Spirit of the Paper: Comic Star of the 1930s

Author: Wu He
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-08-01
Features: The three comic characters created by Huang Yao—"The Bull-Nosed Man," by Gao Longsheng—"A Dou," and by Liang Baibo—"Miss Honey"—were as famous as Ye Qianyu's "Xiao Chen and Mr. Wang" and Zhang Leping's "Sanmao" during the 1930s and 1940s. They were once immensely popular, household names, especially "The Bull-Nosed Man," which almost made it onto the silver screen as an animated film before the war but was ultimately shelved due to the conflict. Over the past 50 years, for various reasons (such as Huang Yao and Liang Baibo leaving mainland China), these comic stars faded away and were forgotten. Revisiting these paper sprites, we find that they are not outdated at all; in fact, they possess a modern consciousness, and their artistic techniques in portraiture and drawing are exceptionally skillful. Their stories still move us, and they continue to inspire us.