Graphic novelist Uen Cheng (鄭問), best known for his realistic artwork, prolific work ethic and mentorship of fellow artists, died on Sunday of a heart attack at the age of 58, according to one of his former students.
Minister of Culture Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) said Uen Cheng’s creations are an inspiration to a generation of Taiwanese artists, adding that the ministry would apply for a posthumous presidential commendation for his vital contributions to manga, animation and video games.
Uen Cheng was creating artwork for one of his projects moments before suffering a heart attack at 3am on Sunday, said Chung Meng-shun (鍾孟舜), one of Uen Cheng’s former students.
Photo: courtesy of Dala Publishing Company
Born Cheng Chin-wen (鄭進文), Uen Cheng had worked as a professional graphic artist since his 20s.
He enjoyed a meteoric rise in the comic book world, where he distinguished himself with his realistic style that blazed trails, spawned many imitators and attracted students.
The martial arts adventures Sword of Avici (阿鼻劍) and Heroes of the East Zhou Dynasty (東周英雄傳) are generally considered to be among Uen Cheng’s finest, with Heroes being the first creation by a foreign artist to win an award from the Japanese Cartoonists’ Association.
Dala Publishing Co editor-in-chief Aho Huang (黃健和) said Uen Cheng made an international impact as a Taiwanese manga artist.
In the 1990s, Uen Cheng became the first Taiwanese artist to have artwork successfully serialized in Japan, Huang said, adding that Hong Kong film producers had obtained the movie rights to Sword of Avici.
Uen Cheng in 2012 participated in France’s prestigious Angouleme International Comics Festival and had this year completed negotiations for the publication of his works in Southeast Asia and Europe, with his work to be translated into Thai and German, he added.
Chung, who is now a successful graphic artist and president of the Taipei Comic Artist Labor Union, said he remembers his mentor as a gifted artist, an aloof man and a passionate friend.
Uen Cheng once personally managed the day-to-day business of a charity sales stall to raise cancer treatment funds for a fellow artist and rushed with a baseball bat in hand to the rescue of a friend who got into trouble, Chung said.
“He was a unique man, heroic and larger than life. The last chapter of a legend has closed,” Chung said.
The first of 10 new high-capacity trains purchased from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem arrived at the Port of Taipei yesterday to meet the demands of an expanding metro network, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The train completed a three-day, 1,200km voyage from the Port of Masan in South Korea, the company said. Costing NT$590 million (US$18.79 million) each, the new six-carriage trains feature a redesigned interior based on "human-centric" transportation concepts, TRTC said. The design utilizes continuous longitudinal seating to widen the aisles and optimize passenger flow, while also upgrading passenger information displays and driving control systems for a more comfortable
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
Quarantine awareness posters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport have gone viral for their use of wordplay. Issued by the airport branch of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, the posters feature sniffer dogs making a range of facial expressions, paired with advisory messages built around homophones. “We update the messages for holidays and campaign needs, periodically refreshing materials to attract people’s attention,” quarantine officials said. “The aim is to use the dogs’ appeal to draw focus to quarantine regulations.” A Japanese traveler visiting Taiwan has posted a photo on X of a poster showing a quarantine dog with a
Taiwan’s coffee community has launched a “one-person-one-e-mail” campaign, calling for people to send a protest-e-mail to the World Coffee Championships (WCC) urging it to redesignate Taiwanese competitors as from “Taiwan,” rather than “Chinese Taipei.” The call followed sudden action last week after the WCC changed all references to Taiwanese competitors from “Taiwan” to “Chinese Taipei,” including recent World Latte Art champion Bala (林紹興), who won the World Latte Art Championship in San Diego earlier this month. When Bala received the trophy, he was referred to as representing Taiwan, as well as in the announcement on the WCC’s Web site, until it
RSS