Men At Work

In the spirit of Labour Day (AKA May Day AKA International Workers' Day), I bring to you the merry men of the Dragon Tiger Gate Comic World...at work, with their name card, courtesy of tuku.cc.... Yeah, right, Evil Punch Dojo...There's almost some kind of a timeless resonance in that name...

小流氓 & Sigmund Freud

In the very same weird fuck absurd vein as my earlier post featuring excerpts containing the hidden connections between Doraemon and Socialism, North Korean style, apparently, now we have theories about the connection between Freud and...小流氓, better known to all as the 龙虎门 (or even better known in the West as the failed movie adaptation Dragon Tiger Gate.). Do check out the full article. Here's an excerpt... 政治動盪與社會不安的七十年代，香港正在繼承著根深蒂固的傳統文化的同時，並在享受著西方文化帶來的衝擊與快感。那時候，西方文化對性和思想的解放猶如脫韁野馬，令香港掀起一陣春潮泛濫的電影文化，激流洶湧下，色情電影紛紛湧現。 當時社會充斥著這種不良風氣，令風化案上升。色魔橫行，單身女子不敢夜歸的社會現實，被黃玉郎借題發揮，改篇作飛天豹一段（即『小流氓』第六期『大戰飛天豹』）。在黃玉郎的設定下，飛天豹所用的武器是一柄削鐵如泥的寶劍。淫賊……寶劍……筆者似乎看見黃玉郎向佛洛依德微笑。對了，廣東人喜以劍比喻男性性器官，男性間以陽具互作比較俗稱「格劍」，所以黃玉郎在這種俗文化下潛移默化，就將劍設定為善於以性征服女性的飛天豹的武器。也許，當時黃玉郎並未看過佛洛伊德的著作，但這一段正好切合了佛洛伊德的「夢之解析」(Interpretation of Dreams)。 有說漫畫工業是漫畫家的夢工場，並盛載著每位作者的願望。佛洛依德：「夢是一種在現實中實現不了和受壓抑的願望的滿足。」他更大膽地認為這些實現不了和受壓抑的願望多半是和性有關的。比方說，他認為夢裏出現呈棒狀或凸出的東西都象徵男性性器官，凹陷的地方則象徵女性性器官，騎馬、攀山、開門等象徵性行為。所以，劍，對飛天豹來說，是一種性徵﹔削鐵如泥的寶劍，更是一種無堅不摧的性崇拜。這是飛天豹的慾望，亦是作者自我意識反射的彰顯。 自飛天豹陣亡後，寶劍落入王小虎手中。到了「龍虎門」時代，王小虎與金詩詩相戀，在一次決戰前夕，王小虎出征前將寶劍交給金詩詩傍身，可惜不幸地，金詩詩被玄難所擒，並將她污辱﹔事後，金詩詩悄悄地取出寶劍，向胸口自刺而亡。這一段，作者顯然是想帶出女性貞潔不二的聖願，同樣亦是作者渴望伴侶對感情忠貞的嚮往。引用佛洛依德的說法，劍是象徵男性性器官，凹陷的胸膛傷口是象徵女性性器官，自盡則代表性行為，這是反映她對被性侵犯後內心充滿懊悔及自責，亦暗喻她有盼望將初夜獻給最愛男人的遺願。 作者對女性有忠貞的要求，同樣認為她們應該崇拜男性性器官。王小虎母親媚娘，徐娘半老，風韻猶存。她在舊著「龍虎門」中有不少男伴，早有王伏虎，後有東方無懼、大羅仙，自她與王小虎重逢後，開始加入「龍虎門」與黑幫對抗，雖多次被歹角非禮、冒犯，但她終覓真愛，先後與劍痴及劍魔共墮愛河。為何媚娘總是喜歡用劍的男人？在黃玉郎的漫畫世界裡，劍和男性性器官是有間接掛勾。根據佛洛依德的說法，潛意識的活動中的主要內容被壓抑的願望並非是直接表達於夢中，而是通過扭曲變作為象徵的形式出現。劍是性器象徵物，讓媚娘先後戀上劍痴和劍魔，完全是作者壓抑渴望女性對男性性器官有一種莫名崇拜的心理反射。

The Dead: Kingdom Of Flies

From the team that brought you tons of Judge Dredd's classic tales and revitalized the DC Comic's Oddball, Lobo, the self-made "Last Czarnarian". "THE DEAD ARE ON THE MOVE! Most of Britain has fallen to an invasion of zombies. There is no escape from their insatiable appetite for living flesh. But in Oxford, city of the dreaming spires, an unlikely alliance between a crew of firefighters and a pair of misfit soldiers has allowed them to survive. Now, with the city virtually overrun, it's time to strike back!!" A perfectly straightlaced title with an apparently conventional zombie tale to tell judging from the synopses, but with Alan Grant and Simon Bisley at helm, it would be only right to expect the unexpected. And all the more so as this is the launch title of Alan Grant's very own comic publishing line, Berserker Comics. Which explains this charitable spirit of giving at their Official Site where they are giving away free download of the first issue. The Original Cover Art to Issue 1 that can be found on the Official Site is notably less sanguine... (Incidentally, this version is available as a Jetpack Comics Exclusive Cover...Damn this age of Variant Covers)

射鵰英雄傳EAGLET

Another comic adaptation of Jin Yong's classic, The Legend of Condor Heroes (射鵰英雄傳) , and this time round, it's from the hometown of all Manga, Japan. Interesting makeover for Guo Jing, though.