As part of a larger effort to promote Taiwanese comic art, the General Association of Chinese Culture yesterday launched a comic art exhibition, titled “Local Hero,” that focuses on the protagonists in three comic books.
The works are Chiu Ruo-long’s (邱若龍) Comic Bale (漫畫‧巴萊), A-tui’s (阿推) Balezo (超人巴力入) and Wei Tsung-cheng’s (韋宗成) Epic of the Netherworld Gods (冥戰錄).
Everyone has a hero, and every culture has a unique, archetypal hero, the association wrote on its Web site.
Photo: CNA
Apart from showcasing the Taiwanese heroes created by the three artists, the exhibition also reflects on the creators and shows how the creators are also actually heroes themselves, association secretary-general Chang Tieh-chih (張鐵志) said.
Born in 1926, A-tui went to the same school — New Taipei City’s Fu-Hsin Trade and Arts School — as the late comic book artist Chen Uen (鄭問).
A-tui had also served as the editor of a now defunct comic magazine that was published twice a month.
“Heroes are fictional,” A-tui said in an interview. “They are products of people’s expectations.”
Gream Dream Pictures has purchased the film and television rights to Wei’s Epic of the Netherworld Gods, which is to be adapted into a live-action television series.
Local Hero is on view until Aug. 19 at the exhibition space on the first floor of the association’s offices.
Meanwhile, an exhibition titled “The Legacy of Chen Uen: Art, Life and Philosophy” is on view until Sept. 17 at the National Palace Museum in Taipei.
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