Respawn Entertainment: Days of Glory

Since the team was going to expand, Bian Lang discussed with Lao Mo and decided to follow the path of the regular army. Now that the whole building had been taken over, the temporarily vacant half floor was allocated to the studio.

Naturally, there were people in charge of the registration, but Lao Mo and Liu Xiubao discussed for a whole night and still couldn't decide on a name, so in the end they had to let Bian Lang choose one.

Thinking about the song titles of Bian Lang, the two felt that Bian Lang could definitely come up with a better name than the ones they had thought of.

Bian Lang really had no pressure at all when it came to naming his comics studio. In his previous life, he had followed a comics magazine published by a publishing house in Yunnan Province. Unfortunately, the magazine died within a year of its publication.

However, the above content and the name of the journal are still fresh in Bian Lang's memory.

After hearing the name "National Chronicles", Liu Xiubao's good words came out of his mouth like a tape recorder.

Lao Mo showed signs of about to cry. On the one hand, he was excited, but on the other hand, he felt that his abilities were not worthy of the name.

But who knew that Bian Lang would add: "Editor-in-Chief Liu, I will not get involved in the publication of "The Legend of Wukong". I will discuss it with you. But if the profit effect is good, I think the three words "Guo Ren Zhi" can be turned into a domestic comic magazine!"

"Paper journals?" Lao Mo and Liu Xiubao asked in unison after hearing Bian Lang's decision.

"Well, can't I?"

Although Bian Lang is not particularly clear about it, he also knows that paper media is slightly better than physical records. After all, apart from audiophiles, physical records may only have a small decorative function left.

As for print media, at least some high-end commercial places like hotels and beauty salons will display some for customers to read. Plus, many people still have the habit of reading paper books, so there should still be some market for it.

After thinking for a while, Liu Xiubo, an industry insider, said silently: "For younger groups, only those romance-themed movies for junior high and high school girls still have a little room for survival. For the others, they have really disappeared..."

Lao Mo followed suit and said, "We only watch electronic works now, and occasionally collect some works by foreign masters, so the future is worrying..."

As they were talking, Zhang Xiaoyu, who had already started to get in touch with the story of "The Legend of Wukong", knocked on the door and entered the room where the others were. He had come to ask Lao Mo and Liu Xiubao to help him with the painting style, but when he heard about this, he became interested: "It would be great to run a magazine. If it really works, my previous works in Europe can be used for free..."

Liu Xiubao had not introduced Bian Lang in detail before, so he said in detail: "Teacher Zhang has been creating works in Europe in his early years, and his works are very popular among Europeans..."

Speaking of this, Bian Lang couldn't help but think of a short Chinese cartoon "The Face-Man Aso" that was published in "Guo Ren Zhi" that year.

I only remember the general story, but the tension, unique pen texture painting method combined with the steady coloring style to handle the picture left a deep impression on Bian Lang. Moreover, the storyboards of "Face Man Aso" are clear, the conception is ingenious, and the close-ups and large scenes are vivid and exciting, which cleverly shows the local folk customs of Guizhou Province and restores the historical features of the Republic of China.

"Then we invited Teacher Zhang here this time to give a lecture on "The Legend of Wukong"..."

Liu Xiubao did not answer this question directly, but looked at Zhang Xiaoyu.

When Zhang Xiaoyu heard the words "The Legend of Wukong", she was so excited that she couldn't suppress it. "To be honest, when I was in Europe, I mostly painted works on European mythology. Although they were very popular and gained some fame, I still had an obsession in my heart."

Needless to say, this obsession is to revitalize Chinese animation.

Zhang Xiaoyu raised the drawing board in her hand and continued, "Before Lao Liu showed me the outline of the story, I was thinking that the vastness of our Chinese mythology system is no less than that of Northern Europe and Greece, but the story has been told for so many years that people may have felt it was commonplace over time. But your interpretation of Journey to the West from this angle is a bit blinding to me!"

Of course, Bian Lang had no reason to refute this. After he finished reading the book in one breath, he was as shocked as Zhang Xiaoyu is today.

The story of "The Legend of Sun Wukong" does not follow the single narrative mode of "Journey to the West", but is narrated along three lines.

The first is the unswerving love between Zhu Bajie and A Yue, the second is the passionate but suppressed feelings between Sun Wukong and Zixia, and the third is the mournful love between Tang Monk and Xiao Bailong. The story keeps switching between Zhu Bajie, Sun Wukong and Tang Monk. Each story seems to be independent, but they are spliced ​​together to form a complete story.

It can be said that it makes the previous perfect gods more human, and the character creation with flesh and blood wrapped around the veins of bones is more in line with modern people's taste for superheroes than the "Monkey King" who kills a bunch of dead fish and shrimps with one stick.

Moreover, in the "Legend of Wukong", Tathagata is an absolute villain. The Flower-Fruit Mountain was destroyed because of the battle between Sun Wukong and the Heavenly Palace. This was Sun Wukong's "original sin". Tathagata took advantage of his guilt and pressed him under the Five Finger Mountain when he let his guard down.

This provides a source for further investigation of the various ridiculous little demons that blocked the way in the original "Journey to the West", and the 81 difficulties of the pseudo-righteous man.

In The Legend of Wukong, the typical and stereotyped images that once represented justice and played a heroic role have undergone a complete transformation. Each image is endowed with rich and complex value connotations, surpassing the one-way and specific images in Journey to the West. Each image itself is full of contradictions, unsteady in action, and incomprehensible.

They all transcend the original framework and norms of image interpretation, constantly impacting and modifying our existing expectations. If we use the binary standard of justice and evil to divide the characters in "The Legend of Wukong", we will often appear stretched and powerless. In this sense, the anti-typification strategy of "The Legend of Wukong" for character images has greatly increased readers' understanding of the paradoxes, richness and diversity of the internal conflicts of survival status, life value and individual personality.

In the story of Journey to the West, many of the hardships encountered by Tang Monk and his disciples were caused by the negligence or poor supervision of the gods and Buddhas. Due to the negligence and poor supervision of the gods, their mounts or subordinates came down to earth to harm the human world, but the final result was that they were raised by the gods and were not punished at all. They were taken to heaven and returned to their original lives. Harming the human world was just a game to adjust the boring and tedious life in heaven.

As their masters, they don't have to bear any responsibility. Instead, Sun Wukong and his companions should be grateful to these initiators. Because they are gods, everything they do is right. They are the authority, and others can only obey. Wukong in "The Legend of Wukong" is against gods. His birth determines that he is not a god. He is made of stone and is a creature other than gods. He believes that gods and all things are equal, while gods think that they are superior to humans and want all things to submit to their management.

But Wukong wants to change all this and fight against the gods. Although he is scarred every time, he enjoys it. In a sense, Wukong in "The Legend of Wukong" is a metaphor. It represents the questioning of the legitimacy of this sacred and self-evident center and hierarchy, and represents the struggle against authority and the efforts to dissolve the center.

However, the two or three thousand words given by Bian Lang are not enough to fully interpret the classics of "The Legend of Sun Wukong".

So he spoke again: "Editor-in-Chief Liu, should we hurry up with the scriptwriting and writing? You see, Lao Mo and Teacher Zhang are waiting now."

Speaking of this, Liu Xiubo himself felt very puzzled. According to Bian Lang's current fame, even without the halo of rock, just the achievements of "V for Vendetta", I believe that these domestic practitioners would have some thoughts after seeing it.

He had spread the news for a few days, but there was no response. This made him doubt himself: "Could it be that my popularity has declined since I left my old employer?"

In fact, the situation is not what he thought at all. Many people in the circle are not unmoved after seeing it, but they have other concerns.

When the first volume of V for Vendetta was released and swept the United States, some people suggested that Bian Lang's identity as the screenwriter was bought with money, and some even offered dozens of W to ask the real screenwriter to come forward. Of course, some people came forward with this temptation, but there was no strong evidence, and AC directly attributed these things to its competitors.

Now that the comic studio under Bian Lang is recruiting screenwriters, most people can't help but start thinking in that direction.

Those who can persist in the big quagmire of Chinese animation and are noticed by Liu Xiubao are basically those who have not yet awakened from their dreams. How could they be willing to be the unknown gunmen for Bian Lang?

But there will be no shortage of private discussions!

In a group hosted by a big boss of a Chinese comics forum, three people who received the invitation were muttering:

Passerby A: "Let me tell you, Bian Lang is not a full-time artist, how can he be proficient in it?"

Passerby B: "I think it's very likely that Lao Liu didn't explain it clearly. Someone like Bian Lang, who didn't want anything after splitting up with Li Yiliang, wouldn't do such a thing. Besides, what's the point of him having such a reputation? He can't make enough money in the rock industry!"

Passerby C: "That's true, but you know how vain men are. Besides, V is a foreign film. Who knows, there are people who are willing to sell their children for money?"

Passerby Ding: "Why don't we go ask Lao Liu?"

If Bian Lang was in the group, he would have to sing a line to them at this time: "We are just passers-by, playing games together in this colorful world..."

Since ancient times, people who have done great things have always kept silent. So there was a person who rarely showed up. After reading the words of Wu, Ji, Geng and Xin, he took the initiative to go to Liu Xiubao to ask even though he did not receive an invitation.

The reason is very simple. He usually likes to listen to rock music and he simply doesn't believe that a person who can shut Guan Ying up with the song "Don't Bother Me" would do such a tasteless thing.

Liu Xiubo, who had just received the message, had just finished telling Bian Lang about the strange incident when he received a message from this person he barely had any impression of. After reading the message, he gave a wry smile and handed the phone to Bian Lang, saying, "Well, I can't really say, but I still need to think about who this person is."

Bian Lang was amused when he saw the online name: "Shura Wang Yiping, is this guy a fan of Japanese comics or Chinese comics?"

Lao Mo also curiously leaned over to look, then smiled and said, "Hey, this name is interesting..."

After Liu Xiubo read the content of the inquiry by Shura Wang Yiping, he finally realized what the problem was. Because he only said that the animation studio under Bian Lang was recruiting screenwriters, and didn't reveal anything else, so...

But he had no other choice. If he announced the news completely, people would ask him for the outline of the story right away, and it was very likely that the beginning of the serial would have come out before his own.

After getting the phone back, Liu Xiubo first replied: "When the work is published, you will be credited as the screenwriter, but we will provide the core story. Are you willing to do this?"

When Shura Wang Yiping saw this answer, he seemed to understand something, and then continued to ask: "Isn't "V" produced in this way?"

Then Liu Xiubo replied immediately: "That's definitely not the case. The story of "V" was completed by Mr. Bian himself and Mr. Mo led others to complete it."

Seeing this reply, Brother Shura fell into deep thought again: Since Bian Lang has the ability to write "V", why bother recruiting a screenwriter?

Although he didn't say it explicitly, Wang Yiping had already determined in his heart that the person who provided the core ideas must be Bian Lang!

Just as he was thinking about how to respond, Liu Xiubo sent another message: "Are you familiar with Journey to the West?"

This really touched his heart, and he immediately replied to Liu Xiubo at the speed of copying and pasting: "If I call you, will you dare to answer?"

Seeing this "stupid" reply, Liu Xiubao smiled and showed the content to Bian Lang.

"Let's just let him be first. Let's trick him into locking up in a dark room for a month with his mental state..."

Knowing what to do, Liu Xiubao directly asked for his ID number to buy a plane ticket, but Brother Shura was like a police officer: "Editor-in-Chief Liu, you are too casual! Let me tell you, I am a person who eats, drinks, gambles and prostitutes, and I can't sell my kidneys for money."

Seeing this reply, Liu Xiubo laughed again: "Given this guy's mental state, even if he can't do the work of "Wukong Zhuan", he is still a talent!"

The other three people did not comment. Bian Lang also felt that if this person could stay, the animation studio would not be as lifeless as before.

At this time, Zhang Xiaoyu came back to his senses and asked, "By the way, aren't you discussing the name here? Any conclusion?" He just heard the magazine when he came in, but didn't hear the specific name.

Hearing this, Liu Xiubao couldn't hide the smile on his face: "National Chronicles, this name..."

Before he could even finish the last three words "how about it", Zhang Xiaoyu added loudly: "What a domineering name! It shows the ambition of the Chinese people! It seems that the ones I drew in Europe are too embarrassed to be posted here, so I can only hurry up and get this "The Legend of Wukong" out!"