Two Taiwanese comic artists, Liu Chien-fan (劉倩帆) and Fang Ruei-yi (房瑞儀) participated in the 2022 MoCCA Arts Festival, Manhattan's largest comics and cartoon festival, with their co-edited comic anthology "BO_ING COMIX (波音漫畫誌)" and personal works. Their works were well-received by the U.S. audiences and they were all sold out, while Liu's solo work "Love is Plastic (愛是塑膠)" was awarded the Best of Show.
Liu Chien-fan (劉倩帆) and Fang Ruei-yi (房瑞儀) created the "BO_ING COMIX" together after meeting at a previous edition of the Angoulême International Comics Festival in 2018. In each edition of the magazine, besides the works of the two founders, other comic artists, artists and illustrators of different styles from Taiwan are also invited to create a short story or narratives under a distinct theme. The inaugural volume featured the works of artists XUE, Wei Middag (覃偉), Tseng Yao-ching (曾耀慶), among others. A total of five volumes have been published so far.
In discussing the project's origins, Fang said that "BO_ING" comes from a Taiwanese word meaning "busy." It also looks like the English word "boring" but without the "r." They hope that this double meaning is what best describes "BO_ING COMIX" to their readers: people are busy reading the comics, and they won't be bored at all.
Fang and Liu noted their excitement over having the opportunity to bring their work to the United States for the first time. They added that the comic works are presented in both Chinese and English and they are glad that these works are well-received among U.S. audiences. Nearly 200 pieces of merchandise such as posters, postcards, comic booklets and pins were sold within two days.
Organized by the Society of Illustrators, the MoCCA Arts Festival was a two-day multimedia event and Manhattan's largest comics and cartoon festival. It took place on April 2 and 3 at Metropolitan Pavilion in New York. The art festival attracts more than 7,000 visitors each year, and this year, there were 142 booths and over 500 participants.