Chapter 374: A New Comic — Journey to the West
After hearing Yang Wendong's instructions, Zou Wenhuai immediately responded, "Understood, Mr. Yang. Rest assured, I'll fully cooperate with Changxing Culture."
"Good. Just keep doing what you need to do and stick to the plan," Yang Wendong said. "As long as you can continuously produce high-quality films, the rest of our cultural industry will succeed. Otherwise, even if I control Asia's theater chains, that's still just capital—it means nothing without compelling content."
Capital could help facilitate cultural export, but only if the culture itself had substance. Take Hollywood as an example: from the 1990s to 2010, American films were indeed high-quality, especially their action blockbusters. Visually, they were spectacular, and combined with the full backing of American imperial power, they successfully dominated the global film market—even in China, where half the screens showed American movies.
That is, until Hollywood became bogged down in political correctness and started churning out baffling characters and decisions—leading to its downfall.
Zou Wenhuai nodded. "Understood. I've already increased the salaries for screenwriters, and we're recruiting new writing talent across Hong Kong. We're also training them in-house.
For acting and choreography, I've assigned people to find martial arts experts who can help us develop more effective fight scenes. The goal is to keep costs low while achieving the best possible results on screen."
"Good." Yang Wendong thought for a moment, then added, "Once TVB begins construction, they'll be making martial arts TV dramas too. When the time comes, you two should join forces, nurture talent together, and get the whole industry working efficiently."
He had already negotiated with Jin Yong to acquire the rights to his novels. A dedicated team was following up on those deals. As for Gu Long's works, Yang Wendong had bought those rights even earlier. He was also looking to buy rights from other martial arts authors in Hong Kong if the content was suitable.
All of this was to prepare for the day TVB was ready to produce high-quality TV dramas.
After Zou Wenhuai left, Yang Wendong summoned Zhang Zhiyuan and Wu Hailin from Changxing Culture—Zhang managed operations, while Wu handled creative content.
"The Black Cat Detective animated film—is it finished?" Yang Wendong asked.
Zhang Zhiyuan answered, "Yes, the illustrations are all done and the film has been developed. There are still a few minor details being fixed, but that won't affect the scheduled release."
"Mhm." Yang Wendong continued, "This time, the animation cels were drawn by the Shanghai Animation Film Studio, correct?"
"Yes," Wu Hailin replied. "We gave them the script and scene breakdowns. Their team handled the artwork in Shanghai. Once it was completed, we reviewed it and then developed the final film stock."
"How did that collaboration go—in terms of turnaround time and cost-effectiveness?" Yang Wendong asked.
He had been aware of this partnership, but hadn't followed it closely. Deals involving a few tens of thousands of Hong Kong dollars usually didn't warrant his attention until they were nearly finalized.
Wu Hailin explained, "They were much faster than we could've been. The Shanghai studio has hundreds of animators. Once we finalized the storyboards and communicated the vision clearly, they finished the cels in just one month. If we had done it ourselves, it would've taken six months.
The cost was lower too. Labor here is expensive. Plus, it freed up our staff to focus on other things. That way, we avoided what happened with Calabash Brothers, when delays made us miss the New Year release window."
"Alright. Then continue working with them on future projects." Yang Wendong nodded. "Now, how are sales of Changxing Comics doing?"
Zhang Zhiyuan replied, "Sales have risen sharply over the past few months—not just in Hong Kong, but also in Taiwan and Southeast Asia.
That's mainly due to the launch of Nezha Conquers the Dragon King and Er Lang Shen Rescues His Mother. These ancient mythological stories have proven so engaging that even many adults are getting hooked.
Right now, in Hong Kong alone, weekly sales are about 35,000 copies. In Taiwan and Southeast Asia combined, we're nearing 190,000 per week—and I estimate we'll break 200,000 very soon."
"Excellent. I've read the comics too—they're very well done," Yang Wendong said with a smile. "This proves that our team now has the capability to produce quality adaptations of traditional Chinese mythology."
The Yang family had children, who naturally loved comics. In this era—before Ultraman had arrived in Hong Kong—which kid didn't love mythical heroes?
As a time traveler, Yang Wendong had reviewed the comics himself and felt they met the mark.
"Yes, we've recruited a lot of talented artists by now," Wu Hailin said. "Mr. Zhang and I were thinking—why don't we start working on another mythological series?"
"What story are you thinking of adapting?" Yang Wendong asked.
There were too many ancient Chinese myths to choose from. After 5,000 years of civilization, the sheer scope of these tales was almost beyond modern imagination.
Wu Hailin said, "I want to follow the approach taken in the mainland a few years ago—start with Havoc in Heaven. We'll begin from Sun Wukong's birth and go all the way to the point where he gets trapped under Five Elements Mountain by the Buddha."
"I agree," Yang Wendong nodded. "But why stop at Havoc in Heaven? What about the rest of Journey to the West? Why not adapt the whole thing?"
"The whole thing?" Wu Hailin was a bit surprised. "Mr. Yang, the full Journey to the West is very long…"
"That's exactly why it's perfect," Yang Wendong said with a smile. "The longer, the better. That way we can serialize the comic for years—and long-running, plot-driven series will build better reader loyalty than Black Cat Detective."
Currently, Changxing Comics Weekly featured Calabash Brothers, Black Cat Detective, Nezha Conquers the Dragon King, and Er Lang Shen Rescues His Mother.
Of these, Calabash Brothers had finished, Nezha was ongoing, and Er Lang Shen would follow next. All were short series that wrapped up within a few months. Only Black Cat Detective was open-ended—more like Detective Conan from Yang Wendong's past life.
Open-ended series had the benefit of unlimited episodes, but the downside was a lack of overarching narrative. Skipping a few chapters didn't matter much, which reduced reader engagement.
Journey to the West, on the other hand, was the ideal long-form epic. While it wouldn't be as endless as Conan, it could easily stretch two to three years with proper pacing, ensuring steady readership—assuming the quality held up.
"You're absolutely right," Zhang Zhiyuan nodded. "That's exactly what we're missing—an epic, long-running storyline. Journey to the West is known to virtually every Chinese person, but few have actually read the whole thing. It's too long, and the classical Chinese is exhausting.
If we can turn it into an engaging, kid-friendly comic, there's a huge market. Even Chinese communities in Taiwan and Southeast Asia will love it."
"Not just Southeast Asia—probably Japan and Korea too," Yang Wendong added. "The Four Great Classical Novels are also well known in Japan. I've heard that the Japanese are obsessed with Romance of the Three Kingdoms. I doubt Journey to the West would be any less popular."
In fact, in 1978, the first live-action Journey to the West TV series had been produced in Japan—and it was a big hit. Later, it inspired anime like Dragon Ball, which became a global phenomenon.
Now that Yang Wendong was in Hong Kong, with access to the resources and talent needed for production, he felt an obligation to take the lead in developing Journey to the West across media formats—comic, animation, and eventually TV drama.
"Right. I've even heard that Japanese officers during WWII were obsessed with Three Kingdoms," Zhang Zhiyuan added. "Maybe one day we can adapt the other classics too."
"Unlikely. The other three aren't suited for comics," Yang Wendong shook his head. "Comics are mainly for kids. Realistically, only Journey to the West will capture their imagination."
Then he turned to Wu Hailin. "Old Wu, do you think you can handle drawing Journey to the West?"
"No problem at all," Wu Hailin smiled. "As long as I've got the manpower and time, we can absolutely do it."
"Great. If you need more artists, just hire them directly," Yang Wendong said. "Old Zhang, talk to Zheng Zhijie. Have him arrange some housing for Changxing Culture employees. When you recruit artists from Southeast Asia, you can immediately set them up with a place to stay.
As for daily necessities, buy bulk supplies from Carrefour—cutting living expenses will make it easier to attract talent to Hong Kong."
Technical roles like animators could be trained in-house. But artistic creativity couldn't be taught. It required talent. And with a population of just over 3 million, Hong Kong had a limited talent pool.
"Understood," Zhang Zhiyuan nodded.
Yang Wendong continued, "Now, start outlining the story. Keep it simple and accessible—aim for a children's audience.
Also, start designing the main character visuals. The Havoc in Heaven film from the mainland wasn't bad, but I'm still not satisfied with how the characters look. I want them to be more vibrant, more expressive."
Too bad he couldn't draw. Otherwise, he'd just recreate the designs from the 1990s cartoons in his previous life. Not that he wanted to copy them exactly—but at the very least, the characters needed to be iconic and memorable.
"Yes, Mr. Yang," both Zhang Zhiyuan and Wu Hailin replied in unison.
"One more thing," Yang Wendong added. "Remember, this comic is going to be adapted into an animated series or movie later on. So as you draw, keep animation compatibility in mind."
Since he was about to launch his own television station, Journey to the West was a perfect candidate for a flagship animated series. As long as the quality was solid, it would be a massive hit—and a gateway for cultural export through television.
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