finally got his hands on a major American Pop Culture Icon as his next illustrating gig. And this project hits quite at home for Wong because this Batman epic would be set in Wong's own backyard, Hong Kong. So imagine the great opportunity to witness a major American Pop Culture Icon being illustrated and styled by Asia's most influential Man Hua artist. Fireworks would surely be found aplenty and I was totally blown away from the sight of Batman being rendered in Man Hua style. Batman fighting against the Hong Kong triad set in Hong Kong where Kung Fu is big probably feels like Bruce Lee's invasion of Hollywood. Not only that, Wong was even able to create his first DC Comics character (however short lived), Night Dragon. I just hope that this Character would not be forgotten to obscurity as DC seemed to forget about this character. Hopefully Wong owns the rights of this character and he gets to resurrect him in his own comic book. Having being able to fight and work with a character's magnitude as Batman makes your character legit. Posted below are some of Wong's interior art for Batman.

Tony Wong's Batman

Kung Fu Batman

Is this the last appearance of Night Dragon?

Taking a break for a moment with anything related to Tony Wong (but I'm warning you this guys just seemed determine not to go away), let's venture our topic to Ma Wing Shing. Ma got his big break in comic books when his The Blood Sword comic book series was published by Jademan Comics. The Blood Sword is a martial arts sword fighting epic that was prevalent to Chinese action films before the birth of Kung Fu movies. Culturally, Ma's work is rooted in the old Chinese culture as compared to Jademan's other Kung Fu geared releases. The Blood Sword was so popular in Hong Kong that Jademan Comics even released a spin off series The Blood Sword Dynasty even without the guidance of Ma. Tony Wong even dastardly credit grabbed The Blood Sword in his initial release in the U.S. Market as seen in the Kung Fu Special Comic Book. Though he would later correct it in The Blood Sword's official U.S. release. Since The Blood Sword rights was lost to Jademan, Ma broke away from the company during Jademan Comics dying years to form his own Comic Book company, Jonesky, which releases english translations of epic Asian Comic Books apart from company owned projects.

My one and only Storm Riders comic book

Ma Wing Shing's biggest hit to date is Storm Riders. And this book was his initial offering for his new company. Storm Riders was so popular in Hong Kong that it became a multi-media hit, spawning Motion Pictures, T.V. Series, animated series, and even video games. This book holds a special place in my heart because I remember when I was a kid I was first introduced to Storm Riders through its first major Motion Picture movie. I could recall countless reruns watching this movie on VCD because me and my brothers were captivated by the awesome action sequences and fantasy elements that the movie offered.

Storm Riders DVD that captivated me back in the day

Interior art for Storm Riders

Ma Wing Shing's rockstar popularity is greatly credited for revolutionizing Man Hua's illustration style. Because Tony Wong stuck to his "House Style" approach to his Man Hua creations, this stunted the growth and evolution of Man Hua artists because basically Wong controlled 80 to 90% of Hong Kong's comic book industry. Ma's creator owned The Blood Sword comic book series veered away from Wong's "House Style" approach because he had a free hand to work on this book because he created the book. His evolution would come full circle when he left Jademan to form Jonesky, an even more freer avenue to further improve his craft. The success of Jonesky however would lead Ma to take a more Businessman role than as an artist (something akin to Jim Lee's current role with DC when he sold his creator owned Wildstorm studios to DC). With newer releases focused more on popular licensed Manga characters that he could import in the U.S. in English translations. In the end Man Hua is defined by the influential work of these two artists, Tony Wong and Ma Wing Shing, their body of work are important key pieces in understanding and appreciating the history of Man Hua. I will be leaving behind some Pin Up artworks from some of the most popular names to ever come out from the Man Hua comic book industry. Hope you enjoyed this entry.