A beautiful queen rules her country with an iron fist. Unmarried and without an heir, she adopts orphans as a way to prove that even commoners can reign as kings. Yet, as the years progress, she shows no sign of aging. Only one man knows the dark secret to her eternal youth: Oldman, a bearded magician the queen has locked in her darkest dungeon. One night, Oldman steps through the bars of his prison and disappears before the queen's very eyes. Enraged, she sends her army after him in a desperate campaign to keep her secret hidden.
Staging his escape, Oldman appears to step through the bars of his cell and vanish as if by magic, cleverly misleading the guards. He rescues a neighboring prisoner, an outlaw sword maiden who has had her arms and legs amputated. Upon taking her to a brilliant doctor who fits her with mechanical limbs, Oldman and the sword maiden vow to take revenge on the queen that wronged them, all the while evading the queen's army as she launches a desperate campaign to keep her secret hidden.
The story continues as Oldman and his companions have escaped the palace after a failed peace negotiation, but they're being pursued by the full force of the queen's army. The queen no longer treats Oldman's resistance lightly; her orders for her soldiers are to capture his companions dead or alive... and send Oldman straight to her to face the queen's wrath. (Eigomanga)
Having read comics from a young age, Chang Sheng has always preferred science fiction stories best. He admits to having been deeply influenced by the work of Yukinobu Hoshino, and his training in drawing and oil painting while studying at the Fu-Hsin Trade and Arts School is likewise reflected in his exquisitely detailed and extremely realistic video game-like style. Chang Sheng has represented Taiwan at the Angoulême International Comics Festival three times and has won several prizes overseas. Oldman was a finalist in the 2013 International Manga Award in Japan.
Moderator Wan-Chun Alex Ma is Academy Sci-Tech Award Recipient in 2019. His work on facial performance capture contributed to many recent motion pictures, including the Hobbit trilogy, Iron Man 3, the reboot Planet of the Apes series.
This event is sponsored by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of China (Taiwan) and Taiwan Academy in Los Angeles.
