Mark Crilley is one of the top 10 American manga artists, and he has a new graphic novel out called LOST IN TAIWAN (2023). Formosa Files caught up with Mark, who spilled the beans on why he was here in the late 1980s and early 1990s, what he loved (and what he loved a bit less) about Taiwan. After listening to this fun interview with Eryk and Mark Crilley, you’ll want to get a copy of LOST IN TAIWAN; it'll make you laugh, could be used as ESL material, and, like for Eryk, might just reignite some affection for things in Taiwan some of us have gotten so used to, we've forgotten just how beautiful and interesting they are.
LINKS to Mark Crilley and his work:
BOOK: Mastering Manga, by Mark Crilley
Cover and other images courtesy of Mark Crilley. Below: Sneak peek pages from LOST IN TAIWAN (also, of course, available on other local book websites and on Amazon).
Below: Mark Crilley teaching English at the YMCA in Changhua County, Taiwan, in 1988/1992/1994.
Below: Eryk Michael Smith recommending LOST IN TAIWAN, both the book and the experience, as despite living in Kaohsiung for some 20 years, his famously bad sense of direction finds him getting lost in about 7 out of every 10 cycling trips, during which he almost always sees or finds something interesting. The other 30% of the time he's chased by wild dogs and, well... that's an adventure too.
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Check our very first episode, the story of a very white man who showed up in London in 1703... and claimed to be from Formosa. Or try a foodie episode from Season 3. Or, for those who want some harder-core history, hear the tale of the Lockheed U-2 pilot Wang Hsi-chueh 王錫爵, who became famous for defecting to the PRC by hijacking China Airlines Flight 334 on May 3, 1986.