Breaking Through in Beijing
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In
what ways were those '90s magazines obsolete?
Comic magazines were managed by the government back then and these people didn't understood comics, nor had they read any before. They felt that comics were just for kids, and thus, set “for kids” standards for all manuscript submissions, proposing many laughable rules like no depictions of young love, no smoking, no drinking and so on. These standards are still in place today.
The government officials also didn’t know how to judge a comic artist’s quality and how to promote comics. Simply speaking, they were an incompetent, greedy group of bureaucratic pigs.
Those standards still exist? They must affect your work then.
I can’t endorse cigarettes and liquor with my comics, so no cigarette boxes, no cigarette lighters, etc. But pirated cigarette boxes with my illustrations printed on them have long been sold in the market everywhere.
So what’s the current situation like exactly?
The government’s orders are that those people manage the comic magazines well, but they’re not good at anything but eating shit. So the sales volume of government-operated magazines has been dwindling a lot -- they’re almost finished now.
Benjamin, you criticize the government and follow their standards loosely. Is this okay?
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I
still don’t know what the consequences are for running at the mouth
like this. But right now my work should be producing the greatest sales
volume out of all the new comic artists. I’ll work hard.
Let’s talk about your styles now. Your comics and paintings look quite different.
Ah? You’re talking about how my illustrations are more realistic,
right? Originally my comic characters were even lankier; recently I’m
already very restrained. That kind of lanky, exaggerated body is better
to draw, producing results quickly. Comics are always rushed and the amount
of work huge. No choice. If it’s an illustration, I use sufficient
time to pay attention to the human body, to find the aesthetic sense in
more realistic proportions.