Wee Tian Beng’s Return Of The Condor Heroes returns in new collector’s edition Kickstarter

Singapore comic creator Wee Tian Beng’s legendary adaptation of Return Of The Condor Heroes will finally be back after almost 20 years, with its own Kickstarter for a limited-edition reprint. They’ve already passed their S$20,000 goal, so this will be a pretty safe and worthwhile investment.

Based on Jin Yong’s novel of the same name, Wee Tian Beng told the tale of Yang Guo and Xiao Long Nu (Dragon Girl), set within Jin Yong’s Condor Trilogy. It was extremely popular for its time, and now publisher Asiapac is bringing it back into our hands.

This new reprint will repackage the 18 volumes in six hardcover volumes, each with newly-designed covers by Wee. It’s limited to only 1,000 copies: 500 in English and 500 in simplified Chinese. It’ll set you back S$288 for the boxset – unless you want to put down S$140 for the PDF version. Asiapac aim to have these ready by November 2020, just in time for Christmas!

The funds raised from the Kickstarter will not only bring Return Of The Condor Heroes back into print, but will also raise funds for the restoration and preservation of the series’ traditionally inked and hand-drawn pages. These pages are more than 20 years old, which means it is even more urgent that preservation of those pages start soon. Asiapac have already started consultation with experts for the conservation work.

What’s in the boxset?

The Return Of The Condor Heroes boxset will contain the aforementioned 6 volumes, with different colour-accented covers for the English and Chinese versions, as well as different artwork on the book spines.

Each boxset will also contain an autographed bookplate and unique serial number.

If they reach their S$30,000 stretch goal, the chibi “Q” cartoons will be added to the books, together with extra illustrations! There’s also a planned S$35,000 goal, but it appears they haven’t decided on it yet.

So whether you’re a local comic fan, a fan of martial arts comics, or just like to collect some great work, this Kickstarter might be a worthwhile investment. You have till March 10 to pledge, so don’t forget to check it out here.

Getting nostalgic? You can preview the first 20 pages here.