LookAtVietnam – Five comics, inspired by short stories by contemporary writer Nguyen Nhat Anh, will be presented to the public in libraries nationwide for the first time next month.

Comic book culture: A girl from the Art/Sign Comic and Animation company greets visitors at a book fair in HCM City.

Their goal was to preserve and present the country’s cultural identity through cartoons by ensuring they were read by young people.

Thinh, like many children, enjoyed cartoon characters but was concerned most came from overseas.

“We wondered why girls in Viet Nam knew a lot about the New Year Festival for Japanese girls through Doraemon but little about the legend of the cay neu (New Year tree) of Viet Nam,” Thinh said.

When an internet survey they ran revealed comic books have a big influence on children, the students formed a company to publish cartoons for youngsters.

“Comic books have a strong value. Countries could promote their culture through cartoons. I wanted to do something for Vietnamese cartoons and also help promote cultural values,” Thinh said.

“We want to educate children about Vietnamese culture through fairy tales, and fables which have been part of the country’s literary treasures for many years,” he said.

The group thought the best way to achieve their goal was to create cartoons inspired by literary works.

In June, two collections of comics of Viet Nam published by Art Sign created lot of interest among readers who appreciated the beautiful images and humour.

Modernising fairy tales

Catchy cover: The cover of one of the company’s Vietnamese comics.

The old story, Banh Chung Banh Day (Square and Round Glutinous Rice Cakes), was about a young and good-natured prince, Lang Lieu. He dreamed a God told him how to prepare a dish from rice he could offer to his father, the King.

But in the comic strip, Lieu dreams he entered the popular television cooking contest, Vao Bep Voi Nguoi Noi Tieng (Cooking with Famous People).

Funny details include the story of Lieu’s oldest brother, who got cooking poisoning from dishes he prepared for their father.

Thinh said the comics aimed to teach young readers useful lessons. In Su Tich Dua Hau (The Legend of the Watermelon), the group corrected a small detail but reintroduced a valuable lesson.

In the fairy tale, Mai An Tiem watched birds eat strange fruits. Thinking this means they must be safe for humans, he tasted them.

This detail is omitted from the cartoon strip and instead Tiem cultivates a plant and lets his family taste the first sweet fruit. The lesson for children is that all successful achievements began from belief and patience.

“We thought carefully before publishing the comics. We were afraid readers would be unhappy when they saw we hadn’t followed all of the original tales.”

But the comics were warmly received by the public

“I bought the cartoons, An Khe Tra Vang (Eating Star fruits and Paying by Gold), made by Artsign company, for my son,” said Nguyen Thi Ha, a Dang Van Ngu street resident.

“It’s good and has beautiful colourful images. My son enjoyed them. While some information was introduced, it didn’t influence the main theme of the fairy tale.”

Next month, the group presents their publications of Nu Sinh (Female Student), Truoc Vong Chung Ket (Before the Final Round), Bo Cau Khong Dua Thu (Pigeons Don’t Send the Letters), Bong Bong Len Troi (Balls Fly to the Sky) and Nhung Chang Trai Xau Tinh (Bad-Tempered Boys) by writer Nguyen Nhat Anh.

Difficulties ahead

The nationwide presentations are the highlight of hard work by the former students, who face ongoing problems because their publications compete against an influx of foreign comics.

“I hope to see further solidarity and co-operation between the cartoon companies in Viet Nam. The exhibitions of different cartoon companies at the same place to promote Vietnamese cartoon books are important for its development,” Thinh said.

Although the company is in its first phase of development, he is upbeat about their future.

“The road is long but we have concrete projects. We will implement them step by step,” he said.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News