Graphic novelist Uen Cheng (鄭問), best known for his realistic artwork, prolific work ethic and mentorship of fellow artists, died on Sunday of a heart attack at the age of 58, according to one of his former students.
Minister of Culture Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) said Uen Cheng’s creations are an inspiration to a generation of Taiwanese artists, adding that the ministry would apply for a posthumous presidential commendation for his vital contributions to manga, animation and video games.
Uen Cheng was creating artwork for one of his projects moments before suffering a heart attack at 3am on Sunday, said Chung Meng-shun (鍾孟舜), one of Uen Cheng’s former students.
Photo: courtesy of Dala Publishing Company
Born Cheng Chin-wen (鄭進文), Uen Cheng had worked as a professional graphic artist since his 20s.
He enjoyed a meteoric rise in the comic book world, where he distinguished himself with his realistic style that blazed trails, spawned many imitators and attracted students.
The martial arts adventures Sword of Avici (阿鼻劍) and Heroes of the East Zhou Dynasty (東周英雄傳) are generally considered to be among Uen Cheng’s finest, with Heroes being the first creation by a foreign artist to win an award from the Japanese Cartoonists’ Association.
Dala Publishing Co editor-in-chief Aho Huang (黃健和) said Uen Cheng made an international impact as a Taiwanese manga artist.
In the 1990s, Uen Cheng became the first Taiwanese artist to have artwork successfully serialized in Japan, Huang said, adding that Hong Kong film producers had obtained the movie rights to Sword of Avici.
Uen Cheng in 2012 participated in France’s prestigious Angouleme International Comics Festival and had this year completed negotiations for the publication of his works in Southeast Asia and Europe, with his work to be translated into Thai and German, he added.
Chung, who is now a successful graphic artist and president of the Taipei Comic Artist Labor Union, said he remembers his mentor as a gifted artist, an aloof man and a passionate friend.
Uen Cheng once personally managed the day-to-day business of a charity sales stall to raise cancer treatment funds for a fellow artist and rushed with a baseball bat in hand to the rescue of a friend who got into trouble, Chung said.
“He was a unique man, heroic and larger than life. The last chapter of a legend has closed,” Chung said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at