刺客列傳

by 鄭問, Chen Uen

「喜歡我作品的讀者，就去看我的漫畫吧！
我想說的，都畫在漫畫裡了。」
──鄭問

《刺客列傳》精裝紀念版2017
創新水墨漫畫，神技震撼日本漫壇
大師筆下中國史上最悲壯的英雄與俠客的浪漫精神
重現台灣漫畫的榮光歲月

「鄭問作品集」第一波作品，此精裝版收錄原之五篇刺客列傳漫畫，加上1985年歡樂漫畫試刊號前三期的〈最後的決鬥〉〈劍仙傳奇〉〈劊子手〉三篇，這三篇是鄭問及台灣漫畫的第二個黃金時代的開始。

《刺客列傳》全書根據漢代史學家司馬遷《史記》中刺客列傳編寫的。書中收集了春秋戰國著名人物曹沐、豫讓、專諸、聶政和荊軻五位刺客的歷史事蹟。故事依序是：挾持齊桓公而迫使其歸還所侵吞之魯國領地的「曹沬」，為吳國公子光刺殺王僚的「專諸」，感於智伯知遇之恩而為其報仇刺殺趙襄子的「豫讓」，受嚴仲子之託刺殺韓相俠累的「聶政」，以及受命於燕太子丹而行刺秦王的「荊軻」。

鄭問以自身的關懷，強勢地重新演繹原著中的悲劇色彩，以水墨技法轉換司馬遷典雅的敘述，以不協調的張力，給予這些故事新時代共鳴。氣勢如虹的畫面無一不觸動了那一個個身處於即將迎來狂風暴雨的刺客……

他曾在接受訪問時表示，「堅持、有理」就是英雄。擁有什麼信念，就應該去做。這些故事和人物因為時代使然，他們的「忠」和我們現在認為的「忠」不太一樣……但為什麼鄭問還是要畫這些人，因為他們有信念，也許會失去生命、身敗名裂，但還是一樣去做，所以認為他們是英雄。

鄭問說：「在刺客的造型中最引人爭議的是豫讓的中性面孔，我當初設定的想法是為了襯出豫讓毀容後的犧牲和勇氣；屠狗的聶政總讓人想起肥胖的屠夫，我則把他重新塑造成武生形象引出他隱身市井的無奈，曹沫出場時的山崩地裂，則是虛構來加強戲劇效果；在刺殺行動裡我並不特意排斥熱血和武功，主要是想藉肅殺的氣氛來烘托出刺客們壯烈悲愴的胸懷；凡此種種，讀者若有心，可進一步欣賞司馬遷《史記》原文，當會另有一番情趣。」

此書曾榮獲國立編譯館民國75年優良漫畫第一名，歷經兩次出版：初版為1985年由時報發行，二版為2010年由大辣出版。2017年大辣重新為漫畫迷打造《刺客列傳》大師經典珍藏版，將以18x26公分大開本全彩精裝，將大師的經典作品放大，讓每一格漫畫都是一幅藝術之作。

Genres: Graphic Novels

191 pages, Hardcover

Published February 1, 2017

Reviews

[Mizuki · Rating 5 out of 5]

-The most tragic heroes in the history of China,
The most romantic of the swordmen's spirit-



Based on the records from Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian: Biographies of Assassins, illustrated by Taiwanese manhua artist Chen Uen.

It was the first time I read anything from the late Mr. Chen, and he outperformed my highest expectation with these five epic tales of assassins from ancient China, five timeless tales of bloodshed, sword fight, revenge, betrayal, warfare, court intrigue, unbelievable courage and loyalty.

In this gorgeous hardcover version of Legends of Assassin (re-released shortly before Mr. Chen's passing in 2017), the original texts from Biographies of Assassins are also included. Comparing the original texts with Mr. Chen's manhua/comic adaptations, I noticed Mr. Chen added a handful of dramatic/martial art elements in his creation, in order to highlight the courage and superhuman fighting skills of the assassins. For example, when in the original text, the actual progress of the assassination only takes up a few lines of mention, but Mr. Chen put in more details to describe the assassins' skills and methods.

Still to be honest, since the listed events in the Biographies had taken place some 2000+ years ago in ancient China (which was a caste society back then), so I admit the virtues and the social norms displayed through the characters/historical figures in the stories might not be so easily understood by a modern audience.

Mr. Chen created Legends of Assassins some 30 years ago when he was less than 30 years old himself. His masterful use of black ink (instead of pens) and the techniques of Chinese traditional painting in comic stories was utterly groundbreaking and stunning when these comics were first released, and even after so many years his artwork is still glorious and enchanting. Plus...I truly love how Mr. Chen handled the exciting one-against-many fight scenes in the stories!



Out of the five assassins, only one of them eventually escaped with his life after the assaults against powerful kings and court members.

The story of Zhuan Zhu and how he assassinated the King of Wu has the most martial art elements in it (I quite like how Zhuan Zhu cried "King of Wu, Heaven and Fate dictated you die here!" before he sent his blade flying from impossible angle toward his target). The story is about 10 pages long and it's breathtaking nonetheless.

The most intriguing part of Yu Rang 's story takes place at the very first two pages: Yu Rang is outnumbered on the battlefield, and his lord is also reportedly killed, but instead of surrendering, Yu Rang escapes to plan his revenge against his fallen lord's enemy. The rest of the story is something as exciting and chilling as the famed 47 Ronin.

What I like most about the story of Yu Rang is how he was designed by Mr. Chen as a long haired young warrior on a crimson battlefield, facing down his enemy; wounded and outnumbered but not going to surrender.



The story of Jing Ke , the most famous and probably the most tragic among the listed assassins, was given the most details and attention among the bunch (Jing Ke's story is also the longest among the Biographies of Assassins). His failed assassination against the infamous King Zheng of Qin, which was the last attempt to save the doomed State of Yan, has always been viewed as a symbol of rebellion and courage.





Still, I have to admit the bonus short stories at the back of the book aren't as glorious as these legends of the assassins.

Other book reviews:

Batman and Robin by Peter Tomasi & Patrick Gleason Omnibus https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Review: Red Hood: Outlaw vol. 1 https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Review: Batman: Battle For the Cowl: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Review: Batman: Life After Death: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Review: Batman & Robin: Batman Reborn https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Book Review: Batman: The Long Halloween https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Review: The Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told Vol. 1 (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...)
Review: Batman: A Death in the Family https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[bⒶrtleby · Rating 3 out of 5]

画风独特且遒劲。但好的历史写作不一定是好的漫画脚本，本书的情节就很缺乏张力，原创的篇目则更加平平无奇

[Mediuschung · Rating 4 out of 5]

鄭問is shoegaze

[Judy Li · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 画风很好 讲刺客也讲忠义勇 所有刺客还都挺帅的 有的睫毛长长画得好漂亮 就是后面的故事太离谱 剧情没有展开 画风也更偏欧美西部浪漫风 但配色很美