Have Ma, will travel

by Lim, Cheng Tju
Singapore, Singapore

The name Ma Wing Shing may not be all that familiar to the denizens of Chinatowns worldwide as compared to Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan. But mention Tienxia or Fengyun will surely get you smiles of recognition as the latter is the probably the most popular Hong Kong comic series among the international Chinese diasporia. Now Ma, the chief artist of Fengyun, is ready to win fans beyond the boundaries of Chinatowns in Melbourne or New York City. He has recently signed a deal with America's ComicsOne Corporation to translate and reprint his 500,000 copies-selling martial arts series for release in North America. The Storm Riders (taking its moniker from the blockbusting 1998 Hong Kong movie adaptation) will put Ma in the league of Asians who have made good in the West, ala Jet Li and, of course, Lee Ang.

The youthful looking Ma, who started drawing professionally in the early '80s, smiled when reminded that he is part of the current wave of 'yellow peril' to hit the West: "Yes, definitely the success of Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon helped in getting us the deal with ComicsOne. But as to how the Americans will receive it, we'll have to wait and see. When I started my comics career, my dream was actually very small. I did not dream of invading America, so to speak. As long as there is just one reader who enjoys my work, I'm happy." Ma should not worry.

Translated editions of Storm Riders have been doing very well in Malaysia, Korea, and other parts of Asia. In appreciation of their support, he embarked on a grueling tour of Shanghai, Korea, Singapore and Malaysia to meet his Asian readers last year. And if that is not enough to satisfy the fans, there is the new 40-episode Storm Riders serial, which will be showing in Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, and Singapore soon. 

(Image: ©2001 ComicsOne Corp and Wing Shing Ma. All rights reserved.)