Coming from South East Asia, I’m very familiar with Chinese media influence and have seen quite a few amazing Period and Kung fu films. I’m assuming from the name that the Author of The Mad Monk is Vietnamese whom the culture was aspired similarly. I have to say that I’m not that impressed with the comic, partly because of the overused theme of revenging murdered parents in Chinese literature and partly because I don’t find the art and narrative style very attractive. This brought back to the topic Scott McCloud discussed. The character designs of Mad Monk seems crudely real that it became hard for my conscious to sympathize with. The realistic and un-romanticized anatomy and faces has made the work more about materials than actions. To be honest I’m not that into gritty drawing styles. Repeatedly uses of medium shot also make the work felt rather monotonous.
Although, I think there is a very strong potential to enhance this story. I think the theme of diverse ethnicity among mainland China will be quite interesting to foreign audiences. There are a few things I would do if I am to enhance The Mad Monk. First, I’d create a stronger statement in the art and narrative style that the exceptionally vast Chinese landscape play an important role in the development of story and characters. It can enhance a sense of adventure and placement even progression. I’d also reduce numbers of characters appear in the narrative and make each of them more identifiable, iconic and consistent. There are too much to digest in term of visual and information and I think it would be better to leave a lot more space for friendlier read flow. This comic need less frames, less drawings and less words while make each existing elements more meaningful. This way the work can avoid over romanticize or over glorify culture and make it’s essence stand out for itself.
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