Old Master Q
Old Master Q is a Hong Kong manhua created by Alfonso Wong. The cartoon first appeared in the newspapers and magazines in Hong Kong on 3 February 1962, and later serialised in 1964. The comic is still in publication today, and is the oldest Asian comic series in publication.
The comic is copyrighted by WangZ Inc, a company established by Joseph Wong Chak in Taipei, Taiwan. Joseph Wong still continues to create new volumes and has taken over the story or volume creations since 1995.
Name
Alfonso Wong explained that p=Lǎo means "old", p=fūzi is "a rather ordinary, but respectable title" over two-thousand-year old which denotes a "learned one" "who can become a teacher or, or one who has studied a lot"; the English title "Old Master Q" "sort of" translates the Chinese title, with Q being abbreviated from earlier "Cute". Wong additionally noted the similarity between his main character's English title "Old Master Q" & the name Ah Q of Lu Xun's character, whom Wong considered to be "rather and satirical".Characters
The series' cast is led by the titular Old Master Q, an elderly, lanky man dressed in a distinctively antiquated Qing dynasty-era outfit. The character is a satirical depiction of conservative Asians with his gullibility, hubris, stubborn nature and lack of critical thinking, struggling to survive in a capitalistic landscape and gradually evolving society.Kelvin Chan of the South China Morning Post described Q as "eccentric".
Supporting characters include:
- Big Potato, Old Master Q's obese best friend and sidekick who wears an equally antiquated outfit.
- Mr. Chin, a bookish 'ordinary Joe' character who is good friends with Old Master Q and Potato despite his younger age.
- Miss Chan, Old Master Q's love interest. A narcissistic gold digger who frequently ditches Old Master Q for his antiquated nature, but nevertheless remains a close friend of his.
- Mr. Chiu, Old Master Q's rival. A rich and petty individual whose actions and somewhat antagonistic relationship with Old Master Q vary between chapters.
Format and themes
While Old Master Q comics primarily focus on humour, they also reflect changing social trends; particularly from the 1960s to the 1980s. The comics would sometimes feature societal problems in urban life, such as poverty, petty thefts and secret societies. It also poked fun at fashion, contemporary art and rock music. The comic strips sometimes also bemoan the decline of ethical or moral values in modern-day living. Characters often display acts of selfishness or misery; although the comics occasionally display good values like filial piety. The language barrier between the Chinese language and the English language is also depicted in some comic strips; illustrated with Old Master Q's difficulty communicating with foreigners, especially Westerners.
The comics have, on some occasions, expressed complexity in the plots and serious views on major political changes taking place in Hong Kong during the 1960s-1980s. It had previously criticised overly Westernised Chinese, who were often shown in the comic strips kowtowing to Western interests over the local Chinese interests. The run-up to the handover of Hong Kong to China following the Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984 also became a point of interest, as a few comic strips were published through the late 1980s and early 1990s expressing the characters' fears of handover, frequently represented in a numeral of the year it would take place: 1997. Some of these comic strips also depict direct assault of representations of the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party, occasionally in the form of caricatured depictions of Deng Xiaoping. The handover was later depicted in more a positive light in the years leading to the actual event; possibly representing a changing perspective from the author.
Films
The comic series was made into many Cantonese and Mandarin cartoon animations, one of which combined live actors and advanced CGI graphics.The list of Old Master Q films is as follows, in chronological order:
| English Name | Chinese Name | Release Date | Type | Casts |
| Old Master Q | 老夫子 | 3 August 1965 | film | Ko Lo-chuen |
| Old Master Q and Big Potato | 老夫子與大蕃薯 | 19 May 1966 | film | Suet Nay, Ko Lo-chuen, Lydia Shum |
| How Master Cute Thrice Saved the Idiot Ming | 老夫子三救傻瓜明 | 13 July 1966 | film | Ko Lo-chuen |
| Old Master Q | 老夫子 | 8 March 1975 | film | Leung Tin, Betty Ting, Roy Chiao, Sai Gwa-pau, Law Lan, Lai Siu Fong |
| Mr. Funnybone | 我係老夫子 | 2 October 1976 | film | Lee Ching, Wang Sha Ngai Tung Gwa, Lau Luk-wah |
| Mr. Funnybone Strikes Again | 老夫子奇趣錄 | 18 November 1978 | - | |
| Colour Old Master Q | 七彩老夫子 | 16 July 1980 | cartoon | |
| Old Master Q Water Margin | 老夫子水虎傳 | 10 July 1982 | cartoon | |
| Old Master Q & "San-T" | 山T老夫子 | 4 August 1983 | cartoon | |
| Old Master Q 2001 | 老夫子2001 | 5 April 2001 | film | Nicholas Tse, Cecilia Cheung, Alfonso Wong |
| Master Q: Incredible Pet Detective | 老夫子反斗偵探 | 20 December 2003 | cartoon | Eric Tsang, Chapman To, Andes Yue, Lee Ka-yee, Dexter Young |
| Old Master Q – Fantasy Zone Battle | 老夫子 – 魔界夢戰記 | 2003 | TV series | |
| Master Q | 老夫子 | 2004 | TV series | |
| The New Unbeatable Old Master Q: Shaolin Detective Agency | 無敵老夫子新傳：少林偵探社 | 2005 | film | Law Kar-ying, Karen Tong |
| Old Master Q and Little Ocean Tiger | 老夫子之小水虎传奇 | 2011 | film | Deng Chao, Zhang Hanyu, Elva Hsiao |
- Other actors in OMQ movies include: Hong Wei, Connie Chan, Nancy Sit, Chu Yau-ko, Fen Ni
- Other lyricists/singers include: Wong Jim, Joseph Koo, Leslie Cheung
Spin-off
Plagiarism dispute
Some cartoonists and readers claim that the idea of Old Master Q was actually created by Peng Di in the late 1930s and not Alfonso Wong, as some of whom were mostly professional Mainland cartoonists alleged that Peng Di's ideas were stolen by Alfonso Wong. They claimed that the cartoons first appeared in the newspapers and magazines in Beijing and Tianjin. The character created by Peng Di was claimed to slightly resemble Old Master Q which is currently being copyrighted by OMQ ZMedia Ltd. The character by Peng Di wore similar clothing and had a little similarity in personality to that of Old Master Q. However, the formats, themes, and contents of the stories were different as Old Master Q was not heavy with dialogue making it easy for foreigners around the world to immerse themselves in the story.Feng Jicai published a book in 2001 containing samples of work by Peng Di, which displayed the similarities between Peng Di and Alfonso Wong's works. The result of this dispute remains unclear as WangZ Inc. has denied all plagiarism accusations.