There are still barriers

There are still "barriers"

Comics is a field of the visual industry that has contributed a lot to the cultural industry. In the world , in the past 100 years, the comic publishing market in developing countries has developed with many great achievements such as: Korea, Japan, China,... In these countries, comic publishing has become a highly profitable industry.

The character in "Vietnamese Prodigy" is associated with the childhood of many generations of Vietnamese readers.

In Vietnam, in the past 10 years, the Vietnamese comic book market has also been on the rise. Head of the Comic Book Editorial Board (Kim Dong Publishing House) Dang Cao Cuong said: "Although not as explosive as Japanese comics, Vietnamese comics still have a certain position in the domestic market. Some works have become comic book monuments such as: Vietnamese Prodigy, Tý Quậy, Dũng Sĩ Hesman... In recent years, there have also been a series of famous "made in Vietnam" comic books such as: Seven-color Rabbit, Secret Language Class, Moldy Cat... These are works that have been and are reaping many successes, when the characters in the story have lived their lives, developed in an ecosystem and been adapted into many different fields such as: animated films, souvenir products...

Besides, another thing that shows that Vietnamese comics have been flourishing recently is the increasing appearance of young authors and we also have a community of readers who welcome and love purely Vietnamese comic works.

"In particular, the Vietnamese comic industry has had significant development with the appearance of many large publishing companies investing in the production and promotion of comics, creating favorable conditions for comic authors and artists. On the other hand, there are also online comic platforms with many professional teams such as Comicola, Vinatoon,... also contributing to strongly promoting the domestic comic market" - Mr. Dang Cao Cuong said.

However, after a long journey, although Vietnamese comics have developed strongly and have a certain position in the publishing industry, many opinions say that Vietnamese comics have not really developed commensurate with current needs and potential.

Comic book Ty Quay - a comic book series that is of interest to many readers

Mr. Dang Cao Cuong said: "The achievements we just mentioned are just a small "bright spot" of the Vietnamese comic book market. If we consider it from an industry perspective, compared to the world, we are still very weak. Currently, in Vietnam, there is still a lack of professional training facilities. Here, training facilities not only train artists but also scriptwriters. Because there are groups of comic book authors who, when collaborating with each other, each person only focuses on doing a certain job such as: writing scripts, drawing pictures, sketching colors... Therefore, whether a work can go the long way or not depends a lot on the scriptwriter. Meanwhile, training facilities in Vietnam still do not train scriptwriters and illustrators equally. This is not only a problem in the comic book industry, but the film industry is also facing a similar situation.

At the same time, the authors themselves have not yet determined their long-term paths, they create based on inspiration so their works often do not have a certain roadmap. Therefore, there are works that start very well but later "fail", and there are even authors who cannot complete their works. Along with that, currently, we still lack mechanisms and policies to treat comic book authors.

Sharing the same view, comic book researcher Nguyen Anh Tuan (pen name Chukim) said that copyright issues in Vietnam are also one of the "barriers" that make it difficult for comics to develop. Nowadays, people's habits of accessing comic products have changed, their habit is to read comics online through sources, including "illegal" websites. This not only affects authors and publishers but also affects the development of the Vietnamese comic book industry.

"Opening the way" for Vietnamese comics to develop

Looking at the challenges in the coming time for Vietnamese comics, researcher Nguyen Anh Tuan said that in order to promote the development of comics in the coming time, besides solving copyright issues and handling the problem of readers reading "illegible" comics, we also need to change the mindset that comics are only for children. If we continue to assume that, this genre will face many barriers.

The Seven-Colored Rabbit comic has also been loved by many readers over the years.

Meanwhile, Mr. Dang Cao Cuong said that the concept that comics are only for children has changed a lot. Comics continue to develop, serving the needs of more readers, and many works for older readers have been published in Vietnam. Therefore, for this field to develop, there must be measures to raise readers' awareness of copyright issues. Then, publishing units and authors will have more opportunities to bring better quality works. Currently, there are foreign publishers that also release applications that introduce some comic series for free, the first chapter and the latest chapter. They follow the habits of readers and encourage them to read copyrighted books, creating the development of this field in the future.

In addition, in the coming time, the State also needs to have investment policies for professional training facilities, increase exchange programs with foreign countries, organize more creative camps and competitions. Because, these are the places to find potential comic authors for further training. At the same time, comic authors when creating also need to develop characters according to an ecosystem, create a life for the character so that they can then develop the character not only in comics but also in many other products such as: cinema, clothes, souvenirs...

Secret Classroom - an interesting comic series for teenage readers

"In particular, it is necessary to enhance the role of editors because they are the ones who accompany the author to bring the work to a new level. For example, foreign editors, when they feel that the work is "going downhill", will intervene and influence to create a "boost" for the work. However, currently, in Vietnam, the role of editors is somewhat weaker, the author will be the one to decide the entire plot without allowing anyone to intervene" - Mr. Dang Cao Cuong shared more./.

Source: https://toquoc.vn/phat-trien-truyen-tranh-viet-nam-van-con-nhung-rao-can-20241018165007042.htm