Jackson Wang told to stop 'micromanaging' during creation of new comic book

Halloween was a significant event for Jackson Wang when he was a teenager, because that was when he went with his childhood friend Henry Cheung and their respective dates to Ocean Park Hong Kong for their Halloween celebration.

"It's an experience, you know, just waiting in line for two to three hours and you get to have various conversations with your partner," the 30-year-old Hong Kong pop idol shared at the autograph session for his new comic book Under The Castle at Resorts World Sentosa's (RWS) S.E.A Aquarium yesterday (Oct 13).

Besides that, being a huge fan of anime and comic books is also what prompted him to create the series.

When asked by host Annette Lee about how involved he was in the creative process, he directed the question to Henry, co-founder and CEO of Team Wang Design, who responded that he was "super involved".

"I always get this, 'Jackson, you've got to stop micromanaging everyone'... so sometimes too involved," Jackson said.

He also shared that the current comic book is part of a larger plan.

"The comic book we have currently is just a teaser for our actual launch of the original comic, which is going to be in the next two years, a full comic book series and animation. Everything you see now are just teasers," he said.

Under The Castle centres around the characters Pumpkie and Spookie and their adventures in the village's cursed castle. Pumpkie is a bubbly and curious pumpkin that is mysteriously brought to life on Halloween after it was given as tribute to the castle by a villager named Quan.

He meets playful ghost Spookie, who shows him around the castle, introducing him to the various dead royalties in the hall of portraits, while they play tricks on each other along the way. In the process, they experience terrifying events in the fortress and find out its secrets.

The autograph session wasn't the only reason for Jackson's visit to Singapore, as he also experienced his label's horror house attraction of the same name at Universal Studios Singapore's Halloween Horror Nights (USS HHN) on Oct 12, and was welcomed by hundreds of fans.

"It was very nice honestly, but I think sometimes when I create stuff, when I review it again, I would always think, 'This could be better' … Of course I am proud of it and I appreciate and am very thankful to RWS and Universal Studios Singapore for giving us the opportunity to explore. If we get another opportunity next year, we are probably going to do it a little differently," he said.

Under The Castle marks the first time a Chinese intellectual property (IP) has been featured in a Universal Studios theme park, and it is the largest haunted house in HHN this year.

USS HHN will run across selected event nights until Nov 2. Tickets are available on the RWS website.

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yeo.shuhui@asiaone.com

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