"Sanmao Joins the Army - Zhang Leping's Complete Comic Strip Series (Color Edition)"

Author: Zhang Leping
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-04-01
Features: The comic character Sanmao, created by Zhang Leping, first appeared in 1935 as a humorous figure. After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan, Zhang Leping, filled with patriotic passion, devoted himself to the great anti-Japanese struggle. After the war, he created the comic strip Sanmao Joins the Army, featuring Sanmao as the protagonist, to expose the corruption of the Kuomintang army. Sanmao Joins the Army depicts Sanmao's military life in the Kuomintang army, though it contains some humorous elements, the main tone is satirical, exposing and criticizing the corruption of the Kuomintang army. Due to the work being published in the Kuomintang-controlled region at the time, its content had certain limitations, yet it served as a short sword directed at the enemy. It marked a qualitative change in Zhang Leping's comic character Sanmao, evolving from early-stage humor to a combative nature, representing a major leap in Zhang Leping's creative career and foreshadowing the birth of his masterpiece, the comic strip Sanmao the Drifter. After the liberation, Sanmao Joins the Army was once banned and was not lifted until 1984. In 1992, this comic strip was adapted into a film of the same name by the Shanghai Film Studio. That same year, before his death, Zhang Leping decided to donate all the original manuscripts of the work to the Shanghai Art Museum.