刺客列传

by 郑问

《刺客列传》以司马迁《史记》《刺客列传》为底本进行忠实改编，是中国风的水墨漫画，也是漫画家郑问的代表作之一书中收集了春秋战国著名人物曹沐、豫让、专诸、聂政和荆轲五位刺客的历史事迹。郑问运用传统的国画工具毛笔，在宣纸上一幅一幅地勾勒、上色，用宣纸画彩墨连环画，这需要相当的功力，用国画技巧来画漫画，这也只有郑问做得到。

Genres: Graphic Novels

192 pages, Hardcover

Published March 1, 2020

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