2010 marks a significant milestone for the company, the entrepreneur and Vietnam’s comic industry as a whole – it is the 10th anniversary of the “Than Dong Dat Viet” (Vietnamese Child Prodigies) comic series.
The "Than Dong Dat Viet" series are published in 2002 and have a significant success with 30,000 copies sold of every edition.
Published by the Phan Thi Company – a pioneer publisher of Vietnamese comics – the series marks the success of an effort that has had to struggle with much stronger, well-equipped competition – Japanese comics.
The “Than Dong Dat Viet” series has been in the market since 2002, and has been a significant success with 30,000 copies sold of every edition.
The company has built on its success to publish other titles including “Than Dong Dat Viet Fanclub” (Vietnamese Prodigies Fanclub), “Truyen Tranh Viet” (Vietnamese comic book series), and “Truyen Hay Su Viet" (Interesting Stories of Vietnamese history).
It has also coordinated with vncomicfarm.com to publish Truyen Tranh Viet online.
More than entertainment
The company has not only sought to entertain children, but also to introduce Vietnamese history and culture.
Phan Thi My Hanh, company director, says the winning formula for the success of her comic series was exciting stories and great illustrations.
She says “Than Dong Dat Viet” came out after many sleepless nights, wondering why comics created at home did not appeal to Vietnamese children.
She figured out that the Japanese drawing style was attracting most readers, so she adapted the style for the first edition of Than Dong Dat Viet series.
But it failed to sell even 2,000 copies even though Hanh had sold her home and taken help from family and friends to finance the their publication.
She realized that the series needed more than just Japanese animation style, that the writing had to be good, and the illustrations imaginative.
With these changes, “Than Dong Dat Viet” became one of the best selling comics in the market.
The series retells Vietnamese historical folk stories and tales through the character of Trang Ti (Dr Rat), a clever eight-year-old boy and three friends Suu, Dan and Meo (Buffalo, Tiger and Cat), during the medieval Le Dynasty. While the comics are not without their critics, “Than Dong Dat Viet” is considered to be the only truly successful Vietnamese comic series, which has now run to over 100 volumes.
Another success for the company has been that it has contributed to make dry history lessons from textbooks more interesting for children, a task at which other comics had failed earlier.
Hanh said that as of now, many children like manga (Japanese inspired graphic novels or comics), so her artists used the same technique. However, the company paid attention to the details to make them suitable to Vietnam, like the temples, houses, dresses and so on.
She said they have tried to tell the stories in the language of children so they can identify with it and learn things easily.
In addition, students who’ve forgotten Vietnamese history are able to recall it, Hanh said.
Her comic books are not merely an entertainment product, they also supplement the knowledge of history for both children and adults, Hanh said.
After its success in the domestic market, the company is now eyeing the American market.
It is looking for language experts to translate “Than Dong Dat Viet” into English, aiming to better acquainting overseas Vietnamese children in particular with Vietnamese culture.
Hanh said she had met with many major publishers like Scholastics Inc, Marvel Enterprises Inc and AC Comics Publisher to collaborate with.
As of now, she said she is still looking for ways to expand the reach of Vietnamese comic books in international markets.
