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Otakon 2010: Rise of Manhwa - Manga Bookshelf
When Ed Sizemore mentioned to me that this year's Otakon schedule included a panel about manhwa, I leapt at the opportunity to ask him to write a guest report for Manhwa Bookshelf. And since Ed is a great guy, he kindly agreed. Here it is. Please enjoy! - Melinda Looking over the Otakon schedule this year, I was surprised to see a panel named "The Rise of Manhwa." Since I didn’t know much about Korean comics, I decided to check it out. Unfortunately, the Otakon programming schedule doesn’t list the name of the panelist and the panelist didn’t introduce himself, so I can’t tell you who ran the panel. Things got off to a poor start. The previous panel ran over and some of the audience was lingering around, socializing. The manhwa panelist had to ask them to leave, which seemed to put him a belligerent mood. Thankfully, about five minutes into the panel, his mood began to improve, but it wasn't the best way to begin. The panelist began by recommending the book Comic Artists-Asia: Manga, Manhwa, Manhua by Rika Sugiyama, which interviews a few manhwa artists. Then he launched into a history of manhwa, starting with woodcuts from 1700s. Here you can see Korean artists developing a distinctive art style, independent of Chinese and Japanese influences.