After travelling more than 9,000km for one of the world’s largest comics festivals, Hong Kong artists Cheung Hon-wah and Szeto Yan-kiu were astounded by how the love for manga extended across continents.
“It expanded my world view. I had never thought comics could go that far to such a level and scale,” said Cheung, whose pen name is Wah Kee.
The artist in his 40s worked in the comics industry for two decades before getting his big break with his work, My Soul Mate. It won the best comic story award in HK Comics Support Programme’s contest last year and gave Cheung the chance to attend this festival.
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In January, the Hong Kong Arts Centre brought Cheung, Szeto and 13 other local comic artists to present their work at the 50th Angoulême International Comics Festival in France. The theme of their booth was “Fifteen Fantasies – Hong Kong Comics”. The four-day event assembled more than 2,500 creators from around the world to showcase their art.
Szeto, 30, whose work A Little Step 1 won the bronze award from HK Comics Support Programme, also shared Cheung’s sentiment.
“France has a strong inclusion of manga. There are diverse genres and themes of comic books,” said the author known as Mimi Szeto. “Manga was more than just entertainment, but an art form.
Childhood dream come true
Cheung remembered he was first exposed to manga at the hair salon, which had comic books for kids to read while waiting. One of his favourite artists was Ryoichi Ikegami, an award-winning Japanese manga illustrator.
After graduating from secondary school in the 90s, Cheung worked in Hong Kong companies as a comic assistant responsible for character art. In 2017, he made his artist debut with a personal work, Makutsu. In 2021, he founded a publishing company, The Box Studio.
“My creation mostly centres on Hong Kong elements. And I like to create quirky manga and sometimes relaxing stories because [writing] the hilarious type is quite stressful,” said Cheung, adding that it was hard to make ends meet as a comic artist.
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His latest manga, My Soul Mate, published last year, is based on his personal experiences.
“It is about the struggles of a middle-aged comic assistant who dreams of being a comic artist and creating his own manga,” the artist said of the work that got him a ticket to the festival in the city of Angoulême.
The trip to France was a dream come true for Cheung. Never in his wildest dreams did he expect to see the manga drafts of his childhood idol, Ikegami.
“This was exactly like one of the moving scenes in my book where the protagonist meets his favourite artist’s drafts, and my feelings were so much stronger,” the Hong Kong artist recalled.
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Another memorable moment at the festival for Cheung was a live sketch session. When he was drawing, the power in the hall suddenly went out, but the audience turned on their phones’ flashlights to give light to the artist.
“I was nervous about drawing in front of people. But when the lights were out, I felt relaxed and could focus on the paper and my drawing. Drawing in the darkness was a fun experience,” he recalled.
A little step into the unknown
Of the 15 Hong Kong cartoonists who went to Angoulême, Szeto was the only digital artist. She creates her manga on a drawing pad that tracks the strokes of a special pen.
Her love for manga started in primary school when she was captivated by a comic book sold at a newspaper stall. The youngster taught herself digital drawing in secondary school. “I loved Japanese manga, particularly those with everyday themes that I could relate to,” said the artist.
In 2014, Szeto graduated with an illustration degree from Birmingham City University. Afterwards, she worked as a designer in Hong Kong helping with manga illustrations and production.
The next year, she joined a competition for comics read on mobile phones. Despite not making it to the final round, her work Dream Talk was chosen by an editor to publish on a webtoon platform Comico in 2017.
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After her debut, Szeto started live-streaming on YouTube to share her work. She also began teaching secondary school students how to draw.
“My work is often described as [being] lovable and day-to-day,” she explained.
Published last July, her latest book A Little Step 1 is based on Szeto’s life. The story is about how two secondary school students – one who loves drawing and another who loves music – encourage each other to take the first step in chasing their dreams.
“Growing up, I was introverted and always feared others’ criticism. Though many people would encourage me to try and chase my dream, I felt that the hardest part was not the process but making the first step,” Szeto said of the book she presented in Angoulême.
The artist was most impressed by how much French people valued manga and comic artists.
She compared the French comics festival to the one in her hometown, Animation-Comic-Game Hong Kong, where “there are not many booths about comics, mainly about cosplay and gaming”.
“But at the French festival, about 90 per cent [of booths] had manga. And from the details – like how they package, display and publish a book – you could feel how much they value manga,” Szeto pointed out.
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Even though this was the artist’s first time attending the Angoulême festival, her book caught the attention of several foreign publishers. “My Japanese-style manga had appealed to many foreigners. In fact, many international publishers are interested in the Asia [market],” she shared.
Szeto’s experience at the festival has helped her to feel bolder in her art.
“I feel myself being more carefree and expressive,” she explained. “And I learned to not draw to please others and will not set limits for myself any more.”
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