Review: Special Comix Vol. 3

Weighing in at a portly 2.2 kilos, 636 pages, blanketed with enough 100K (pure black ink) to make an elephant dizzy, Special Comix Volume 3 is an intimidating tome. It is likely to make any English reader -- or their bookshelf -- quake in fear. However, these stories are not entirely dependent on text.

Most of the comics have limited writing, if any, and can be easily interpreted from visuals alone. For example, Ann Xiao's "Ostrichman Utopia" runs 19 pages, 58 frames, with only 12 speech bubbles, each containing 1-3 words. A baby could read this. But the content of SC3 is decidedly adult-oriented.



Whether you're Chinese or expatriate, SC3 offers an unparalleled reading experience. (Okay, paralleled only by the previous issues). The book is both a window and into and record of the dreams and dark sides of the most obstinately dedicated artists in China. Some of them are professional illustrators, but as you will notice as soon as you open SC3, many are not.



According to BJToday many the 45 contributors are not illustrators, but students, teachers…machinists even. Kudos to the editors for recognizing and publishing amateurs. Their stories are highly topical. Convenient English subtitles ensure that a broader audience will grasp the significance of the opinions expressed. Occasional hiccups in translation add to the (often dark) humor of SC3's adult realism.



Above, a Chinese teacher yells at a student who had just asked "My mum said that a plague was visiting, then why do we still have lessons?" According to English text at the bottom of the page, the aggravated teacher is responding "Bullshit. You kids, don't talk nonsense." She then reaches into her bra and from betwixt her saggy breasts, produces a small radio spouting messages of reassurance, that plague is not possible. China is too prosperous for plague, with "a bright and promising future", is the official opinion. Ten days later the little boy's apartment is being sprayed and boarded up. (Spoiler!) He dies. Ten points if you can name that real-life cover up debacle.



Even on a quick flip through, it is easy to see that the book is sylistically eclectic, and ideologically explosive. The official topic was "future", or “qian tu”, meaning what has not yet happened. Interpretations on this theme range from obvious condemnation of the prescribed school-to-Gaokao-to-consumerism path young people face, to Chinese New Year celebrations, immigrating and falling in love, SARS, vampires, the 5.12 earthquake, road trips, rape, mythology, murder at a circus, and a weird human/bacteria life form being devoured and digested by a razor-toothed dog.



All in all, despite being written in Chinese, and drawn by nonprofessionals, the contents of SC3 are highly accessible and valuable as art and social commentary.

We're all for saving paper and passing the book among friends, but remember that if you buy your own copy on Taobao, you are supporting the editors, who independently financed SC3. In future, they say they will aim to produce smaller, lighter, more affordable publications. Follow them here.