Alfonso Wong (王家禧), known for his Chinese-language comic books Old Master Q (老夫子), died in California on Sunday of multiple organ failure. He was 93.
OMQ ZMedia Ltd (老夫子哈媒體) founder Wong Chak (王澤), who is Wong’s son, announced his death in the US.
Alfonso Wong used the pen name Wong Chak to publish the Old Master Q comic books.
Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times
“My life was like a comic book, so I tried to let Old Master Q, which is me, do funny things to entertain readers,” Alfonso Wong said.
Wong Chak, a retired architecture professor from Shih Chien University, continued his father’s comic book legacy by taking over his creative work in 1995.
He said that his father was a artist who was filled with vitality and imagination.
“The Old Master Q that he created is an illustration of everyday life and a wild imagination,” Wong Chak said in a statement published by OMQ ZMedia.
To distinguish between Wong and his son, readers often addressed Alfonso Wong as “Wong Chak Senior” or “Wong Chak the cartoonist.” Wong Chak was often called “Wong Chak Junior” or “Wong Chak the architect.”
Born in Tianjin, China, in 1925, Alfonso Wong relocated to Hong Kong in 1956. Prior to publishing Old Master Q, he used different pen names in newspapers and magazines in Hong Kong while working as an illustrator for a church publication.
OMQ ZMedia said the Old Master Q comic book series was loved by readers of different generations because each character is distinctive.
“Alfonso Wong drew inspiration from his years as a student studying Western art at Fu Jen Catholic University when it was still in Beijing. He was interested in swimming, diving, figure skating and hunting. Because of this he was able to portray these characteristics in his characters when they were playing sports or fishing or sculpting,” the company said.
From the 1960s to the 1980s, Alfonso Wong’s comics took a critical, yet humorous view on the changes facing Hong Kong, including the transfer of sovereignty to China in 1997.
The company said that Alfonso Wong was ambidextrous because of his training as a drummer. When he moved to California, he developed an interest in fishing and pottery, the company said.
Despite the popularity of Old Master Q spanning five decades, critics in China have accused Alfonso Wong of plagiarizing the work of Chinese comic book artist Peng Ti (朋弟), who they said first created characters like Old Master Q and Big Sweet Potato (大番薯) in his comic books.
According to Chinese critics, Ti’s comic books were popular between 1937 and 1943.
He published his first comic titled Old White Potato in 1938.
However, the artist was forced to abandon drawing in the 1950s after being labeled a right-winger by the Chinese Communist Party.
Critics say that Alfonso Wong must have read Ti’s comic books and claimed the characters as his own.
While Alfonso Wong was extremely popular, critics said that Ti was poor and sick until he died alone.
OMQ ZMedia have denied all allegations questioning the originality of Alfonso Wong’s work.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS