Literary Master 1983

Chapter 59 Comic Strips and Consolation
"Comrade Yu, I didn't expect you to be so young... You gave us a hard time finding you!"

Yu Qie hurried to the editorial office of October and saw a thin middle-aged man in his fifties in military uniform extending his hand to him.

"you are?"

"Liu Jiaju, I used to work in the Propaganda Department of the Central Military Commission, and now I am the deputy editor-in-chief of the Military Literature and Art Magazine. I am an editor..." Liu Jiaju blinked, "We may meet more often in the future."

He stepped aside and introduced several other comrades in military uniforms, who were indeed from the Propaganda Department.

Liu Jiaju is an old soldier who participated in the Korean War and followed the tanks into Seoul. Later, he became a leader biographical writer and was later transferred to be an editor of Military Literature and Art.

His purpose for coming here was also very simple: "Comrade Yu, your novels are very popular on the front line, but our Military Literature and Art did not publish them. Why? Because it is not military literature after all. Is it possible for you to write real military literature? I have read your family background and I think you can write it."

"In April, we organized a delegation from the literary and art circles to visit the soldiers, and invite you to meet them, collect some information, and create a piece of military literature."

This is a common commissioned article.

Yu Qie felt obliged to do so: "I will ask for leave from school and I must attend this condolence event!"

"You don't know, this front has received many consolation groups before, and this time is the largest. Of course, the battle that will be launched later will also be quite big... The other side is mobilizing troops and preparing to go, we can see it all! We must fight back!"

"Also," Liu Jiaju said another idea, "We want to adapt your future works into comic strips and show them to the soldiers at the front line."

Yu Qie was a little surprised: "Can we read comic books at the front line?"

"Of course. The Wreath under the Mountain was published last year, and the first edition was printed in March this year. It was published by Liaomei Publishing House, and famous artists were invited to paint and write inscriptions... We plan to ask Li Duo to write the name of your work."

Li Duo?

This person seemed to be the vice chairman of the Calligraphy Association later. Many place names in Yanjing were written by him. The four characters of the "News Broadcast" column in the 1980s were in calligraphy, and they were also written by him at that time.

Yu Qie said: "Teacher Li Duo's calligraphy is probably not cheap."

Liu Jiaju laughed and said, "What's not cheap? For any work that we at Military Literature and Art feel is important, we have to invite a famous artist to write the inscription. One inscription costs at most ten or eight yuan. I'm so familiar with him that I don't even call him, let alone write a letter. I just hand over a note... 'Li Duo, come and write', that's it!"

Shit! Yu Qie remembered:
No matter who wrote the inscription, no one ever thought of preserving it as a treasure or as a document. After the phototypesetting, the inscription was returned to the editorial department and placed in a letter bag with the other manuscripts of the issue.

Even the manuscripts of famous writers and leading comrades were like this. When there were enough of them, they were packed into sacks and put in the warehouse. After two or three years, they were sent to the paper mill to be made into pulp.

Later, manuscripts of famous writers and inscriptions of leaders were often sold, and they were indeed authentic. That's how they were made.

Yu Qie was a little tempted: "If we really invite Mr. Li Duo to write an inscription, can you give me that piece of calligraphy to keep?"

"Just take it!"

According to the introduction of several comrades, the army now has two newspapers and one magazine. "Renren Daily" and "Military Daily" are the two newspapers, and "Military Literature and Art" is the magazine.

The supplement of Mr. Lu was "Long March", and the supplement of the sailors was "Chasing the Waves", which was taken from the great man's poem "My heart rises with the waves", and was later changed to "Sailors".

"Military Literature and Art" is the most popular magazine. After each issue comes out, everyone rushes to read it and they won't let go once they get a copy.

Half of the editorial team of Military Literature and Art also went to the front line this time: they also had to create several articles of different types. Why?
"There were people from the song and dance troupe, the TV station, the Shanghai Film Studio... and other leaders. It was really a grand event!"

Since Yu Qi had agreed to the task and had met the deputy editor-in-chief of Military Literature and Art, he directly talked about his novel Letter from My Fiancée.

As a result of this conversation, their hearts were completely focused on the novel.

"Letter from the Fiancée" meets these elements:

Children of high-ranking officials, special warfare missions, breakup letters, and fighting alone.

This is a thrilling novel that involves real events and praises the soldiers.

It is not as profound as "The Wreath Under the Mountain", but focuses on the frontline soldiers themselves, which is actually more in line with the requirements of "Military Literature and Art". Because after "The Wreath Under the Mountain" was published, the author was controversial. Some people blamed him for not daring to write it, and some people blamed him for not daring to write it. It was a bad thing for both sides.

Throughout the afternoon, no matter what topic we talked about, it would eventually turn to the novel "Letter from the Fiancée".

Liu Jiaju slapped his thigh and said simply, "Damn, this novel is so well written, let's use it for our comic strip. I can't wait. I'll tell you about the future later..."

After the comrades left, Luo Yihe was amazed and said, "This is the first time I've seen someone come to ask for an article. People from the army are really impetuous."

"Soldiers are definitely different. There is no room for mistakes. If it works, it works. If it doesn't, it doesn't," said Wang Shimin.

However, they were also shocked by Military Literature and Art, because within less than a week, these people came again.

This time, I brought the final draft of the comic book cover, which showed an image of a warrior with a resolute face: this man was holding a gun, moving through a jungle full of gunfire, with some small figures following him at the back of the jungle, and behind them was an outstretched hand - it seemed like both a support and a call.

Liu Jiaju said: "Why is he facing away? Because he wants to show the unknown soldier - he represents all the people on the front line, and the hand behind him represents us in the rear."

“We called him out, we supported him.”

The aesthetics of the entire cover is also very interesting. It is composed of several geometric shapes, but it has an ink painting feel.

You must be an expert.

Judging from the remuneration of calligrapher Li Duo, there should have been quite a few famous calligraphers who were paid extremely low prices in the early 1980s - and they themselves didn't think it was a big deal.

Yu Qie asked expectantly, "Who designed this cover?"

"Han Meilin."

Ho!
He was the designer of the 08 Olympic Games' Fuwa (mascots), and also created a series of zodiac stamps, the China International Airlines' Hanghui, and the "Hou Sai Lei" that ultimately ruined his reputation.

Yu Qie was of course surprised, but Liu Jiaju was surprised: "You know Han Meilin?"

"I do not know."

"That's right. He was originally in our army as a correspondent and will soon be transferred to the Creative Research Department of the Writers Association. He is a versatile person and even held an art exhibition in the United States... Well, it's not surprising that you know this."

(End of this chapter)