'Sunday Comics Dream' exhibition revisits formative era of Taiwan comics

Taipei, May 16 (CNA) A new exhibition in central Taiwan is revisiting the rise of Taiwan's comics culture in the late 1980s and early 1990s through the legacy of a once-ambitious weekly magazine that sought to build a local comics industry.

The exhibition, titled "1989, A Sunday Comics Dream," centers on the weekly comic magazine "Sunday Comics" (星期漫畫), which published 80 issues between 1989 and 1993.

The magazine was an ambitious attempt to establish a Taiwanese comics series at a time when the local industry was still in its infancy, Aho Huang (黃健和), who curated the exhibition, told CNA via email on Friday.

However, although "Sunday Comics" initially printed 50,000 copies, circulation had dropped to around 5,000 by its final issue amid fierce competition from pirated Japanese manga magazines, according to Huang.

Huang, a veteran comics editor who received the Special Contribution Award at the 2025 Golden Comics Awards, described the magazine as "a bold experiment" created by artists seeking to push Taiwan comics onto the international stage.

Huang said "Sunday Comics" reflected several ambitions shared by Taiwanese comic artists at the time, including the dream of making comics professionally, establishing a weekly publication system similar to Japan's manga magazines, and eventually reaching international standards.

"Back then, not many people had been abroad. All they could do was read works imported from Japan, the United States, and France, and marvel at their creative standards," Huang said.

The exhibition, held at the National Taiwan Museum of Comics in Taichung, features original manuscripts, recreated editorial offices and classroom spaces, and archival materials documenting the development of Taiwan comics during this period.

Among the exhibits are original manuscripts from six comic artists, including Chen Uen (鄭問), Joe Tseng (曾正忠), Richard Metson (麥仁杰), Kid Jerry (傑利小子), Ren Zheng-hua (任正華), and Lin Cheng-te (林政德).

Other featured artists include Au Yao-hsing (敖幼祥), Hong Te-lin (洪德麟), Chen Kuan-chun (陳冠君), Chiu Rou-long (邱若龍), Pin Fan (平凡), and Loïc Hsiao (蕭言中).

Under trying circumstances

Just two years before "Sunday Comics'" debut, Taiwan had lifted martial law.

"Thirty years ago, they took the first step without fear," Huang said. "Only in the past few years have we begun to see the fruits of those efforts mature."

Comparing the magazine to the nascent stage of Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL), Huang said such early efforts helped lay the groundwork for Taiwanese comics' growing international recognition.

Taiwanese comic artist Chang Sheng (常勝), for example, recently became the first Taiwanese artist to receive two nominations in the same year at the 2026 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards.

Huang encouraged the public to visit the exhibition, which opened on Wednesday and runs through Oct. 11, and learn more about an important chapter in Taiwan's comic history.

"To look back at history is the only way to move toward the future," he said.