Bastions of Comic Books in Taiwan

Taiwan Comic Base: Mecca of Taiwanese Manhua

In a four-story building on Huayin Street to the north of Taipei Main Station, you will find a complete collection of Taiwan original manhua comic books on the first floor. The second and third floors are incubator spaces for newcomer creators of manhua. The fourth floor is for cross-disciplinary collaboration on comic-book publication and for copyright licensing negotiations. This is Taiwan Comic Base (TCB), which can rightly be called a bastion of manhua in Taiwan.

In a four-story building on Huayin Street to the north of Taipei Main Station, you will find a complete collection of Taiwan original manhua comic books on the first floor. The second and third floors are incubator spaces for newcomer creators of manhua. The fourth floor is for cross-disciplinary collaboration on comic-book publication and for copyright licensing negotiations. This is Taiwan Comic Base (TCB), which can rightly be called a bastion of manhua in Taiwan.

The comic books featuring Tan-Tsiu-Niu, dubbed one of the three major female demons in Taiwan, head the bestseller list at TCB.(© 2019 Nownow/Gaea Books)

Showcase of Taiwan comics

“The first floor is the Base Bookstore, which showcases how diverse Taiwanese manhua are,” says Miyako Chang, industrial manager at TCB. Thanks to TCB’s convenient location in the business district to the north of Taipei Main Station, many passersby are drawn in by the comics. This is also the first pilgrimage stop in Taiwan for publishers of graphic novels.

Chang Min-hui, who manages the bookstore, says that it attracts comic book fans and creators from around the world. “No matter what your nationality, comics provide a common language.”

Miyako Chang says that at TCB once she met an editor of comic books from Egypt who wanted to publish comic books on women’s issues in Arabic. After purchasing a number of manhua books, he said he wanted to negotiate the rights for Nownow’s Guardienne (Tan-Tsiu-Niu). “I was astounded that he was so interested in women’s rights and folk culture in Taiwan.”

On the second floor of TCB there is a video space where interviews with recent winners of Golden Comic Awards and international prizes are shown. To assist foreign visitors, this year English subtitles will be added to the videos.

Taiwanese manhua are very diverse, whether in terms of products, themes, or types.

Free and diverse Taiwan

Wen Chun-ya, senior manager for content development at the Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA) and a driving force behind the Creative Comics Collection (CCC) website, says that one of the most important things about Taiwanese manhua is that in Taiwan there is freedom to explore issues including religious belief and homosexuality (yaoi, a.k.a. “boys’ love” or BL).

“If this were not a country with such advanced gender consciousness, it would be impossible to discuss such serious issues in a relaxed way,” says Wen. It is Taiwan’s freedom and diversity that provide the soil in which this literature can flourish.

Miyako Chang cites last year’s BL comics convention, which drew 7,000 visitors, as a case in point. Many foreign publishers attended, and TAICCA prompted Akiko Hori, co-writer of BL Kyokasho (BL Textbook), to work with Taiwanese manhua creator Gene to develop a manhua serial, and commissioned Gene to produce the cover for a Taiwan edition of BL Kyokasho.

TCB also does matchmaking for manhua creators and engages in interdisciplinary collaboration. Miyako Chang relates this example: Linking Publishing Company sought out TCB to organize a team for a graphic version of Prove Myself: Peng Cheng-min, the auto­biography of a retired professional baseball star. The group included the gifted newcomer illustrator Shiro Yang, senior editor Hsiao Nai-chung, and story­board director Chiang Meiyun. The result was One Million Swings, a comic book which has been serialized on the CCC website since March of 2024 and has gotten a great response.

The creative space on the third floor at TCB provides up-to-date equipment including digital graphics tablets and LED lightboxes.

Manhua creator Tpcat frequently works in TCB’s wenchangwei (the seat most conducive to literary achievement according to fengshui) to deal with the pressure of deadlines.

Taking on global competition

Taiwan is aiming to boost its comics production capacity to take on global competition. Wen Chun-ya points to the example of Day Off, a comic-book series published in nine countries with licensing fees of over NT$1 million. Thanks to excellent sales, new works have continually been added, thereby enabling the franchise to compete for global market share.

TCB’s third floor provides a creative space with equipment including digital graphics tablets and LED tracing lightboxes. Operations manager Monica Wang notes that TCB offers an average of 40 classes a year to train manhua creators in the craft. TCB also uses social media to announce information on matters such as inter­national competitions to help creators find inter­national publishers and audiences.

Come visit TCB, and you will discover that Taiwanese manhua are incredible!

The Northern Taiwan volume of Tpcat’s series Naked in Taiwan! Rabbit’s Hot Springs Expedition.

Plant Collector’s Notebook, a very popular manhua series, appeals to plant lovers who would not otherwise be in the market for comic books.