Hong Kong Comic Master

When it comes to Japan's weekly boys' comics, the most well-known ones are undoubtedly the "Big Three", namely: Shueisha's "JUMP", Shogakukan's "Sunday" and Kodansha's "Magazine".

The presence of "Weekly Shonen Champion" cannot be said to be thin, it can only be said to be almost non-existent.

This comic magazine was published by Japan's Akita Bookstore. It was founded in July 1969 and it has only been ten years since then.

Not only was the magazine published late, but the strength of the magazine's parent company was also not as good as the other several.

Akita Bookstore was founded on August 10, 1948. Its pillar industry is publishing comics. Therefore, it is not as good as the other several publishing houses in terms of manpower, material resources and financial resources.

At the beginning, "Champion" magazine had difficulties in operation, and the sales of each issue were even less than 200,000.

It was not until 1972 that "the legendary editor in the comics world, the man who beat the god of comics Tezuka" - Kabemura Naozo, became the editor-in-chief, that the magazine finally got on the right track.

After taking office, Kabemura boldly implemented policies such as "complete the entire story in one episode", "recruit new cartoonists from other magazines", and "intensify the standard of serialization cut-off". Except for "Babylon II" by Mitsuteru Yokoyama, all other comics were stopped and new manuscripts were commissioned.

With the new authors he recruited, "Champion" magazine was able to set sail again and soon entered its golden age.

Of course, the real reason why this magazine reached the level of "three major companies" in the 1970s was another point, which was also the most important point, that was Osamu Tezuka.

At that time, Osamu Tezuka was in poverty due to the company's losses, and because of the "W3 incident", Kodansha announced that "Tezuka's works will no longer be used in the future."

Although it became popular a few years later, it was done by the newly appointed editor-in-chief!

The so-called "W3 incident" refers to the fact that Kodansha colluded with sponsors to use commercial espionage to leak the project plan to other animation companies in order to crack down on Osamu Tezuka's Mushi Production.

So, Osamu Tezuka was furious and announced that he would switch his new manga "W3", which had been serialized for six episodes, from "Magazine" to the competitor "Sunday".

This caused huge losses to "Magazine".

After receiving the invitation from Kabemura, Osamu Tezuka returned to the comics industry with "Black Jack", and quickly achieved extremely brilliant results.

In just one year, the sales of "Champion" soared from 210,000 to 1 million, becoming the fourth largest comic magazine in Japan, and threatening the status of the "three major companies".

He is worthy of being the "God of Comics", so terrifying!

In today's Japanese comics industry, "Sunday" has Tezuka, "Magazine" has Tezuka, "Champion" has Tezuka, "JUMP" has Tezuka... Award!

"Are you the Mr. Li mentioned by Mr. Tezuka?"

I thought that the tough-minded Naisan Kabemura should be very arrogant, but when he met Li Wannian for the first time, he seemed very amiable.

"I am, hello, Editor-in-Chief Kabemura!"

The two did not meet at the company, but at a cafe near Akita Bookstore.

Compared to the serious company, this place is obviously more comfortable.

"How is Mr. Tezuka doing recently?"

"Busy as always!"

"I never thought that Mr. Li would choose our "Champion". This is indeed a great choice!"

Although Kabemura Naisan's attitude is very gentle, his words reveal a strong confidence.

Now is the most glorious period in the history of "Champion" magazine, and it is still made big in Kabemura's hands. Of course, he has the capital to be proud.

"No, this is a two-way choice!"

However, Li Wannian needs "Champion", and "Champion" certainly needs Li Wannian.

Although Tezuka Osamu is in his heyday, he is old after all. No one knows how long he can draw, and no one knows whether he can continue to update weekly.

Once Tezuka Osamu does not update, the sales of "Champion" will inevitably experience a cliff-like decline, so they urgently need to find new people. Unfortunately, they have not found a suitable candidate in the past few years.

"Is Mr. Li the person we are looking for?"

"Won't you know if you try?"

Although the two did not say anything more, everything was self-evident.

The cooperation between the two parties had actually been decided before the two met.

Although Bicun had previously rejected Li Wannian's idea of ​​investing in Akita Bookstore, after all, this was the most glorious time for Akita Bookstore and there was no shortage of money.

But unlike Kodansha and Shueisha, Bicun was able to meet Li Wannian in person, which itself showed his importance of this cooperation.

If at the beginning, when the editor brought Tezuka Osamu's words, Bicun was just thinking about dealing with Li Wannian's words, when he saw Li Wannian's work, he immediately decided that no matter whether his comic book could be successful, he must take him down!

A 16-year-old boy can draw such an excellent comic, what will happen in the future?

With such a loving and thoughtful cooperation, everything seemed to be a natural outcome.

The subsequent negotiations were mainly about some details of the cooperation, and there were not many differences on the cooperation itself.

Finally, after an afternoon of negotiations between the two, Li Wannian will bring his own "Dragon Ball" to "Weekly Shonen Champion" on February 22.

Because it only has comic serialization rights in the Neon region, "Champion" will not invest a lot of promotional resources in "Dragon Ball".

However, since "Dragon Ball" has been serialized for 3 issues on Hong Kong Island, the previous issues will be updated at the speed of two chapters one by one until it catches up with the progress on Hong Kong Island.

In addition, Akita Bookstore will also serve as the cooperative publisher of Li Wannian's other comics in Neon, relying on its channels to sell single volumes of Li Wannian's other comics, including: "Chinese Little Chef God", "Pokémon", and "Death" , "Mobile Suit Gundam", "Parasite" and "Hong Kong Island Love Story".

At this point, after various setbacks, Li Wannian's comics can finally be successfully launched on Neon!

At the same time, Li Wannian's treatment is also different from other authors.

The two parties agreed that the cooperation period would be five years, and the magazine would only have the right to suggest, but not decide, Li Wannian's works.

In other words, Li Wannian may or may not listen to the magazine's opinions!

Of course, the magazine also has the right to terminate cooperation with Li Wannian due to factors such as poor comic sales and poor reputation.

Overall, the relationship between the two parties is more like a cooperative relationship, which is very loose and each retains a certain degree of autonomy.

In addition, it is worth mentioning that although "Dragon Ball" is serialized in "Champion", it is a buyout form, but the stand-alone volumes of Li Wannian's other comics are signed with "Champion" on a share-sharing model.

Eventually, the negotiations came to an end.

Kabemura Naizo stood up and faced Li Wannian and extended his hand, "Happy cooperation, sir!"

This was the first time that Bi Cun called Li Wannian by his pen name today, which also meant that he began to regard Li Wannian as one of his own magazines.

"Happy cooperation, Editor-in-Chief Hikamura!"