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At the launch of a comic book |
So far, there have been traditional assumptions that comic books are useless for education so many people still have prejudices against this genre of book. This is one of the reasons why Vietnamese comics have not been able to catch up with other countries in the region, while the potential of this kind of book is currently very huge.
Hearing that the Kim Dong Publishing House was reprinting the series Kid Maruko by the late artist Momoko Sakura, Ms. Pham Ngoc Nga living on Hoang Van Thu Street in Phu Nhuan District, Ho Chi Minh City could not hide her joy as she and her elder and younger sisters read this comic book series when they were children nearly 30 years ago.
According to her, the stories revolve around the life of little girl Maruko but are very similar to many other families’ conditions. When she and her sisters were young, they had read passionately because they saw characters in the story like themselves, Ms. Nga said. In her opinion, Kid Maruko also brings many meaningful messages about family affection, helping readers appreciate and love their family more in addition to entertainment factors.
Even though she has already read the story, she will definitely buy a new one to rediscover her childhood memories and encourage her children to read it, said Ms. Nga. Although it cannot be compared with countries like Japan and Korea, there have been well-invested comic books that have been published in Vietnam; some books such as "Blue Fairy", "Vietnamese Prodigy", "Ty Quai", "Secret Language Class", "Master Tuong! There is a Master Vu visitting you", "Van Nhan Ky - Noan", "Tu Phu Examiner", "Long Than General" focus on exploiting national culture and history.
As the author of a number of popular comic books such as Xu Meo (Cat Land), Ve noi co nhieu canh dong (Return to the Place with Many Fields), Thi tran Hoa Muoi Gio (Ten O'Clock Flower Town), Cuoc song nhiem mau cua Meo Trang (The Magical Life of the White Cat), young artist Phan (his real name-Le Trung Tien) said graphic novels are also a genre of books. Novels tell stories in vocabulary words while comic books are a form of literature that combines images and text to tell a story. Comics also have many genres aimed at different audiences. Whoever is suitable for something should read it.
Acknowledging the prejudice that comics are still facing in the domestic market, Ms. Hoai Sam, a lecturer at the Vietnam Institute of Comics and Animation, added that comics in Vietnam are not truly considered important, people have not seen their economic, educational and entertaining values. "Comics are very close to cinema, it is a unique art form."
According to Anime News Network, the global market of manga - comics or graphic novels originating from Japan is worth US$12.13 billion in 2022 and the profit earned this year is $5.05 billion. Korean comics – Manhwa- are also holding an important position in the Vietnamese market. In addition, in recent years, this country has also developed webtoons - home to thousands of stories across 23 genres including romance, comedy, action, and fantasy - bringing in more than $1.2 billion in profits in 2022.
According to experts, the potential and opportunities from Vietnamese comics presently are huge, and they can completely become a product that brings great profits to the cultural industry if there is a certain investment in development as Japan and South Korea have done. However, to achieve this, first of all, the public should have a proper view of comics and openness to welcome this genre of book.
Ms. Hoai Sam believes that the ability and talent of Vietnamese comic artists are not inferior to their peers from other countries. However, there is still not many long-running comic strip series in Vietnam like Japan, Korea, and America because Vietnamese comic book creators have not yet gathered to work in groups whereas their Japanese and Korean counterparts have done this very well.
In Vietnam, the comic book market is still a bit narrow. Readers prefer foreign comics over domestic comics. Drawing comic books takes so long to finish and artists have made a great attempt but they got poor income; as a result, they decided to quit the profession. In addition, because the concept of comics is for children, creativity is quite constrained, and authors do not dare to delve into difficult topics, author Phan shared.
