Organized by the Taipei Story House in conjunction with the Comic Artist Labor Union in Taipei, the current "Taipei Comics Go! Exhibition" (
Featuring artwork by Taiwanese comic-book artists both past and present, the exhibition encompasses original works by 30 artists. From Amin's (
GRAPHICS COURTESY OF TAIPEI STORY HOUSE
As visitors unfamiliar with the local comic-book scene soon discover, not all of Taiwan's comic book heroes have remained on the pages. Some of the most popular works featured in the exhibition have become video games, TV shows and movies.
Tang Hsiang-lin's (湯翔麟) highflying comic-book heroine, Chiao Ling-er (趙靈兒) from his Sky Sword (軒轅劍) series has recently appeared in video-game format and Chung Meng-shun's (鍾孟舜) Legend of the Sacred Stone (聖石傳說) has long been a favorite with puppet TV show fans while his Great Conqueror's Concubine (西楚霸王) was adapted for the big screen in the early 1990s.
A more recent comic adaptation is that of 2D Mosaic's (2D
As well as displaying artwork by today's comic artists, the cozy art space has set aside a room in which it showcases the works of Taiwan's pioneering comic book creators.
Here visitors can see works by Liu Hsing-ching (
In addition to simply gawking at a selection of comic art, visitors to Taipei Story House also have the chance to take an original work home with them and can also learn from some of the nation's leading comic book artists.
Every Saturday and Sunday between 2pm and 5pm, in the garden at the rear of the house, at least one of the cartoonists featured in the exhibition will be on hand to sketch visitor's portraits (for NT$250). On the first Sunday of each month during the run of the show, one cartoonist will set up shop in the house's audio-visual room and give visitors the opportunity to see him or her at work and ask questions.
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