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The KOF series is wildly
popular on the Asian continent, too. So this
time we thought we'd go a little international!
Let's welcome WING YAN and KING TUNG who have
created the popular KOF comic series in Hong
Kong. |
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Hong
Kong
USEFUL INFORMATION!
This's
confidential.
Here's the secret to buying comics in
Hong Kong.
Actually, you can't find them just anywhere.
Word has it that open-air book stands
carry them.
These can usually be found near the subway
entrances or dim-sum shops.
So here it is.
It says go to WANCHAI 188 Shopping Center
to find games, plastic models and toys,
along with comic books. |
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So tell us where
your pseudonyms come from.
We just took
part of our names- HUNG and CHOY-from
our names HUNG WING YAN and CHOY
KING TUNG. We thought it would
be easy for our readers to remember.
OK, please tell us what titles from the KOF
series (hereafter, KOF) you have been involved
with.
We did illustrations
for the DC edition of KOF 2001
and KOF 2002, and we worked on
the comics for KOF 2001 to 2003
along with KOF MI, which we're
working on now.
You're working on a comic for KOF MI now?!
A lot of characters from SNK games created
up till now appear in this series. What did
you think about that when you first got involved
with this?
Initially I
had mixed feelings of dread and
joy (Laugh).
What I dreaded was whether Japanese KOF fans
would accept the style of our illustrations.
What made me really happy was that we were
able to create the official illustrations for
SNK.
Which character among them all from what game
were you most happy with?
WING YAN: For
me it was Kyo Kusanagi from the
Orochi Saga.
KING TUNG: For me it was K' from the NESTS
Chronicles.
Among the characters that didn't appear, is
there one character you thought, "Man, I really
wanted to put that guy in the game."? Which
character from which game would that have been?
I wish the
Orochi from KOF '97 would have
been added to the NESTS Chronicles,
too.
Which original KOF character do you like?
It's can only be Kyo Kusanagi
and K'!
Which character did you think, "This guy's
really wild!"? What characteristic makes him
special?
Iori Yagami,
of course. With his grudge against
Kyo and when he enters his blood
rage, I think he's really original.
Which character or characters did you personally
think would be popular? And which did you think
were less popular than you'd thought?
The characters
who got the reception we thought
were Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami.
Angel was less popular than we
thought. We thought it was strange
that she didn't become popular
since she was strong and H-O-T.
What do you worry about most when you're drawing,
or which character is tough to deal with?
Iori Yagami.
That hair style especially (Yikes),
since its shape changes dramatically
based on the angle you draw, so
it's awfully tough. EVERYONE AGREES
(Laugh).
I think there must have been characters you
drew well and some you didn't, could you come
right out and tell us who they were?
I'm good at
drawing Kyo Kusanagi, and K' is
hard for me to draw.
When I'm drawing a character I refer to the
official character illustrations, but when
their look changes with the artist so it's
tough to get the image right.
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Getting away
from the characters...
If there was something you thought was good
about dealing with KOF, could you tell us what
that was?
The best thing
was that the Japanese fans accepted
our illustrations.
OK, you can tell me now. If there was a part
of the job that made you think "Aw, man, give
me a break!" spit it out. (Laugh)
As you can
guess...SNK is really strict in
checking our artwork (Laugh).
Yeah, I wish they'd cut us a little slack (Laugh).
Yeah, I guess that's the roughness that comes
from their love of KOF. (Yikes)
Do you guys prefer drawing digitally or with
pen and paper?
We like both, but when
you work with paper it's easier to control
your drawing, and working digitally makes it
easier to change things.
When you draw on paper what sort of art materials
do you enjoy using?
I use mechanical pencils,
markers and brushes.
Do you doodle? What sort of doodles do you
draw?
That's a given!
When I was a kid I often used to draw flip
cartoons on the pages of my textbooks and doodle
heroes.
...The classes were really boring...(Yikes)
Wow, a bit more honesty than required...(Laugh).
I know you can't toss all the work you have
now aside, but if someone told you that you
could, what would be the first thing you'd
do?
I'd like to take a trip
somewhere.
I'd like to go shopping in Japan again! I've
been there twice before, but I'd like to go
again and have some fun there.
Please tell us your memories regarding KOF.
(A particularly memorable incident at work,
any failures or inside anecdotes-anything will
do.)
I had to complete three
illustrations in a really short time once.
I wanted them to be a real masterpieces, but
I didn't have the time...(Yikes).
Along with that, there's the pressure when
we get grief from our fans or SNK rejects some
of our artwork...anyway, that's real drag.
What sort of hopes do you have for the future
of KOF?
I hope it keeps going on
from now on and doesn't end with a dream match.
Finally, let me ask you this. What is KOF to
you?
There are a lot of unique
characters and they all have their peculiar
style of fighting. And the character designs
are awesome-even just a quick glance at them
and they're hard to forget.
I hope you guys keep coming up with more remarkable
characters.
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HUNG
WING YAN & CHOY KING TUNG
WING YAN & KING TUNG
CURRENT
WORK:
Producing
and publishing
comic books.
EQUIPMENT
THEY USE:
Power
Mac OS9
HDD 40GB 512MB
FAVORITE
SOFTWARE:
Photoshop
5.0, PAINTER
(for illustrating)
Freehand, QUARK
(for designing comic books)
IMPORTANT
THINGS IN THEIR
LIVES: Balancing
work and private
life.
Since both of them are married they can't
ignore their families. [Their wives would
rip them to shreds.(Laugh)]
FAVORITE
THING:
Reading
and watching
movies.
ADVICE
TO PROSPECTIVE ILLUSTRATORS:
Don't
fear suffering
and have "faith" in
your own work. |
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Since Tonko was really
busy at the time this interview was conducted
by e-mail, and he took great effort to remember
his KOF experiences for me.
I hope he continues to be creative and preserves
the unique quality his work has. |
by WING YAN
by KING TUNG
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