Comic books on the verge of fadeout: children's book author

Cover of comic book series "King of Animal Stories" [Photo: provided to China Plus]

Just over a decade ago, news-stands and bookstores selling a variety of comic book publications around a school premises in Beijing were a common sight. Back then, these places would be packed with students and pupils scrambling to get a glimpse of- or purchase comics right before or after school hours. Business was booming for publishers and sellers, and students largely contributed to their prosperity.

Today however, that reality is far from reach as the segment of comic book reading slims down amongst the younger generations. As expected this trend is creating concerns in China amongst people in the literary world as even publishers steer away from printing comic books for children.

CRI's Xu Fei has more.

Among those concerned are Shen Shixi (沈石溪);a bestselling children's author in China, who shares his fears.

"Basically, a host of children's press and publication houses are no longer in the business of publishing comic books. Going back 10 to 20 years ago, they used to be enthusiastic about comic books but today, comic books hold a much slimmer market share. The decline in comic books in China is mainly due to a shortage in good stories and an absence of literary minds in comic creations."

Nicknamed the "King of Animal Stories", Shen Shixi's work "Dreams of the Wolf King" was recently adapted into a comic books' series.

Guan Yunyun is an editor with the China Cartoon magazine, a magazine operated by the China Children's Press and Publication Group. She explains why Shen's book is widely believed suitable for comic books' adaptations.

"Dreams of the Wolf King became a bestseller with millions of readers in China way before its adaptation into comic books. In fact, many classic children's literature like these are only available in the stereotyped written form. But literature can be presented in different angles and forms. The China Children's Press and Publication Group I've been working with has always been in pursuit of discovering the fresh, value added works in classic children's literature. For instance, Dreams of the Wolf King is newly endowed with an aesthetic value of art via its comic book adaptations."

Years ago, a veteran comic book publisher Jin Cheng (金城) predicted that the decline of printing comic books would inevitably come as a result of the rapid evolution of e-book technology.

His prediction seemingly has come to pass.

Shen Shixi points out that the main reason behind the decline is due to comics nowadays barely qualifying as literature.

"I think literature is an important element of this genre. Without literature's involvement, comic books, regarded as an important form of children's literature, are fated to gradually become extinct; so China Children's Press and Publication Group's effort to make these modern, influential children's literatures into comic books is very meaningful."

Shen Shixi autographs the comic book series "King of Animal Stories".[Photo: provided to China Plus]

During the 2014 New York Comic Con panel "Super Girls: Using Comics to Engage Female Students in the High School Classroom", the significance of children reading comic books was discussed by teachers and librarians. They listed the benefits and skills strengthened through comics, including motivating reluctant readers, easy interpretation, increased memory, sequencing, understanding succinct language, and reading comprehension.

In addition to the comic world, illustrated books can also be a great supplement to help foster love and enjoyment for books in early readers. Shen Shixi however is quick to point out the difference.

"It's undeniable that illustrated books have their unique charisma. However, I believe that comic books enjoy a wider fan base, and are more interesting to the young readers. When the story is explained in the language of comic art, the way of its storytelling is inherently more vivid than that in illustrated books."

Although Shen is concerned about the decline of printed comic books in China, he holds some optimism that comic books still have a brighter future.

China Cartoon magazine's Guan Yunyun echoes Shen's sentiments.

"Comic books are easy to read for young kids. I believe in the near future, as more and more better-quality Chinese comic books are published, the artistic value of comic books will increasingly be more recognized and appreciated."

Guan Yunyun however notes that the challenge lies in grading Chinese comic books; otherwise, shallow books may bring about undesirable results that could make people forget that, comics, are supposed to be a type of visual art.

Therefore she adds that, all China needs is a series of thought-provoking comic books that can stimulate the market and shake off the existing prejudice.

For CRI, I'm Xu Fei.