Last Tuesday, fans of the classic Hong Kong comic “Old Master Q” learned that its creator, cartoonist Alfonso Wong, had passed away at the age of 92.
Tributes to Wong immediately began pouring in from all over the world, but nowhere was the sadness over his death more concentrated than in the city where he made his name. Thousands thanked the legendary artist for enriching their lives, and spoke fondly of their experiences reading the comics as children (interestingly, many said their most poignant memories of Old Master Q took place at the hairdresser’s).
We spoke to his publishers, friends, and fans about the impact he had on their lives, and what they believe made his work so special and enduringly popular.
An Old Master Q comic on display at Comix Home Base
Volumes of Old Master Q comics first began being published in 1964, after Ng Chung Hing, a family friend of Wong’s and the founder of Ng Hing Kee Book & Newspaper Agency, noticed the young artist’s talent for illustration. It soon became a breakaway success, reviving public interest in Chinese “manhua” comics and establishing Old Master Q as an instant household name.
Ng, now in his 90s, remembers Wong as a very gentle and easy-going person, a sentiment echoed by his longtime employees. An employee surnamed Yu, who has been working at the agency for nearly two decades, described Wong as “a genius”. “He could draw with both of his hands simultaneously,” Yu told Coconuts Hong Kong.
A visitor posing with an Old Master Q figurine at the Comix Home Base exhibition
“When the comics were first published, there wasn’t that much in the way of entertainment; people mostly read newspapers and TV sets were expensive … and suddenly this funny, cute comic comes out, and it quite naturally became popular,” Yu said.
“Novels and comics were everywhere back then. Kids would ask to have their hair cut every time new issues of Old Master Q were published, because all barbershops had copies,” said Ms. Kong, who’s worked at Ng Hing Kee for 30 years. “Reading the comics would help children sit still whilst having their hair cut.”
Ng Hing Kee’s shopfront in Sheung Wan
Yu added that local schools had recently begun using the Old Master Q comics for educational use, and said he hopes children could focus less on the internet and read more. “It’s got a little touch of ‘culture’, even if it is just a comic.”
While Old Master Q certainly plays a large role in the collective memory of Hongkongers, its influence isn’t just confined to the Fragrant Harbour. “It’s not political, it’s funny, and it’s easy to understand. Even if you’re illiterate, or if you can’t read Chinese, you can understand what’s happening,” Yu explained. “In just four or six squares, it tells a whole story.”
Visitors at Comix Homebase look at a large-scale poster of Old Master Q characters, in which smaller versions of the titular character have been hidden. Photo: Annette Chan/Coconuts Media
Judging by the turnout at the sprawling retrospective exhibition of Wong’s work at Comix Homebase, “Indulging in Imagination – Exhibition of Old Master Q’s Comics Works”, we’re inclined to agree.
Attendee Nicolette Tan, an HKU postgraduate student from Singapore, said, “Modern comics are very political, they try to put across very strong points of view and I think [Old Master Q] comics are more reflective of people’s everyday lives, the problems that people face. They’re more relatable,” she told Coconuts Hong Kong.
“The Bachelor’s Apartment” on display at Comix Homebase. Photo: Rafiaa Rumjahn/Coconuts Media
The love for the long-running comics has also spread to North America. Another visitor to the exhibition, a writer surnamed Lau, told Coconuts Hong Kong that he remembered volumes of Old Master Q being available at libraries in Canada, where he used to live. “People would forget their life for a little bit and dive into the stories,” he said, adding that he bought almost every issue of the comics as a child.
Comics on display in the reading room of the Old Master Q exhibition
Lau praised the comic strips as being “uniquely Hong Kong”. “Other comics like Spiderman or Batman, it could be anywhere. But [Old Master Q], it has to be in Hong Kong.” Seeing as artistic control of the comics were handed over to Wong’s son in the 1990s, Lau said he believed the elder Wong’s death wouldn’t make much of a difference to series, “but we’ll remember him”.
One unifying theme amongst readers was their desire to see more “Hong Kong-centric” works that portrayed the everyday lives of real Hong Kong people, in a humorous and apolitical way. “You can already see a ‘gap’ in the industry,” said an exhibition visitor surnamed Hui, who said he’d been reading Wong’s work from the age of six. “There are no other comic strips as realistic and relatable to Hongkongers as Old Master Q.”
Reader Interactions