A century-old wealthy family that rose from Shanghai

Comic World Magazine

President Zhang Yuzhen flipped through the first issue of the new edition of "Comic World," his eyes filled with pride.

He told his colleagues, “Our parent company, Huatai Toys, has always been a strong supporter of our comic book publishing house, and our lead writers have all grown up step by step from the training courses at Comic World. To be honest, since its establishment, Comic World magazine has not only not earned a single penny, but has actually invested a net amount of HK$300 million.”

In the conference room, several managers and more than a dozen lead cartoonists, although they knew roughly how it was, were all shocked to learn the specific data today.

Ma Chenguang, one of the three main writers of "Fist of the North Star," exclaimed, "That's right! The magazine recruits 20 to 30 manga interns every year. They enjoy free room and board, and a monthly stipend. The benefits are unimaginably good. Of these 20 to 30 trainees, half will be weeded out, leaving only half. The training costs are unimaginably high!"

After five years of development, the Manke World magazine only has 12 chief writers and more than 20 full-time comic artists, all of whom are elites who have survived the test of time.

Lin Jianxun, one of the three main writers of "Fist of the North Star", also lamented: "Not only does training talent consume a lot of funds, but the Hong Kong comics market is not very large. Moreover, since the 1960s, Japanese comics have flooded the Hong Kong market and become very popular. As a result, only our local comics can barely share the market."

The Comic World magazine primarily publishes the weekly "Comic World," in addition to other comic publications of various kinds; this ensures that dozens of comic artists can apply what they have learned.

To put it bluntly, some publications don't make money, but the publishing house will still publish them.

Zhang Yuzhen then said, "You know how to be grateful to the company, which is commendable. However, you are not optimistic about the future of comics and the magazine."

The two newly announced lead comic artists are among the magazine's most outstanding representatives; otherwise, they wouldn't have participated in the creation of "Fist of the North Star."

Some people were unsure how to answer, since it was the truth. They even worried about what would happen to them if the parent company stopped providing support.

However, recently everyone has sensed that the magazine is brewing a big move. The weekly magazine "Comic World" has begun to be redesigned, changing to a large version with a 'six-cent' size, and is preparing to serialize a long comic.

Zhang Yuzhen continued, "To be honest, before 'Comic World' decided to revamp its format, Mr. Chen Guangliang and Mr. Chen Wenkai, accompanied by General Manager Su, visited Huatai Toy Building and offered suggestions for reform to our comic book company. That's why we've been preparing for the past two months!"

The creation of "Fist of the North Star" alone involved the three best writers; at the same time, other writers were encouraged to create works to be serialized together in the new "Comic World".

Everyone present was immediately surprised. Su Dongsheng of Huatai Toys was someone they had to look up to, equivalent to the number one person in the magazine's parent company, and a key factor in deciding whether to continue supporting them.

Unexpectedly, this even alarmed Chen Wenkai, the deputy general manager of the Yangtze River Industrial Group, and even Mr. Chen Guangliang, the "Chinese leader". Does this mean that their magazine has a bright future?

Seeing that the atmosphere had reached this point, Wu Han, the magazine's vice president, immediately said, "Therefore, everyone should understand that our magazine has a very bright future, which has even attracted the attention of the two Mr. and Mrs. Chen. Next, we need to create excellent works, especially 'Fist of the North Star,' which is a key project. In addition, our magazine also strives for high quality and excellent printing. We will defeat the Japanese manga industry and drive them out of Hong Kong!"

"Drive them out of Hong Kong"

Everyone immediately became excited.

At this moment, Zhang Yuzhen said with a smile, "Okay, the new version of 'Comic World' will be released next week. I hope you will give it your all!"

"Go all out"

In fact, as the president of the magazine, Zhang Yuzhen also knows some core things. For example, the reason why the group attaches importance to the magazine is to cultivate 'IP'. It is probably hoped that through long-term investment, the comic book company can produce a 'classic comic' that not only sells well in Hong Kong, but also goes to overseas markets. Then, with the long-term influence, it can be used to shoot 'animated films' in the future, or even develop merchandise, such as making toys and figurines, or even printing them on T-shirts.

Anyway, he probably heard some of these remarks from his boss, Su Dongsheng!
Friday, September 4st.

At the newsstand on Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui, Uncle Chan had just placed a stack of new issues of "Comic World" in the most conspicuous position when he saw regular customer Li Dehua hurrying over. This office worker, dressed in a suit and carrying a briefcase, is a well-known comic book fan and has become a regular reader of Japanese comics in recent years. Today, however, he arrived ten minutes earlier than usual.

"Uncle Chen, give me a copy of 'Comic World,' you should have it here, right?" Li Dehua's voice was somewhat urgent, his eyes had already swept over the newsstand and landed on the magazine with a silver silhouette printed on the cover.

Uncle Chen smiled and handed over the magazine, pointing to the cover: "Of course we have it! This is the big deal lately. They started advertising on TV and in newspapers two weeks ago, and even the 'Kids King' stores are plastered with posters. I specially kept a few copies at the front, knowing you would come to buy it."

Li Dehua took the magazine, his fingertips touching the thick paper, and he thought to himself, "The materials are really good."

He flipped to the price page and saw the words "six cents," and couldn't help but mutter, "Six cents is the highest price for a Hong Kong comic book publication. But the paper is bigger and thicker. If the content and quality can keep up, it's worth it."

After paying, Li Dehua walked towards the Central office building while eagerly flipping through the magazine.

The first work that caught his eye was "Fist of the North Star"—the opening scene of a post-apocalyptic desert instantly caught his attention, and the silhouette of Kenshiro clenching his fist looked particularly powerful under the setting sun. The plot summary of "a world after nuclear war, where the weak struggle to survive" made him more and more engrossed, and he even slowed down his pace.

"This story has a great concept; it's much more profound than the simple monster-slaying and leveling-up tropes of Japanese anime."

Li Dehua was so engrossed in reading that he didn't close the book until he reached the office building entrance. He secretly decided, "The changes in 'Comic World' this time are huge. This 'Fist of the North Star' alone is worth subscribing to every issue. The imagination is truly rich!"

At the same time, in a small office in Mong Kok, Wong Yuk-long, a comic book prodigy who had started his third business, was also holding a new edition of "Comic World," his fingers trembling slightly.

He sat at his desk piled high with sketches, carefully flipping through each page. From the plot of "Fist of the North Star" to the artwork and the printing quality of the magazine, every detail amazed him.

"They're just as good as Japanese manga, how did they improve so quickly?"

Wong Yuk-long flipped to the battle scene in "Fist of the North Star" and, looking at the sharp lines and rich colors, couldn't help but exclaim, "The story framework is so solid, the artwork is exquisite, and even the printing used the best ink. Comic World really went all out this time!"

He put down the magazine, his gaze falling on the sample copies of "New and Strange Comics Daily" and "Musical Comics Daily" on the corner of the table, his expression gradually becoming serious.

Since the turmoil in May last year, the Hong Kong comics industry has been severely damaged. His publishing house was already struggling, and now it is barely surviving on meager sales and is on the verge of bankruptcy.

"Oh no, if we get hit like this by 'Comic World,' the sales of 'New Wonders' and 'Music' will definitely drop again, and we really won't be able to hold on."

Thinking of this, Wong Yuk-long gave a bitter smile, as if the magazine in his hand weighed a ton.

At that time, Hong Kong's consumer spending was still affected by last year's turmoil, and many citizens were extra cautious about spending money. However, the new version of "Comic World" opened up the market with a "combination punch" - the animated short film of "Fist of the North Star" attracted children's attention in the prime time advertisements on TV; the serialized previews in the newspapers aroused the curiosity of office workers; and the display stand of "Kids King" stores became a popular spot for parents to take their children to take photos.

What's even more remarkable is that it not only won over veteran comic book fans like Li Dehua, but also attracted many "new readers." Middle school student A-Ling, who didn't usually read comic books, couldn't resist buying a copy after her deskmate constantly boasted about "Fist of the North Star," and immediately became hooked.

Prior to this, the landscape of the Hong Kong comics market had already been established: among daily comics, "Comic Daily" led with sales of 15000 copies per issue; among local comic magazines, "Comic World" held the top spot with sales of 1.8 copies, but it was always difficult to widen the gap with Japanese comics.

This time, the Comic World magazine printed 3 copies directly, showing its confidence. This was due to effective pre-print advertising and promotion, as well as the parent company, Huatai Toys, being financially strong and determined to cultivate the IP regardless of short-term profits.

Just four days after the release of the new edition of "Comic World," the office building of the Comic World magazine was filled with barely suppressed excitement.

Everyone's voices were filled with excitement: "Four days! Sales have exceeded 2 copies in just four days! Even at its peak, it only sold 1.8 copies in a week!"

Standing by the office window, Zhang Yuzhen held the survey report in his hand and couldn't help but exclaim, "This kind of explosive growth is something we never dared to imagine before!"

"The reason we've achieved what we have today is ultimately because the boss and the young master approached Manager Su. Especially regarding the outline and details of 'Fist of the North Star'—who submitted them?"

"Furthermore, in the past, we used to draw comics by 'one person doing everything,' which was inefficient and prone to errors. Since we started using the new method to divide the process into 'drafting, outlining, body construction, and head filling,' each person can focus on one part, which not only doubles the speed but also makes the characters we draw more uniform and exquisite."

After expressing his feelings, Zhang Yuzhen walked out of the office and solemnly told everyone not to be arrogant.

"All our current success may come from a lot of advertising. Whether we can retain so many readers depends on our real abilities!"

"Yes, President."

Lane Crawford Building, Queen's Road Central.

This is also the administrative headquarters of the Yangtze River Industrial Group, which is actually more like a '100% holding company' with several important group companies under its umbrella. These group companies are relatively independent, and the Yangtze River Industrial Group generally does not interfere with them.

Xinfeng Textile Group, Rongchang Heavy Industry Group, Huatai Group, and Midea Group are the four most important groups.

At this moment, Chen Guangliang was holding a copy of "Comic World" and reading it with great interest.

He also has detailed outlines of works such as "City Hunter", "Mobile Suit Gundam", "Detective Conan", "Dragon Ball", and "One Piece".

He would regularly submit these works to the Comic World magazine for 'reference' and then serialize them.

On a larger scale, this is building up the foundation for 'Hong Kong culture'; on a smaller scale, it is building up the foundation for Cheung Kong Industrial Group.

Previously, Chen Guangliang's biggest worry was that his son Chen Wenkai would suffer in the future, as his career would not be as successful as his three brothers; after all, Hong Kong had many disadvantages in industrial technology.

Of course, Chen Guangliang's determination to develop technology and industry will not change. Under these circumstances, if the comic book IPs are accumulated and developed into a 'comic book kingdom and related industries,' at least the group can be guaranteed to remain strong.

"Dad, I just got back from Japan. Tadao Yoshida of YKK Zipper is becoming increasingly ambitious. He not only monopolizes power in YKK Zipper, but also puts pressure on our Hong Kong-based Hopewell Zipper."

Chen Guangliang raised his head and said, "That's because we're not strong enough. What can we do?"

Chen Wenkai choked. He wanted to say, "If my father hadn't let him off the hook and supported YKK back then, YKK wouldn't be where he is today."

But he knew his father didn't want to hear this, so he immediately said, "Our Hehe Zippers are still very resilient and have a bright future. Currently, 60% of Hong Kong's ready-made garment demand still comes from Hehe Zippers. We also attach great importance to quality, and we track the usage of each zipper for three years. Therefore, we at Hehe Zippers will not give up easily."

Currently, YKK is firmly in first place among the world's three major zipper manufacturers, but Hopewell Zipper is in third. However, since both are headquartered in Asia, competition is inevitable, and Chen Guangliang has always encouraged competition between the two companies.

He and Tadao Yoshida initially invested 50% each in YKK zippers because Tadao Yoshida had the advantage of being based in the local market. Even if he was temporarily suppressed, he could gradually surpass them once he acquired the first automatic zipper machine.

With Chen Guangliang's support, YKK zippers developed very rapidly, expanding beyond zippers into many other fields such as chemicals, textiles, metallurgy, and mining investment. When it went public in 1963, its market capitalization had already reached over US$4000 million, with annual profits exceeding US$200 million.

"It's right not to admit defeat. Regarding Hehe Zipper, I'm thinking of merging it into Xinfeng Group. What do you think?"

After thinking for a moment, Chen Wenkai said, "Hehe Zipper is already quite large. Would joining Xinfeng Textile Group reduce our investment?"

Chen Guangliang said, "Hehe Zipper will always invest, but what kind of results we can achieve depends on your and the management team's deep cultivation of quality and technology."

Chen Wenkai said, "We will definitely not back down. We discussed it and found that YKK zippers are very good in special and high-end zippers, so we will focus on clothing zippers and strive to make the lifespan of the zippers as long as that of the clothing."

"Yes, that's good to have confidence."

Chen Wenkai then asked, "What about our stake in YKK Zipper?"

After going public, Hopewell Zippers has never cashed out and still holds 35% of the shares, more than Tadao Yoshida.

After thinking for a moment, Chen Guangliang said, "Let the group control it for now, and sell it to the fourth branch of the family later when Wenying and the others grow up!"

Chen Wenkai quickly replied, "Okay. We can proceed with the transaction as normal first, and then I'll return the funds to Fourth Aunt. That would be better!"

He dared not mention asking for money.

However, this is a normal transaction, which is necessary to avoid legal trouble in Japan and also to take care of his mother Yan Renmei's feelings.

Chen Guangliang said, "You've thought this through very well. Let's make arrangements later. By the way, the Yangtze River Industrial Group is quite large now, with ample funds. We should continue to expand overseas, building factories abroad, etc. This will benefit our global expansion. Later, come up with a plan and let me take a look. In addition, I also plan to establish a 'Yangtze River Industrial Fund' for investment. I'll think about the details carefully."

The Yangtze River Industrial Group already has factories in some countries and regions, but it is not yet considered global.

"Okay." (End of Chapter)