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| Old Master Q | |
|---|---|
 Cover ofOld Master Q vol. 44, art byAlfonso Wong | |
| 老夫子 lou5 fu1 zi2 | |
| Genre | Humour,gag-a-day,pantomime,text comics,satirical comics[1] |
| Author | Alfonso Wong (1964–1995) Joseph Wong (1995–present) |
| Publisher | WangZ Inc. |
| Demographic | Various |
| Original run | 1962 – present |
Old Master Q (Chinese:老夫子;Jyutping:lou5 fu1 zi2;pinyin:Lǎo fūzǐ; Wong's romanization:Lo Fu Gee;[2] also known asMr. Funnybone fromthe movie of the same name) is a Hong Kongmanhua created byAlfonso Wong. The cartoon first appeared in the newspapers and magazines inHong Kong on 3 February 1962, and later serialised in 1964.[3] The comic is still in publication today, and is the oldest Asian comic series in publication.
The comic is copyrighted byWangZ Inc, a company established by Joseph Wong Chak (Alfonso Wong's eldest son) inTaipei, Taiwan. Joseph Wong still continues to create new volumes and has taken over the story or volume creations since 1995.
Alfonso Wong explained that老;Lǎo;lou5 ("Lo") means "old",夫子;fūzi;fu1 zi2 is "a rather ordinary, but respectable title" over two-thousand-year old which denotes a "learned one" "who can become a teacher ('Fu Gee') or, or one who has studied a lot"; the English title "Old Master Q" "sort of" translates the Chinese title, with Q being abbreviated from earlier "Cute". Wong additionally noted the similarity between his main character's English title "Old Master Q" & the nameAh Q ofLu Xun's character, whom Wong considered to be "rather humourous [sic] and satirical".[2]
The series' cast[1][4][5] is led by the titular Old Master Q (老夫子;lou5 fu1 zi2;Lǎo fūzi), an elderly, lanky man dressed in a distinctively antiquatedQing dynasty-era outfit. The character is a satirical depiction of conservative Asians with his gullibility, hubris, stubborn nature and lack of critical thinking, struggling to survive in acapitalistic landscape and gradually evolving society.
Kelvin Chan of theSouth China Morning Post described Q as "eccentric".[6]
Supporting characters include:
The series' format involve Old Master Q and his friends as they navigate life in a modern Hong Kong, with Mr. Chiu or a third party often serving as antagonists. The comics are known for its wry sense of humour lending itself from a degree of unpredictability. While usually down-to-earth, the series does not shy from increasingly surreal scenarios such as aspects of horror and science fiction. Long-format comics have been produced revolving around lengthier adventures of the main cast pitted against gangsters in modern Hong Kong or warriors in awuxia setting.
While Old Master Q comics primarily focus on humour, they also reflect changing social trends; particularly from the 1960s to the 1980s. The comics would sometimes feature societal problems in urban life, such as poverty, petty thefts andsecret societies. It also poked fun at fashion,[7]contemporary art[8] and rock music. The comic strips sometimes also bemoan the decline of ethical or moral values in modern-day living. Characters often display acts of selfishness or misery; although the comics occasionally display good values like filial piety. The language barrier between the Chinese language and the English language is also depicted in some comic strips; illustrated with Old Master Q's difficulty communicating with foreigners, especially Westerners.
The comics have, on some occasions, expressed complexity in the plots and serious views on major political changes taking place in Hong Kong during the 1960s-1980s. It had previously criticised overly Westernised Chinese, who were often shown in the comic strips kowtowing to Western interests over the local Chinese interests. The run-up to the handover of Hong Kong toChina following theSino-British Joint Declaration of 1984 also became a point of interest, as a few comic strips were published through the late 1980s and early 1990s expressing the characters' fears of handover, frequently represented in a numeral of the year it would take place: 1997. Some of these comic strips also depict direct assault of representations of theChinese government and theChinese Communist Party, occasionally in the form of caricatured depictions ofDeng Xiaoping. The handover was later depicted in more a positive light in the years leading to the actual event; possibly representing a changing perspective from the author.
The comic series was made into manyCantonese andMandarin cartoon animations, one of which combined live actors and advancedCGI graphics.
The list of Old Master Q films is as follows, in chronological order:
| English Name | Chinese Name | Release Date | Type | Casts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Old Master Q | 老夫子 | 3 August 1965 | film | Ko Lo-chuen (高魯泉) |
| Old Master Q and Big Potato | 老夫子與大蕃薯 | 19 May 1966 | film | Suet Nay (雪妮),Ko Lo-chuen (高魯泉), Lydia Shum (沈殿霞) |
| How Master Cute Thrice Saved the Idiot Ming | 老夫子三救傻瓜明 | 13 July 1966 | film | Ko Lo-chuen (高魯泉) |
| Old Master Q | 老夫子 | 8 March 1975 | film | Leung Tin (梁天),Betty Ting,Roy Chiao,Sai Gwa-pau (西瓜刨),Law Lan,Lai Siu Fong |
| Mr. Funnybone | 我係老夫子 | 2 October 1976 | film | Lee Ching (李菁),Wang Sha (王沙) Ngai Tung Gwa (矮冬瓜), Lau Luk-wah (劉陸華) |
| Mr. Funnybone Strikes Again | 老夫子奇趣錄 | 18 November 1978 | ||
| Colour Old Master Q | 七彩老夫子 | 16 July 1980 | cartoon | |
| Old Master Q Water Margin | 老夫子水虎傳 | 10 July 1982 | cartoon | |
| Old Master Q & "San-T" | 山T老夫子 | 4 August 1983 | cartoon | |
| Old Master Q 2001 | 老夫子2001 | 5 April 2001 | film | Nicholas Tse,Cecilia Cheung, Alfonso Wong |
| Master Q: Incredible Pet Detective | 老夫子反斗偵探 | 20 December 2003 | cartoon | Eric Tsang,Chapman To, Andes Yue,Lee Ka-yee (利嘉兒), Dexter Young (楊天經) |
| Old Master Q – Fantasy Zone Battle | 老夫子 – 魔界夢戰記 | 2003 | TV series | |
| Master Q | 老夫子 | 2004 | TV series | |
| The New Unbeatable Old Master Q: Shaolin Detective Agency | 無敵老夫子新傳：少林偵探社 | 2005 | film | Law Kar-ying,Karen Tong (湯寳如) |
| Old Master Q and Little Ocean Tiger | 老夫子之小水虎传奇 | 2011 | film | Deng Chao,Zhang Hanyu,Elva Hsiao |
A spin-off series calledQ Master Q (Q夫子) shows young versions of the characters with similar clothing as their adult counterparts. Each of their names also are related to their counterparts.
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Some cartoonists and readers[who?] claim that the idea of Old Master Q was actually created byPeng Di (朋弟) in the late 1930s and not Alfonso Wong, as some of whom were mostly professional Mainland cartoonists alleged that Peng Di's ideas were stolen by Alfonso Wong. They claimed that the cartoons first appeared in the newspapers and magazines in Beijing (Peking) andTianjin (Tientsin). The character created by Peng Di was claimed to slightly resemble Old Master Q which is currently[when?] being copyrighted by OMQ ZMedia Ltd. The character by Peng Di wore similar clothing and had a little similarity in personality to that of Old Master Q. However, the formats, themes, and contents of the stories were different as Old Master Q was not heavy with dialogue making it easy for foreigners around the world to immerse themselves in the story.
Feng Jicai published a book in 2001 containing samples of work by Peng Di, which displayed the similarities between Peng Di and Alfonso Wong's works. The result of this dispute remains unclear as WangZ Inc. has denied all plagiarism accusations.[9][10]
