Parental Love: Jiang Weimin's Life of Lying Down

This chapter is rather lengthy, and is mainly about the history of comic strips and the differences between cartoons, so feel free to skip it if you don't like it.

Jiang Weimin had tidied up the room, which only had a bed and a few large wooden boxes for clothes and sundries. Although it was simple, he was very satisfied because it was an independent space that belonged to him completely.

He lay comfortably on his bed, flipping through a beautiful comic book, also known as a comic book. This comic book was very beautifully drawn, and every picture was as fascinating as a work of art.

He couldn't help but sigh: "No wonder people in later generations regard comic strips as precious collectibles!" However, he couldn't help but feel regretful when he thought about the gradual decline of comic strips after the mid-to-late 80s.

Jiang Weimin had actually studied the decline of comic strips in his original world. At that time, he wanted to learn how to draw comics and learn about the history of comic strips at the same time.

In the 50s and 60s, the country needed to carry out patriotic education and popularize traditional culture among the people. A large number of excellent works emerged during this period, reaching a peak that has been difficult to surpass to date.

For example, the series of books include "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" by Shangmei, "Water Margin" by Renmei, "Dream of Red Mansions" by Shangmei, "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio" by Tianmei, etc. Single volumes include "Havoc in Heaven" by Liu Jiyou, "Romance of the West Chamber" by Wang Shuhui, "Three Fights with the White Bone Demon" by Zhao Hongben and Qian Xiaodai, etc.

These are classics that are difficult to surpass. At that time, there were ten great comic artists (the Four Great Dan Actresses, the Four Little Great Dan Actresses, Gu in the South and Liu in the North), and the comic strip industry was prosperous. It is by no means comparable to today's Japanese and Korean comics. On the contrary, Japanese comics have borrowed a lot from our comic strip industry. This is a fact!

In the early 80s, as the country's work focus shifted to an environment centered on economic development and everyone became a businessman, comic strips were hit hard. The comic strips lost their previous creative environment and background, leading to their decline.

In the mid-80s, with the popularization of television and the invasion of foreign culture, they were exposed to more exciting and novel cartoons.

Naturally, people admire these original comics more, especially Japanese and American comics. Anyone over 30 years old can name the classic Japanese comics of that time: Saint Seiya, Dragon Ball, Doraemon, etc.

Another thing is that there are no more people who paint. Before the reform and opening up, people who painted comic strips were high-income people.

However, after the reform and opening up, the price of painting more than 20 or 30 paintings is not as high as the price of a single painting by a great painter. A square foot of a great painter costs tens of thousands, and some even hundreds of thousands or even millions of yuan, while a comic strip costs to yuan, so many people are unwilling to paint anymore.

As the older generation of comic artists gradually withdrew from the stage, the comic book industry encountered a crisis of discontinuity, both in terms of the selection of subject matter and the training of professional qualities. Without successors, the Chinese comic book industry entered a trough, then stagnated, and finally ended up with museums and collectors.

Finally, it is caused by the market. After integrating with the international community, a healthy market has not been formed. Before the reform and opening up, comic book writers could guarantee a wealthy life, but after the reform and opening up, the income of comic book writers has not been in line with the market, the writers' desire to create has decreased, and they cannot produce excellent works.

However, it is not necessarily true that the invasion of Japanese and American comics and the new type of comics are more powerful than comic strips. The success of Japanese and American comics is mainly due to the market environment and innovation. The two complement each other. After the reform and opening up, the comic strip market failed to keep up with internationalization and led to its decline.

In terms of art form, cartoons and comic strips show completely different characteristics. Cartoons are often created with exaggeration, metaphor, symbolism and other techniques, with concise brushwork and flexible forms, which can quickly and accurately express the essence and characteristics of things.

The creation of comic strips pays more attention to the expression and details, and emphasizes the presentation of color matching and formal beauty. The artist uses delicate brushes and rich colors to present the author's creativity and views in a concrete or abstract form, allowing the audience to intuitively feel the connotation and charm of the work.

Secondly, in terms of the form of expression, comics and comic strips are also significantly different. Comics usually present the plot through split screens and layers, and convey the author's message through a series of pictures and texts. Comics have a strong narrative nature and can vividly show the character's personality and the development of the plot, making readers immersed in it.

The comic strip uses a series of pictures and texts to break down a story or event into multiple parts, each of which is closely connected to the previous part to form a coherent story line. This continuity allows readers to keep their attention on the plot during the reading process and gradually gain a deeper understanding of the development of the story.

The text of comic strips is brief and clear, directly conveying the plot and the emotions of the characters. This simplicity allows readers to quickly understand the content of the story, and also provides readers with more room for imagination, allowing readers to fill in the details of the story according to their own understanding.

So there is no difference between comic strips and cartoons, they just have different forms of expression, and the quality of something is determined by the market.

"If we can introduce the comic book industry into economic development in the future, remunerate writers through royalties, and at the same time streamline and optimize the comic book creation method, can it also become a means of national cultural output in the future?" The idea flashed through Jiang Weimin's mind.

In this quiet moment, Jiang Weimin was immersed in the world of books, enjoying the pleasure of reading.