Vietnamese comics

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Viet comics (Vietnamese: Truyện tranh Việt), also known as mạn họa (Sino-Vietnamese for manhua, Chinese: 漫畫), are comics or graphic novels originating from Vietnam. The term Viet comics was created by “Floral Age Bimonthly” (Bán nguyệt san Tuổi Hoa) magazine in 1960.[1]

Before the 1990s, mạn họa weren't used for entertaining purposes. Instead, because of the long-standing influence of Chinese Confucianism, it was necessary for a Vietnamese comic at the time to have educational and moral stories. This however, had caused the comics to be not popular to all readers due to the genre remaining unchanged.[2]

Example of a modern Viet comic's artstyle: "Hanoi, my city"

This changed in 1992 when Kim Đồng Publishing House printed the first manga in Vietnam: Doraemon. It became a phenomenon and other publishers began to publish different Japanese mangas. Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball quickly followed Doraemon and with that, the Vietnamese comics were defeated right at their doorstep.

Up until 2002 when the “Phan Thi Company” published the truyện tranh series Thần đồng Đất Việt that Vietnamese comics were able to regain popularity. The work is based on Vietnamese customs and national heroes, but with panel layout and drawing style similar to that of a Japanese manga.

Etymology[edit]

The term "truyện tranh" is a compound word between truyện (means "story") and tranh (means “pictures").[2]

History[edit]

“The Rat’s Wedding” tells a story about a rat family who was forced to pay tribute to a cat in order to be allowed to organize the wedding.

Comics started to appear in Vietnam in the 1930s. However, the idea of using pictures to tell stories dated back far more than that with the Đông Hồ painting, influenced by China and sometimes India. This type of painting illustrated philosophy or stories and were printed using woodcuts.

A propaganda poster of Việt Minh during World War Two. It is a pictorial story to show the Vietnamese what they should do when they meet an American.

During the colonial era, paper printing technology developed enough that books and newspapers became more common. Vietnamese comics at the time were mainly published in the form of albums in newspapers. They had various themes and were used to entertain, educate, or propagate the people.[1][2]

Lý-Toét and the Chief Justice in Customs & Mores Weekly

In the 1930s, Vietnamese comics became an independent art with numerous artists and readers. Many weekly newspapers also published sequential drawings that often satirized Annamese writers and the Indochinese government, especially the Governors-General.

Article about ViVi and his career in Floral Age Bimonthly

From the late 1960s until 1975 in Saigon, Viet comics were popular with the most famous illustrator and comic artist at the time being Võ Hùng Kiệt (pen name: ViVi). During the 1970s, besides Viet comics, there were the Chinese Lianhuanhua , the Franco-Belgian Bande Dessinée, and the American comic book, though they were usually poorly printed pirated copies.

Since 1987, Viet comics developed and became similar to American comics with an increasing number of artists and genres. The government even attached special importance in encouraging the creation of comics. The most famous artist was Nguyễn Hùng Lân, whose most popular truyện tranh was the Hero Hesman. The content of these publications was broadly educational and offered lessons in moral philosophy for the reader.

From 1992, Japanese mangas, such as Doraemon, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball, dominated Vietnam’s comic market. It was not until 2002 when a Vietnamese truyện tranh, Thần đồng Đất Việt, gained popularity. Nowadays, the art style in Viet comics is largely based on Japanese manga, Chinese manhua, and Korean manhwa.

Modern Viet comics still have many challenges to face. The first was the opposition from the older generation who criticized the artstyle and contents as harmful to children. The second one was from the government of Vietnam who would occasionally ban comics due to them not being cultural appropriation.[3][4]

Danmei comics (comics about boys' love) [...] arrogantly promote and show off the most taboo stories in Vietnamese culture and morality. [...] It is a type of "virus" that spreads quickly

Digital Viet comics[edit]

"The Korean government [...] sees manhwa as part of its strategy to enhance Korea's cultural power in the world. I think, if given proper attention and support, Vietnamese truyện tranh can absolutely have a larger voice in the region"

— Khánh Dương, Founder of Comicola

In the Internet era, Viet comics have managed to reach larger audiences than ever. Two most notable comic websites (mentioned by at least four sources) are:

Company name Comic website
Comicola[1][5][6][7][8][9][10] comi.mobi
POPS Worldwide[11][12][13][14] pops.vn

Copyright violation is a large issue in Vietnam when works of many authors, both Vietnameses and foreigners, were stolen and either being printed illegally, or being uploaded to pirated websites.[15][16][17]

Famous Vietnamese comics[edit]

Satirical genre[edit]

Educational genre[edit]

Children's genre[edit]

Comic cover of "Hero Hesman"

Entertaining genre[edit]

Manga, manhua, manhwa -influenced comics[edit]

Đất Rồng[edit]

“Đất Rồng”, known in English as the “Dragon Land”, was a Vietnamese manga-influenced comic and a joint project of various authors from the Dimensional Art (3D Hanoi) group. The comic earned a Bronze Award at Japan’s Sixth International Manga Award in 2013 (the competition itself was in 2012).[19][20]

Long thần tướng[edit]

“Long thần tướng”, known in English as the “Holy Dragon Imperator”, written by Nguyễn Thành Phong and Nguyễn Khánh Dương. The comic earned a Silver Award at Japan’s Ninth International Manga Award in 2016 (the competition itself was in 2015), becoming one of Vietnam’s most successful crowd-funding projects. Khánh Dương is also the founder of Comicola and its comic website.[21][22]

Địa Ngục Môn[edit]

“Địa Ngục Môn”, known in English as the “Gateway to Underworld”, was written by Can Tiểu Hy (Phan Cao Hà My). The comic earned a Silver Award at Japan’s Tenth International Manga Awards in 2017 (the competition itself was in 2016).[23][24]

Bẩm thầy Tường, có thầy Vũ đến tìm![edit]

“Bẩm thầy Tường, có thầy Vũ đến tìm!”, known in English as “Rain In A Moon Night”, was written by Hoàng Tường Vy. The comic earned a Bronze Award at Japan’s Sixteenth International Manga Awards in 2023 (the competition itself was in 2022).[25][26]

Điệu nhảy của vũ trụ[edit]

“Điệu nhảy của vũ trụ”, known in English as “The Dancing Universe”, was written by Nachi Nguyen. The comic earned a Silver Award at Japan’s Seventeenth International Manga Awards in 2024 (the competition itself was in 2023).[27][28]

Lớp Học Mật Ngữ[edit]

“Lớp Học Mật Ngữ” (literally means “Class of the Secret Language”) was a joint project of various authors from the B.R.O group. Originally published on the students’ newspapers “Thiên Thần Nhỏ,” the comic became the bestseller in 2019. The B.R.O was also the author of another famous “Học sinh chân kinh” (means “The true students”).[29][30][31]

Promotion events[edit]

On the 6th of September, 2015, Vietnamese comic artists from all three regions of Vietnam organized a Comic Day in Hanoi. The event was sponsored by Comicola Comic Company so that Vietnamese people could approach to more Viet comics and meet their authors. The second Vietnam Comic Day was held on the 11th of September, 2016.[32][5][6][8]

For two days on November 28th and 29th, Comicola and Acecook Việt Nam organized the “Vietnam - Japan Comic Fes 2020” in Ho Chi Minh City. The festival had a cosplay contest, a Japanese food fair, and a plethora of Vietnamese and Japanese manga. It was the biggest comics and pop culture event in Vietnam to date.[9][10]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "The Best Graphic Novels About Vietnam". Cultural Trip.
  2. ^ a b c "Comics in Vietnam: A Newly Emerging Form of Storytelling". Kyoto Review of Southeast Asia.
  3. ^ "Can Vietnamese comics win readers' hearts?". BBC.
  4. ^ "Gay love comics: "A poison" on the internet". Công an nhân dân.
  5. ^ a b "'Vietnam Comics Day' biểu dương tinh thần truyện tranh Việt". VnExpress.
  6. ^ a b "Potential of Vietnamese comics". Nhân Dân.
  7. ^ "Good signal for Vietnamese comics". Thanh Niên.
  8. ^ a b "Festival for Vietnamese comic book lovers". Thanh Niên.
  9. ^ a b "Vietnam-Japan COMIC FES 2020 Lets Saigon's J-Culture Fans Celebrate Anime, Manga & Pop Culture This Month". The Smart Local.
  10. ^ a b "9,000 young people attended the Vietnam - Japan Comic Fes 2020 festival". Z News VN.
  11. ^ "Moving toon - the trend of reading stories in the digital age". Tuổi trẻ.
  12. ^ "POPS was honored in the top 50 famous Vietnamese brands in 2021". Cafe F.
  13. ^ "Vietnamese-Founded Media Giant POPS Worldwide Secures Undisclosed Amount In Series D Funding". Vietcetera.
  14. ^ "Digital entertainment firm POPS Worldwide raising $50m to fuel expansion". AsiaTechDaily.
  15. ^ "The battle between copyrighted comic apps and pirated channels". Z News VN.
  16. ^ "Pirated websites are like Hydra monsters for comic authors". Z News VN.
  17. ^ "The publisher suffered losses when comic copyrights were violated". VTV Online.
  18. ^ "Luân Lý - Giáo Khoa Thư" (PDF).
  19. ^ "Đất Rồng and the ambition to bring Vietnamese comics to the world". Sức khỏe & Đời sống.
  20. ^ "Vietnamese author wins Japanese manga award". Tuổi Trẻ.
  21. ^ "Award-Winning Vietnamese Graphic Novel 'Long Than Tuong' Released as English E-Book". Saigoneer.
  22. ^ "Announcement of Winners for the Ninth International MANGA Award". Japan International Manga Award.
  23. ^ "Vietnamese author wins Japan manga award". VOV.
  24. ^ "Vietnamese Comic "Gateway to Underworld" Wins International Manga Award". Hanoi Grapevine.
  25. ^ "Vietnamese works win international awards - a good sign for comics". Tuổi Trẻ.
  26. ^ "The 16th Award Winners". Japan International Manga Award.
  27. ^ "Vietnamese comic artist wins silver at int'l manga awards". Việt Nam News.
  28. ^ "The 17th Award Winners". Japan International Manga Award.
  29. ^ "Famous comics by Vietnamese authors". VnExpress.
  30. ^ "What's interesting behind the B.R.O author group of the comic series "Lớp Học Mật Ngữ"?".
  31. ^ "9 Vietnamese Board Games & Tabletop Games To Play On A Fun Afternoon Out With Friends". The Smart Local.
  32. ^ "Comic book festivals to visit HCM City, Hanoi". Vietnamplus.

External links[edit]