Mr. Nguyen Khanh Duong - director of Comicola comic company, the copyright owner of the series - said that the artist suddenly passed away at his home on the afternoon of May 9. "Two days ago, he and I were still talking and discussing many plans related to Hero Hesman . The artist also asked me to support some legal issues regarding the copyright of the work," Mr. Duong said.
Painter Hung Lan (1956-2025). Photo: Facebook Nguyen Hung Lan
Many colleagues and audiences were shocked because recently, on his personal page, the artist still updated his daily life. In mid-March, he posted a commemorative photo of the series, saying that after releasing 159 episodes of Hesman , he planned to continue writing. However, because he was afraid that "too many would become boring", he switched to drawing stories such as The Green Fairy and Tales of the South .
Published in 1993, the story created a fever among young people, with some volumes printed reaching 180,000 copies. The work is also one of the rare Vietnamese series to reach hundreds of volumes, published continuously for 4 or 5 years. In the early 1990s, each volume of Hesman Hero was sold for 3,000 VND, and many students often pooled money to rent it .
The appeal of Hesman Hero lies in exploiting superhero and science fiction content - popular topics at that time. Contemporary youth are excited by fantasy comic series from Japan such as Doraemon, Dragon Ball, Dragon Seal . Grasping that trend, Fine Arts Publishing House suggested artist Hung Lan to create a work of the same genre,
The story is inspired by the animated film Voltron - Defender of the Universe by World Events Productions (USA). After the first four episodes, the author added more characters. The story is set in the year 2250, when humans dominate the Garrison galaxy. At that time, the villains - the Doom - invaded the planet Arus. Upon hearing the news, the Garrison galaxy immediately sent a team of five warriors: Kip, Xtrông, Hóc, Xpex and Plen to the rescue. They awakened the power of the robot Hesman and met other heroes such as the female monster Yanđa, Huy Hùng - a Vietnamese man in the space oasis with a magical lens attached to his hand.
The image of the hero Hesman on the cover of the book. Photo: Hanoi Publishing House
The main character - robot Hesman - has a majestic appearance with five lions combined with a powerful light sword. As the series progresses, Hesman develops in appearance and has more emotional depth. Hesman is drawn with shoulder pads, has the ability to become invisible and shrink. Initially, the light sword was created by combining the electric fields from two lions in both hands.
Later, the robot had more treasures such as twin knives, mystical swords, and magic hammers. Readers were exposed to concepts that were still unfamiliar at that time such as giant robots, biological robots, electric waves, dead power sources, and ultrasonic waves. In addition to Hesman, many supporting characters also created the appeal of the series. Gacco - a beastman recruited by Hesman's group - became a hero with the ability to transform into a giant after each "Kiaaai" shout.
After three decades, Hero Hesman still retains its appeal to many comic book collectors. In 2019, artist Hung Lan drew an additional volume 160, including 70 color pages. The content of the volume mainly explains why Gatco sacrificed himself. The author still maintains the familiar drawing style with the plot connected from the previous volumes.
Artist Hung Lan did not attend any art school, he just tried his hand at drawing. In 1986, his first work, The First Man on the Moon, was published. In addition to Dung Si Hesman , he also drew many other comic books such as: Vietnamese Superman (52 volumes), X-Men - Mysterious Friends (15 volumes), Green Fairy (140 volumes), Thang Bom (6 volumes), Vietnamese Fairy Tales (24 volumes). Up to now, the number of his works has reached about 700 books of various genres. He also created fonts for comics such as HL Comic, HL Thuphap, VniComic.
Source: https://baoquangninh.vn/cha-de-truyen-dung-si-hesman-qua-doi-3357319.html
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