Before there was Avatar: The Last Airbender or Kung Fu Panda, there was Tiger’s Tale!

Initially published in those black and white pages of Kung Fu Magazine, the longest running comic to see print in a martial arts mag leaps off the newsstands and onto bookshelves in this newly remastered graphic novel arriving just in time for the Chinese New Year of the Tiger!

The Tale

All Kan ever wanted was to live in his forest as a tiger should. But  when his mother adopted two human foundlings, Kan’s jealousy cost him  his family and home. Exiled, Kan blames humans for his troubles. If he’s  to make a home for himself in that distant forest, he and his brothers must journey beyond the borders of the natural world and into the realm of myth, monsters  and dragons.

A Tiger’s Tale is a Wuxia (武俠) graphic novel in the grand tradition of Usagi Yojimbo, Avatar: The Last Airbender and A Journey to the West.

What’s Wuxia?

Wuxia (武俠) is originally the Chinese fantasy genre that translates to “martial heroes” and chronicles the adventures of martial artists in (or from) ancient China. Although wuxia has been most frequently seen in literature, its popularity has inspired adaptations in Chinese opera, movies, t.v., video games and most recently comics. It’s key to pop-culture sensibilities in many Chinese-speaking communities and throughout much of Asia. The word “wǔxiá” is a compound composed of the Chinese character for wǔ (武, meaning “martial”, “military”, or “armed” – the same “wu” as in the sport Wushu) and xiá (俠, “chivalrous” or “heroic”).

The Creator!

This New York born artist moved to San Francisco to work for Kung Fu Magazine! Leaving indie comics during the boom of the 90’s lead to a decades long career bringing the iconic magazine into the 21st century! But that didn’t keep me from illustrating covers, kids’ books and creating comics! 

Publishing History

“Tiger’s Tale began at Kung Fu  magazine prior to my watch. By 1999, when I went full-time there, Patrick’s comic had already  been going for three years. Subsequently, I had the unique opportunity  to watch it grow over the years, watching over Patrick’s shoulder from  that backseat position that every graphic artist loves.””Patrick’s official first issue with the magazine was the February+March 1996 issue, he wasted no time in launching Tiger’s Tale, which was included in the following April+May issue. Having a comic in a martial arts magazine might seem incongruous, but there were many others. The martial arts economy is driven largely by kids, so every martial arts magazine attempted to add comics to their  pages at some point. All the major newsstand martial arts mags tried, Black Belt and Inside Kung-Fu to name a couple. There were even magazines  specifically designed to target kids that contained comics. They all  failed, usually within a few issues. Tiger’s Tale remains the longest running comic strip ever published in a newsstand martial arts magazine. That’s another point of pride for Kung Fu Tai Chi.”-Gene Ching; Publisher of KUNG FU TAI CHI magazine and author of Shaolin Trips.

The Campaign

Decades in the making, A Tiger’s Tale leaps off those old black & white magazine pages and onto bookshelves in 2022 The Chinese New Year of the Tiger! The original 132 page black and white graphic novel was completed in 2020. But this year’s epic will take place over two volumes instead. Advanced readers and long-time fans will be delighted to see how much new material is contained in the digitally remastered and colored volume 1. Measuring the traditional comic size of 6⅝ × 10¼ inches, this perfect bound graphic novella includes the 60 page comic story which comprises volume 1 as well as a glossary and appendix.

This campaign the the first step and a year long journey devoted exclusively to A Tiger’s Tale. This campaign will serve two functions. First, it will guarantee your copy of this limited run graphic novella; available only on kickstarter. Second, this campaign will provide a portion of the funds necessary to continue coloring and remastering volume 2 which will debut later this year.Tiger’s Tale has always been a fluid project, evolving with each iteration.

 “Patrick drew from the heart. He wasn’t trying to talk down to kids or  sling glitter nunchucks. He was just telling a story that infused  details and observations from his unique position at Kung Fu Tai Chi into Tiger’s Tale.”

Gene Ching Publisher of KUNG FU TAI CHI magazine

The remastering process makes this comic look better than it ever has. But thanks to the feedback from wise Kung Fu masters I’ve decided to add more content! Art and writing focused on the educational dimensions of the Tiger’s Tale comic. It will make this graphic novel both entertaining and useful to the young martial artist of any age. Kickstarter supporters will have front row seats and back-stage passes to the development of this all new material.  Witness live drawing session on my Discord server, Sit in on Zoom calls with Martial Arts Masters from around the world. And, most importantly. . . help me design what the final covers should be!

Rewards

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

---

For the most part, this project awaits the campaign’s completion to go to press. There are some items which necessarily must wait for its outcome to begin; the final cover art, additional art and pages (as mentioned above) and the inclusion of one mighty supporter who’ll be included among the story’s Shaolin Monks! But I’ve been responsible for the production of hundreds of magazines which have been on newsstands around the world; I know how to meet deadlines.

I am fulfilling orders in-house. A side effect of sheltering-in-place is that I devoted much of 2020 to perfecting my packing and shipping workflow, a necessary part of surviving as a working artist selling prints and original pieces. This means I’ll personally ensure books and additional rewards (especially original art) arrives undamaged. However, the biggest challenges remain supplier fulfillment (paper shortage) and possible delays with USPS. I am printing this book in North America in order to minimize shipping delays.

In my projected timeline, I’ve included additional weeks of contingency time to account for possible delays in the production or fulfillment process. Additionally, my connection to backers will NOT amount simply to the delivery of an excellent graphic novella. Ongoing access to my creative process and daily updates (via aTigersTale.com) on the project’s journey to completion will keep me accountable to you.