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Manhwa Bookshelf

Editorial: How not to honor women in comics

March 2, 2017 by MJ 2 Comments

UPDATE: The CBLDF has since removed The Color Trilogy from its list.

It was a mistake. It was very obviously a mistake.

I’m always a bit leery of publicly criticizing institutions that generally deserve support. I’m aware of how damaging bad press really can be, and that mistakes are unavoidable when you’re running on a tight budget. So before I even state my complaint, I’d like to preface it with the fact that I know this was a mistake, and that nothing I’m going to say here is intended to undercut the importance of this institution and the work that they do. Are we clear on that? Okay.

So, when I say that I was thoroughly appalled to see the following in my Facebook newsfeed this afternoon, please remember that it is not my intent to belittle the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund or the important First Amendment work that they do.

I was thoroughly appalled to see the following in my Facebook newsfeed this afternoon.

Those who are regular readers of Korean comics will recognize immediately that this post, originally entitled “Fifteen Banned and Challenged Comics by Women,” is accompanied by the cover image from First Second’s publication of The Color of Earth, the first book in the series commonly known as The Color Trilogy by a male author, Kim Dong Hwa. That the CBLDF realized their mistake at some point is clear upon clicking the link, where the title has been changed to “Fifteen Banned and Challenged Comics by or About Women.” The mistake, perhaps, was made by a blogger unfamiliar with “Kim” as a common surname and perhaps, too, the fact that Korean names (when they haven’t been deliberately switched around for western readers) are written surname first. But hey, the series’ main characters are, in fact, women, so one could make an argument that it is, as the revised title suggests “about women.” “Good save,” one might say, and move on.

I’m having a hard time moving on. Yes, it was a mistake. But, wow, it’s an unfortunate one. The post is intended to honor Women’s History Month by presenting a list of comics by (or about) women that have been frequently banned or challenged. It’s a noble cause to be sure. And, in his own way, the author of the series I think does believe he’s honoring women. But he does so from a perspective so steeped in male fantasies about what is good and beautiful about women, and SO thoroughly rooted in the male gaze, that it is, in my opinion, nearly the worst choice possible to appear on a list like this, let alone at #1.

It was a mistake, but really so avoidable, as even a search in the CBLDF’s own archives reveals that at least someone at the organization already knows that the book was written by a man. And while the series has gotten a lot of praise in the general comics press, a little jaunt through the manga blogosphere (which historically tends to include more female voices) reveals a less universally enthusiastic view. Here are a few from Manga Bookshelf bloggers alone:

MJ (me) & Michelle Smith, Off the Shelf: MMF Edition

I think what you’re reacting to (and I mentioned this in comments, but I’ll reiterate it here) is not the story’s historical context, but the author’s own sexism which he reveals in the way he portrays the realities of the period. My immediate thought upon finishing the series was that I found it inexpressibly sad. Ehwa’s mother spends almost the entire series teaching her daughter about what a woman’s life is in their world and helping her learn how to endure a lifetime of waiting and heartache that can only be relieved by the companionship of a beloved man. And I suspect there is quite a bit of historical accuracy in this sense of utter helplessness and lack of worth placed on a single woman in that period.

But despite the bleakness of their circumstances, Kim portrays it all with a loving nostalgia. Even when expressing the sadness and longing felt by Ehwa and her mother as they wait for their men, he portrays it all as beautiful and even romantic. This isn’t matter of being true to the period. These are Kim’s own values being revealed here, and that’s what we’re reacting to. The same story could be told without that veil of fond nostalgia and it would read very, very differently. If this series had actually been written during that time period, that would be different matter as well, but Kim is a contemporary writer, and as such, he’s responsible to contemporary readers for the story he’s chosen to tell and how he tells it.

… while it’s true that coming-of-age stories do tend to revolve around sexual awakening, it’s notable I think that though we experience Ehwa’s sexual development in meticulous detail, there’s very little attention given to the development of her romantic attachments. In fact, I’d say out of Ehwa’s romantic episodes, the one that’s best-developed is actually her early crush on the young monk. That’s played out very realistically for a crush–all shy meetings with a heavy spark, leading to lots of mooning about. By contrast, her true love story with Duksam is barely developed at all.

I think it’s partially this strong bias towards Ehwa’s sexual development that leads me to distrust the author’s feelings about women. He’s quoted as saying (in an interview at Newsarama), “I consider the process of a girl becoming a woman one of the biggest mysteries and wonders of life.” But he appears to regard that process as being primarily about sexuality. Not only are we shown very little in terms of Ehwa’s emotional development, but she never shows interest in really anything besides learning about sex and men, though she carefully remains a virgin throughout. That seems like such an exclusively male fantasy.

David Welsh, Good girls don’t

I’m not a cultural historian, so I have no idea what things were like for women in pre-industrial Korea. I just know that I don’t really care for its portrayal of “good” women as passive and patient, no matter how elegantly drawn it is. “I think that the process of a girl becoming a woman is one of the biggest mysteries and wonders of life,” the creator said in an interview. I wish he had thought harder about that mystery and hadn’t imposed what strikes me as such a male notion of wonder upon it.

Young Ehwa lives with her widowed mother, who keeps a tavern in the countryside. Mom advises Ehwa on womanhood, pounding in the notion of the woman as flowering shrub, patiently waiting and gently blossoming until a male pollinating insect will deign to settle upon her, and all will be well. Just look at Ehwa’s friend, the porcine Bongsoon, who actually lets curiosity lead to action. Bongsoon is less attractive than Ehwa, and her mother clearly isn’t giving her the lecture on the botany of desire or instructing her that true love waits. You can be damn sure that, should Bongsoon find a man stupid enough to marry damaged goods, birds won’t fly from the trees and every bell in the countryside won’t ring when that marriage is consummated. Bognsoon is an object of ridicule and contempt because she has the nerve to act on her desires.

Erica Friedman, The Color of Heaven

Laced heavily with unrealistic platitudes that are increasingly heaped upon our heads, many of them about the “lot of women,” I began to find the dialogue burdensome. Women, we are told, are plain trees in the winter that wait for a butterfly man to alight on our branches to adorn us. Waiting is punishment for women’s love. Women are, in fact, nothing without men. While the language is beautiful, it fails the Bechdel Test completely. The women do nothing but discuss men. As David Welsh so cogently summed it up, “not a fan of the notion that the power and mystery of women lies in their ability to wait for men.” When I read a few of these “us poor women” lines to my wife, she asked quite sincerely, if the mother hated her daughter. It was depressing to tell her that she did not, she was just indoctrinating Ehwa into life as a woman …

The series has a happy ending, which redeemed much of the “woe is us” feel of the early pages, but I absolutely could not recommend this book to a young woman…

Most likely, had this series not been mistakenly attributed to a woman by the CBLDF’s blogger, it never would have appeared on this list at all, and rightfully so. Though it’s a work worth discussing for both its flaws and its merits (and certainly none of us would suggest that it should be banned), it honestly has no place on a list that is intended to shine a light on books by or about women. Yes, the artwork is beautiful. Yes, the author is well-respected. But, at its core, it’s a series dedicated to male fantasy, not unlike a million other comics, and for that, not particularly remarkable.

It was a mistake. And it’s too bad.

Filed Under: FEATURES & REVIEWS, Manhwa Bookshelf

Manhwa Monday: Resurrection?

April 23, 2012 by MJ 4 Comments

Welcome to another Manhwa Monday!

It’s been a long time since there was enough going on in the world of English-translated manhwa for me to actually type that phrase, and nobody could be happier about it than I am.

The biggest manhwa news this week comes from digital publisher iSeeToon, who, after a break with their former parent company iSeeYou, has reemerged in the iOS market with a new title, Murder DIEary from webtoon artist NOMABI. The comic, described by its publisher as “Dexter meets four-panel comics,” was given a special award from the Korean Creative Content Agency in 2011.

Currently available only for iOS, the app has 13 chapters, available for $4.99, though the first four chapters are free as a preview. Two more volumes are scheduled for release later this year.

You can read a full press release at iSeeToon’s website, or download the app from the iTunes store.

::

I’m a bit tardy with the next piece of news, which was delivered to the manga blogosphere a couple of months ago by web publisher NETCOMICS.

The Seoul Animation Center, a part of the South Korean government that supports the comics, animation, and gaming industries, has hand-picked 49 manhwa titles for the new Manhwa Creator Bank. The catalogue is mainly intended to serve as a resource for non-Korean publishers who may be interested in licensing manhwa titles, but it also gives readers an idea of what kind of properties are out there, so that we might encourage publishers to pick up titles we’re enthusiastic about.

The Manwha Creator Bank also has its own Facebook page.

::

By way of this blog Future Lights Productions, check out this recent discovery: COMICS,CINEMA shorts on the go a “short documentary project portraying comics artists in Korea,” available now via Vimeo.com. The project’s most recent subject is manhwa artist Kyung-suk Lee, author of Zombie Time, one of the titles listed in the Manhwa Creator Bank catalogue.

All videos include English subtitles.

::

From the ICv2 blog, The Office of Intellectual Freedom reports that Kim Dong Hwa’s coming-of-age manhwa The Color of Earth was the second most challenged book in 2011. coming in ahead of Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games.

For more on The Color of Earth and the rest of Kim Dong Hwa’s manhwa trilogy, check out the Color of… Manga Moveable Feast hosted by me at the now-defunct Manhwa Bookshelf.

::

That’s all for this installment! Let’s hope it isn’t the last.

Is there something I’ve missed? Leave your manhwa-related links in comments!

Filed Under: Manhwa Bookshelf, Manhwa Monday, UNSHELVED Tagged With: iseetoon, Manhwa Creator Bank

Guest Feature: Why You Should Read Evyione, Part II

August 16, 2011 by Sara K. 7 Comments

Why You Should Read (and Want More) Evyione: Ocean Fantasy
Part II

Evyione: Ocean Fantasy, loosely based on “The Little Mermaid,” is a wonderful manhwa which is on indefinite hiatus in English. Here I present the case for continuing Evyione in English.

In Part I I described the merits of the artwork in Evyione: Ocean Fantasy. The artwork was the main draw for me – in the beginning. However, if I only cared about the art, I would advocate bypassing the Udon Entertainment edition and going straight for the original, Korean-language edition. It is because of the story’s impact on me that I am encouraging people to try the Udon Entertainment English-language edition.

What about the story engrosses me so much? The answer, while simple to name, is complex to describe: the connections between the characters.

Character Crystals

The characters are like crystals. At first, the characters seem to be simple yet warmly rendered examples of standard archetypes, just like the characters in well-told fairy tales. Being a comic based on Hans Christian Andersen, this feels appropriate, and it feels even more appropriate because it fits the artistic aesthetic I described in part I. Crystals, too, can appear beautiful yet simple upon a glance. And like crystals, at first the characters seem like they will never change or show depth – just as fairy-tale characters generally do not change or show depth.

Of course, crystals do change and can have hidden complexity, and the same is true of the characters in Evyione: Ocean Fantasy. Kim Young-Hee reveals the humanity in the characters just as a jeweler might reveal the gem in a crystal – by rubbing the characters against each other to gradually uncover an underlying layer, or by striking them against each other to expose a new facet. Different characters pull out different qualities from each other. Watching the characters rub, strike, and connect with each other, slowly exposing themselves, is exactly why I love the story.

This dynamic is not apparent in the first volume. It takes time to reveal the characters and to weave the complex web of their relationships. In volume one, Yaxin pretty much only interacts with the sea witch, Evyione and Fidelis are mostly interacting with each other, and Owain only interacts with Evyione, and not for very long. Fidelis – the less I say about him, the better, because it is hard to talk about him without blowing a significant bombshell. Owain might be my favorite character (aside from my other favorite characters – it is tough to pick just one), and based on the artist commentary section, he seems to be the most popular character among Korean readers too. And of course, Yaxin and Evyione’s relationship is the beating heart of the story. The connections – and potential connections between the characters – drive much of the suspense, and as it takes a few volumes to build things up, it means that it is much harder to be left hanging at the end of volume 6 than at the end of volume 1.

An Example

To really show how engrossing the connections between the characters are requires an in-depth example.

I do not want to use Yaxin and Evyione’s relationship as that example; it is difficult to have a meaningful discussion of their relationship without spoilers. Though if you want a taste of that, the summary would be: the connections between Evyione and Owain, Yaxin and Owain, Evyione and Fidelis, and Evyione and the king’s brother are all worthy reading in their own right – and they all help Evyione and Yaxin’s relationship attain that special something which makes me tear through the volumes, difficult Chinese phrases be damned, to finally get to the scenes between the two.

Anyway instead, I will describe the relationships around the Queen, Evyione’s stepmother.

The Queen

The queen is a very refreshing take on the fairy-tale stepmother. For starters, she is not evil. This grants the queen the freedom to act like a human being instead of a stock villain.

The problem stems from her marriage. The king and the queen do like each other, though ‘love’ is probably too strong a word. However, the queen thinks that when she is no longer young and beautiful, the king will discard her. She thinks that the only way to protect herself is to bear the king’s children … yet after three years of marriage, she still doesn’t have any children. And this kicks off a chain of events.

As a source of comfort and support – or, perhaps not – comes Marie-Anne, the queen’s old lover from France. While the queen is married to the king, Marie-Anne is clearly her real partner. The queen, insecure as she is about her marriage, avoids openly disagreeing with the king, and in the one scene where she does, in fact, say to the king that she disagrees with him, she immediately tries to diffuse the situation. However, when she disagrees with Marie-Anne, she never hesitates to call her out on it. In other words, unlike from her husband, the queen insists on respect from Marie-Anne. If they could have, the queen and Marie-Anne would have probably married each other long ago. Which makes me wonder – is the ultimate cause of the queen’s problems the fact that her society doesn’t accept queer relationships?

However, Marie-Anne’s presence is not exactly beneficial. Her attempts to intervene in the queen’s problems only make them worse. And Marie-Anne has ulterior motives for coming to Emvonia. The queen is partially aware of this. While the queen does not seem to like it, she is not trying to stop Marie-Anne – so far. But when the queen figures out the full extent of Marie-Anne’s activities … to be honest, I do not know what is going to happen, but it will not be good. And there is the question of how Marie-Anne will respond. Marie-Anne really does seem to love the queen. If she had to choose between the queen and her goals — and she probably will have to choose eventually — I am not sure which one she would pick.

While the queen’s sub-plot at first is confined to a few characters, one by one, others get dragged into the mess. Each new character adds to the fray of course adds a whole new set of complications. And each additional character draws out a different part of the queen, making her an ever richer character.

What really breaks my heart is the toll these events are having on the queen’s self-esteem. She really is a good person. However, desperation causes her to do some less than ethical things. That makes her think that she is a bad person. And she is blaming herself even for things which are not her fault. While this tragedy started because the she thinks that her husband does not see any worth in her beyond her beauty, it seems that she now thinks that her husband is right. And that is definitely not true.

Spectacular Moments

When I think of Evyione: Ocean Fantasy, my mind often drifts to specific spectacular moments, the culmination of everything good in this comic. For all that I tried to break the discussion of the art and the story into different sections, the two cannot be completely separated. The artwork provides the potential to be striking; the plot provides the potential to be surprising; the character development provides the potential to be moving; when even two of these things come together, the result is spectacular.

An example I should have used in part 1 – but which also fits here, because it is important for both the artwork and the story – is a scene in which one character wakes up in chains, and then sees another character, wearing a mask, approaching. It is a bizarre scene. Both of the characters have ingested drugs, and it comes through in the drawings. This a wonderful example of how the story supplies a great subject for the artwork. Indeed, this scene is mostly told through what is seen, not what is said. This scene is unexpected, yet so visually imaginative, and yet has seriously scary implications for the characters involved. The first time I read this scene, I was so stunned that I temporarily stopped thinking. Heck, re-reading this scene for the purpose of writing this paragraph made my neck tense up. This particular moment marks the shift of the story into a much darker direction, and was one of the turning points which made me fall for Evyione: Ocean Fantasy that much harder.

Read Evyione: Ocean Fantasy! And Talk about It!

If you think you might like Evyione: Ocean Fantasy, please, please, PLEASE buy volume 1 of the Udon Entertainment edition. It is still available for sale. And if you do, in fact, like it, please tell people about it. Blog about it, if you have a blog. Volume 2 is never going to come out in English without sales and buzz. And volume 2 really should come out in English.

Finale

This review covers a lot. To wrap it all up, I wish to share one of my favorite moments. Enjoy.

*

Yaxin is bathing by the rocky sea shore. Hearing footsteps, he hides.

It is Evyione.

She is wearing a black robe à la polonaise. The area from the top of her stomacher to the bottom of her chin is completely covered in black lace. The engageants (sleeve extensions) are made from a matching set of black lace, yet her sleeves short enough to leave her fair skin exposed between the engageants and her black gloves. And her black hat comes with an elegant set of ribbons. While it is a very fine dress, it is actually plainer than most of the dresses she wears. It is a dress for mourning.

Evyione starts crying.

In many other comics aimed at a female audience, Evyione would have struck a dramatic pose as she cried, artistic flourishes would spill out onto the page, and/or the panels themselves would contort to share in Evyione’s grief. However the artwork of Evyione: Ocean Fantasy, simple and natural as ever, just lets Evyione stand and sob her heart out.

As Yaxin watches, he narrates [quote translated from Chinese] “I do not know why she came to these deserted rocks by the sea, but she looks like she is extremely sad … The sound of the never-ending waves crashing on the rocks seem to be trying to cover the sound of her weeping … The sound of her sobs is gradually ebbing … The sound of her breath is also gradually becoming slower … Now her footsteps sound like they belong to a completely different person … She has straight away turned her body, climbing the stairs, having completely recovered her normal calm self, seeming as if she had never wept.”

I love this moment because this is one of the very few times that Evyione freely expresses her feelings. And after her release, the reader watches her put back on the social mask that almost always wears to cover up her unhappiness.

Evyione is weeping because she believes that Yaxin is gone forever.


Sara K. has spent almost all of her life in San Francisco, California. She got tired of living in San Francisco, so one day she boarded a plane bound for Haneda Airport, and has never been back to San Francisco ever since. She currently lives in an Asian city you have never heard of.

Filed Under: FEATURES, Manhwa Bookshelf Tagged With: evyione, Udon Entertainment

Guest Feature: Why You Should Read Evyione

August 9, 2011 by Sara K. 26 Comments

Why You Should Read (and Want More) Evyione: Ocean Fantasy
Part I

Overview

Evyione: Ocean Fantasy is an extremely loose adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid”. It is obvious just how loose the adaptation is the moment it is revealed that it’s not a story of love between a mermaid and a prince, but a merman and a princess. He eventually gets the name Yaxin Tapileile (note: I read this in Chinese. I have no idea what the European equivalent of ‘Yaxin Tapileile’ would be, so I am stuck with his sinicized name), and her name is Evyione.

Udon Entertainment published the first volume in English in 2008. Since then no new volumes have been published in English. You should want this situation to change. In this piece (and in part II) I’ll explain why.

The art was the first thing which drew me into this series, so it feels like the most appropriate place to start.

The Style

You know those comics where there are lots of diagonals, irregularly yet creatively shaped panels, flowers and other decorative embellishments, and half of the pictures illustrate, not what is happening in the material world, but what is happening inside the characters hearts? Like the shojo comics of the 1970s, for example? Evyione: Ocean Fantasy is not like that.

Instead, the art in Evyione: Ocean Fantasy embodies a spirit of orderly, natural, and refined elegance. This was the spirit of the Rococco style popular in the 18th century Europe prior to the revolutionary era, which is when Evyione: Ocean Fantasy is set. The artwork of Evyione: Ocean Fantasy is Mozart, not Beethoven.

All of the most beautiful illustrations in Evyione: Ocean Fantasy incorporate nature. As the name “Ocean Fantasy” suggests, much of the story takes place by the sea, which provides plenty of opportunities to show dramatic scenery. One of the most visually stunning sequences is when Yaxin goes horseriding through the countryside during a thunderstorm. Likewise, the best portraits of Evyione incorporate bits of nature – for example, in the picture I show below, her hair is wet and dripping with rain.

Clothes!

I went through the first 6 volumes, and counted how many unique dresses Evyione wears in each volume during the main story. They are all Rococco dresses, mainly based on the style of the 1750s-1770s. I did not count it when she wore the same dress again, only when she wore a dress she had never previously worn.

Volume 1 – 4 dresses
Volume 2 – 8 dresses
Volume 3 – 10 dresses
Volume 4 – 8 dresses
Volume 5 – 8 dresses
Volume 6 – 4 dresses

Most comic book characters, even main characters, rarely wear 4 never-before-seen outfits over 180 or so pages. While it is historically accurate that an 18th century princess would wear many different dresses, considering that the story is set up in the imaginary kingdom of Emvonia, there is no reason to be historically accurate. Furthermore, there is no story-related reason for her to wear so many dresses – rather, the dress count is so low in volumes 1 and 6 because the plot forces Evyione to be cut off from her wardrobe for an extended period of time. Even without her wardrobe, Evyione still gets to wear new dresses in volume 1 and 6 because other characters come in and say “Hey Evyione, I brought you some new clothes” – an action which is not necessary to move the plot forward.

And in my count, I did not include the extras at the end of each volume, where Evyione and other characters pose in various attires not seen during the main story.

There is only one logical explanation for this abundance of outfits. Kim Young-Hee loves drawing Rococco dresses.

Let’s look at one, specifically a dress from Volume 4.

(click image to enlarge)

The overall effect of the dress is to make Evyione look like a flower. Not in the literal sense, but to give her the qualities which make flowers beautiful. Notice first that the silhouette of her figure forms a soft bell shape, like a flower that is hanging down. The engageants (those are the extensions of her sleeves) are layered like petals. The layers of her gowns, with a flower-print upper layer contrasted against a lower white layer, have the same petal-like effect on her entire body. The lace-like material on her stomacher is cut into vertical strands, which are allowed for form a wavy, natural shape. Likewise, the vertical cuts of the lace-like material help form a bridge between the lower part of the dress and Evyione’s face. The large ribbon on Evyione’s stomacher forms a central point, giving the dress focus. The low neckline creates a sense of openness, while the choker shows restraint. And to, literally, top it off, the hat caps the entire picture, and the hat’s slight angle slants the viewer’s attention towards Evyione’s face. Like I said, this is orderly, refined, yet natural elegance.

Kim Young-Hee’s love for these clothes shines throughout the art. Many comics set in various historical eras uses the clothes only as a marker saying ‘this is [historical era]’. These comics often use various shortcuts to make the historical dress easier and faster to draw. And there is nothing wrong with prioritizing the story in a story-telling medium. But Kim Young-Hee never skimps on the details for the clothes. Instead, she plays with them – which is why there are so many different designs. Ultimately, I think it not the adherence to the Rococco style, but the love and sense of play which makes these dresses a delight to behold.

No Clothes!

While’s it’s fun to play dress-up with Evyione, it would be a bit much if other characters, specifically Yaxin and the queen, didn’t balance it out. With nudity. Rather than going against the Rococco aesthetic, the nudity actually complements it. Roccoco emphasizes the natural; nothing is more natural than the naked body. The nudity is very tasteful – no genatalia is ever exposed. Storywise, the nudity does not so much evoke eroticism (though it does that too) as help flesh out the characters.

Yaxin, of course, is the one who most often shows his natural assets. A fanservice element is operating here; Yaxin is a bishounen after all. It’s also a source a humor – I love it in Volume 6 when Evyione figures that asking him to put on some clothes would only make the situation even more awkward. But ultimately, the nudity shows that Yaxin does not belong in human society. While he sometimes wears clothes, and functions in society to some extent, he really belongs in the sea.

The queen’s nudity, on the other hand, shows how vulnerable she is. One of the most striking images in all of Evyione: Ocean Fantasy is also of the of few abstract images; it is an image in Volume 5 of the queen, naked. In that image, her back exposed as arms come from out of the shadows and wrap around her. It is part of a scene expressing grief, jealousy, and especially rage. Nudity expresses in a visual manner how defenceless the queen is.

Storytelling

Say what? This…

… is not enough for you? You want a plot? Well, as it happens, there is a story. The scenery, dresses, and nudity even help tell it.

The artwork has been very supportive to me. Reading Evyione: Ocean Fantasy in Chinese, which is not my native language, forces me to rely on the art to a much greater degree than if I were reading it in English. And the artwork delivers. What is going on is almost always clear. Even the fight scenes are easy to follow. That means Evyione does all of the right visual pacing. Whatever the techniques are, they work.

There is one particularly memorable page from Volume 6. There are only three panels and no dialogue. In the top panel, Evyione notices [spoiler]. In the middle panel, the reader gets a better view of [spoiler]. In the bottom panel, Evyione decides what to do about [spoiler]. She conveys her choice with her eyes alone. Because the story had been building up to [spoiler], the fact that Evyione made that choice would have been powerful stuff no matter how she communicated it. But the fact that she only used her eyes? Not only does that show Kim Young-Hee’s ability to tell a story with pictures, that makes that moment all the more moving. The first time I saw that final, bottom panel, it sent a shiver through my spine, and I had go through those three panels over and over again before I was able to turn the page. That’s what I call good visual storytelling.

Of course, Yaxin has to communicates things with his body language all the time, being a mute and all. I take it so much for granted that I didn’t realize until the final edit that Yaxin does things like I describe in the paragraph above all the time.

So, about that Story…

While the artwork is what first drew me in, it’s the story which keeps me reading, and stays with me after I close the book. I hope you’ll read Part II, which is all about the story.

In the mean time, if a picture is worth a thousand words, then the 33-page preview at Udon Entertainment’s website is worth about 20 times more than this piece.


See you when Part II gets posted.

Big thanks to Julie Engelbrecht for being an awesome teacher; I wouldn’t have been able to write this if I hadn’t been her student.


Sara K. has spent almost all of her life in San Francisco, California. She got tired of living in San Francisco, so one day she boarded a plane bound for Haneda Airport, and has never been back to San Francisco ever since. She currently lives in an Asian city you have never heard of.

Filed Under: FEATURES, Manhwa Bookshelf Tagged With: evyione, udon

Ill-Fated Relationship

April 10, 2011 by MJ 12 Comments

Originally hosted at Manhwa Bookshelf.

Ill-Fated Relationship | By Hwang Joon-Ho | Published by iSeeToon | Platform: iOS (iPhone only) – A man and woman meet in the big city, brought together by chance and undefinable desire. While this is not an uncommon premise in any kind of fiction, what distinguishes their story from others is what the two have in common. They’re both serial killers.

There are so many ways in which a story like this could go wrong. It could try too hard to be funny or sympathetic, trivializing both the characters’ mental illness and the suffering of their victims, all in the name of entertainment. It could also lean to the other extreme, reveling in a level of “realism” that ultimately borders on sick voyeurism. Or, more unfortunately, it could simply be dull, wrapped up in clinical analysis that engages no one, save a few idle academics. Thankfully, Ill-Fated Relationship avoids all of these traps, studying its characters with interest that steers safely clear of both fetishization and cold objectivity.

Hwang introduces his characters simply, avoiding coy humor or cheap surprises. A serial killer boards a public bus, looking for his next victim. He observes his surroundings quietly, even dispassionately, a sense enhanced by the comic’s drab color palette of blues, blacks, and grays (with the occasional red for emphasis). After leaving the bus, he’s confronted by a lost boy looking for his mother. “Should I feel pity for this child?” the killer asks himself. “Maybe not,” he finally determines, walking away from the scene. The boy turns then to a woman in the crowd, who takes him home to kill him. This brief chain of events, beginning with the first killer’s decision not to help the boy, serves as the catalyst for bringing the two killers together, ultimately leading them to their fate as described in the story’s title.

Though the plot of the story revolves around the two “helping” each other in various ways, the real point of the series has little to do with plot at all. All in all, there’s nothing new here, and certainly nothing unexpected. After all, the title alone pretty much gives away the ending, if in somewhat vague terms. And likewise, though the story’s philosophical and psychological trajectory is well-trodden ground (How does childhood trauma contribute to antisocial behavior? Are people essentially cruel and amoral beings?), again that’s hardly the point. For, despite its starkly unsentimental tone and ambivalent POV, Ill-Fated Relationship is, at its core, an intensely personal story.

The real heart of this manhwa lies in the personal journeys of its characters, how they became what they are, and how their experience with each other influences the way they view themselves and what they do. And though it is their differences that, in many ways, cause them to seek each other out (he’s drawn to her care-free worldview, while she’s drawn to his emotional vulnerability), it is the way in which they most closely connect that ultimately seals their fate, and perhaps even gives them meaning, something that Hwang manages to explore with surprising subtlety.

Hwang’s style is sparse, both visually and narratively, creating an environment that feels both intimate and detached at the same time. While the limited use of color suggests a similarly subdued emotional palette, the lack of detail (both background and foreground) brings each emotional beat into sharp focus. With just the sparest detail gracing the page, every small shift becomes significant, both in movement and expression. And with narration and dialogue used even more sparingly, it is these carefully-executed visual cues that do most of the heavy lifting.

With its clear, simple art style and minimal dialogue, this series is unusually well-suited to the iPhone’s small screen, but to limit its reach that way really does seem a shame. I’d love to see this manhwa on the iPad as well, and even more so on the web, which would substantially increase its potential for an English-speaking audience. In the English-language manhwa market, currently dominated by conventional romance and action series, Ill-Fated Relationship provides a welcome alternative for fans of indie comics and manga who are interested in exploring the largely untapped wealth of Korean webcomics.

Complete in twenty chapters (with a short parody comic as an extra), Ill-Fated Relationship‘s compelling characters and well-crafted narrative provide an exceptionally satisfying, compact read. Recommended.

Advance copy provided by the publisher. Editing not yet final. Short previews from the publisher available here.

Filed Under: Manhwa Bookshelf, MANHWA REVIEWS Tagged With: ill-fated relationship, iseetoon

Manhwa Monday: April Showers

April 4, 2011 by MJ 2 Comments

Welcome to another Manhwa Monday, now in our new monthly format! Here’s a sprinkling of news and reviews from around the blogosphere last month.

First, a look at this month’s upcoming releases. With nothing on the docket from Dark Horse or Tokyopop, and NETCOMICS still dormant since its last online updates in February, we look to Yen Press for our manhwa this month, though even from that source the new releases are slim. From creators Hyun You and YoungBin Kim, we’ll see volume five of Laon, the story of a nine-tailed fox in human form. Yen also brings us the fifth volume of horror manhwa Jack Frost from creator JinHo Ko.

Not quite manhwa, but Korean-created, Viz also releases the second volume of horror/fantasy comic March Story, due out later this month.

In licensing news, Anime News Network reports that Seven Seas is getting in the manhwa game, with Han Yu-Rang’s My Boyfriend is a Vampire slated to begin release in September of this year.

Another new Priest trailer has been released into the world. Eric Eisenberg has the info at Cinema Blend. And MovieViral.com offers up a podcast of cast interviews from last weekend’s Wondercon.

A couple of small manhwa mentions online: The Korea Creative Content Agency’s website got some recent press from PR Newswire. And in an interview with RSC Publishing deputy editor Jane Hordern, Korean scientist Seong Keun Kim talks about having been inspired by a character from a 1960s comic.

Korean cartoonists are doing what they can to help raise money for relief in Japan, according to this recent article from JoongAng Daily. “Three major groups representing Korea’s cartoon world, the Korea Cartoonist Association together with the Cartoon and Animation Society in Korea and the Korea Manhwa Contents Agency, are collecting donations along with cartoons bearing messages of condolences and sympathy. The proceeds will be sent to the Japan Cartoonists’ Association. ”

This month in reviews, at Mania.com, Kate O’Neil takes a look at volume five of Time and Again (Yen Press), while the Manga Bookshelf bloggers include that volume in as recent Pick of the Week. At Comics-and-more, Dave Ferraro checks out volume one of Goong (Yen Press). Connie reviews volume one of March Story (Viz Media) at Slightly Biased Manga, while I take on volume two at Manga Bookshelf. Also at Manga Bookshelf, Kate Dacey opens today’s Bookshelf Briefs with a look at volume five of Laon (Yen Press).

That’s all for this month! Coming up later this week at Manhwa Bookshelf, look forward to an advance review of iSeeToon’s new series, Ill-Fated Relationship!

Is there something I’ve missed? Leave your manhwa-related links in comments!

Filed Under: Manhwa Bookshelf, Manhwa Monday

Manhwa Monday: March Preview

March 7, 2011 by MJ 1 Comment

Welcome to another Manhwa Monday!

With March upon us, it’s time to take a look at the month’s upcoming manhwa releases. First off, we have volume five of Time and Again (Yen Press), JiUn Yun’s story of a pair of ghost hunters in Tang Dynasty-era China. This is the series’ penultimate volume, so it’s likely to be pretty dramatic. Also from Yen Press, we’ll see volume twelve of Japanese-published Korean-created Black God.

From NETCOMICS, March promises volume two of There’s Something About SunYool, one of last year’s few standout new releases.

In this week’s news, Korea JoongAng Daily reports about Korean manhwa making waves in Japan, particularly The Survival series, an educational comic series that “has taken the competitive Japanese comic book market by storm.”

At Seoul Graphics, Managing Director Dr. Jeeyeon Kim and Comic Bits’ Terry Hooper offer to answer your questions about manhwa.

And at Manga Xanadu, Lori Henderson takes us through the latest issue of Yen Plus, including new chapters of manhwa series Aron’s Absurd Armada and Milkyway Hitchhiking.

In a bit of blog news, given the slow nature of the US manhwa industry lately, I’m considering moving Manhwa Monday from a weekly column to bi-weekly or even monthly. It grows increasingly difficult to find enough news to report each week, and less frequent columns could mean those that do get made are a bit more substantial. What say you, readers?

That’s all for this week!

Is there something I’ve missed? Leave your manhwa-related links in comments!

Filed Under: Manhwa Bookshelf

Manhwa Monday: Dinosaur wars

February 21, 2011 by MJ 3 Comments

Welcome to another Manhwa Monday!

This week, Korea JoongAng Daily reports that cartoonist Kim Soo-jung’s popular manhwa character Dooly has become a subject of controversy between the local governments of Dobong and Bucheon, both of whom want to use the 10 million-year-old dinosaur as a mascot.

“Dobong District has been planning a Dooly theme park with a museum dedicated to the dinosaur since 2007. Lee, the Dobong District Office director, said that construction on the museum, estimated at 13 billion won ($11.6 million), is slated to start next year, with a target completion date of 2015.

Bucheon, meanwhile, has spent the past eight years transforming its image from that of an industrial city to one dedicated to animation. In 1998, the city established the Korea Manhwa Contents Agency (Komacon) and the Bucheon International Comics Festival. Dooly has served as the city’s mascot since 2003.”

Check out the article for more.

On this side of the Pacific, NETCOMICS continues to show signs of life, publishing another new chapter of Sooyeon Won’s Full House.

At The Hooded Utilitarian, Michelle Smith and I discuss in-depth Jeon JinSeok and Han SeungHee’s One Thousand and One Nights, complete with sheep jokes and pretty pictures.

This week in reviews: On his video podcast, Otaku, no Video, Brent P. Newhall talks about volume one of One Fine Day (Yen Press). At Manga Maniac Cafe, Julie enjoys volume six of 13th Boy (Yen Press). Angela Eastman checks out the final volume of Very! Very! Sweet (Yen Press) at Mania.com.

That’s all for this week!

Is there something I’ve missed? Leave your manhwa-related links in comments!

Filed Under: Manhwa Bookshelf, Manhwa Monday

Manhwa Monday: Review round-up

February 14, 2011 by MJ 1 Comment

Welcome to another Manhwa Monday!

We’ve got a few review links to share today, but first, a quick look at the upcoming film adaptation of Kang Pool’s webtoon series, I Love You, adapted as Late Blossom for film.

The summary according to The Korea Times: “The movie revolves around four senior citizens living in a hillside village. Kim Man-seok, played by veteran actor Lee Soon-jae, is a milkman who wakes the village early each morning with his noisy, battered motorcycle. He meets Song (Yoon So-jung), who scavenges for scrap paper while roaming around the town at daybreak. As they meet again and again, they slowly develop feelings for each other.”

The film opens in Korea this week.

At Panel Patter, Rob McMonigal takes a look at volume one of Time and Again (Yen Press). Chrystal White at Japanator checks out volume 11 of Black God (Yen Press). Todd Douglass of Anime Maki posts some quick reviews of three Yen Press manhwa. In her article, “hunting for yaoi,” at Sequential Tart, Wolfen Moondaughter looks briefly at the BL manhwa Aegis (NETCOMICS). And Bibliophilic Monologues celebrates a manhwa monday of their own, with an overview of Pig Bride (Yen Press).

That’s all for this week!

Is there something I’ve missed? Leave your manhwa-related links in comments!

Filed Under: Manhwa Bookshelf, Manhwa Monday

Manhwa Monday: February Preview

February 7, 2011 by MJ 1 Comment

Welcome to another Manhwa Monday!

With February finally underway, it’s time to take a brief look at this month’s upcoming manhwa releases! In keeping with the recent trend, there are few of these to report for February, though more than we had last month.

First, a belated listing for volume seven of Bride of the Water God from Dark Horse. Though Amazon (my source for these preview posts) lists a release date of February 8th, the volume actually appeared on shelves two weeks ago, bringing January’s release total up to… two. Yay?

This month, we’ve only got two print releases to look forward to, both from Yen Press. The first is volume five of JinJun Park’s zombie manhwa Raiders. Secondly, we’ll see volume six of one of my personal favorites, SangEun Lee’s supernatural romance, 13th Boy, Vol. 6, still consistently winning my heart with its understated whimsy, including talking cactus Beatrice.

On the digital front, NETCOMICS may finally be coming back to life, having recently released new chapters of both Sungmo Kim’s Emperor’s Castle and (another personal favorite) Sooyeon Won’s Full House. Though they’ve stopped short of scheduling any future chapter updates, new content after a few empty months does suggest hope. And following up on last week’s post, iOS publisher iSeeToon offers up a second trailer for their upcoming webtoon release, Ill-Fated Relationship.

This week in reviews, Angela Eastman takes a look at volume seven of Very! Very! Sweet (Yen Press) at Mania.com, and at A Reader of Fictions, Christina hates Sugarholic.

That’s all for this week!

Is there something I’ve missed? Leave your manhwa-related links in comments!


Amazon.com Widgets


Filed Under: Manhwa Bookshelf, Manhwa Monday

Manhwa Monday: Just a tease

January 31, 2011 by MJ Leave a Comment

Welcome to another Manhwa Monday!

It’s a slow week again in the English-language manhwa blogosphere, though we do have one fun tidbit to share.

Over at the iSeeToon blog, company representative Kim Jin Sung teases us with a webtoon trailer for one of their upcoming iOS releases, Ill-Fated Relationship, due to be available in English sometime this year. I’ve actually had a little peek at this series, and it looks to be quite interesting, so let’s hope we won’t have too long to wait!

On a personal note, with the understanding that many of South Korea’s most innovative comics are happening online rather than traditional print, I very much wish that more companies were finding ways to bring those comics to us. I do appreciate the efforts of both iSeeToon and NETCOMICS, but I must admit I am feeling quite impatient for more. I can’t help dreaming of an online portal such as Naver (as described by Hana Lee in her introduction to Korean webcomics) in English, though I expect this is a bit of a pipe dream.

This week in reviews, King of the Zombies reviews the manhwa series Priest (TOKYOPOP) in celebration of the upcoming film release. At Manga Xanadu, Lori Henderson runs us through the latest issue of Yen Plus (Yen Press), including ongoing titles Aron’s Absurd Armada and Jack Frost as well as the debut of Sirial’s new cat-centric manhwa Milky Way Hitchhiking. And at Slightly Biased Manga, Connie reviews volume two of Sarasah (Yen Press).

That’s all for this week!

Is there something I’ve missed? Leave your manhwa-related links in comments!

Filed Under: Manhwa Bookshelf, Manhwa Monday

Manhwa Monday: Grasping at straws

January 24, 2011 by MJ 3 Comments

Welcome to another Manhwa Monday!

It’s been a slow week in manhwa news. And by “slow week” I mean that there are absolutely no bits of news or reviews to share with you at all.

So, what shall we talk about, readers? This week’s upcoming release of the latest volume of Bride of the Water God reminds me just how little new manhwa we’ve got to look forward to in the foreseeable future.

What I do have ahead of me, though, are a few fantastic reads and re-reads that are long overdue. A few reads upcoming for me:

1. Bride of the Water God (Dark Horse) – I actually have yet to dip into this series, which is long overdue. I’ll be marathoning it in the next couple of weeks (with a review of volume 6 upcoming), in hopes of soon acquiring this week’s new volume.

2. Cynical Orange (Yen Press) – After a long, long wait, I’ve finally gotten a copy of the one volume I was missing of this series. Look for a full series review in the near future (most likely offsite).

3. One Thousand and One Nights (Yen Press) – I’ve already talked on and on about this series, but an upcoming offsite feature has given me the excuse to reread it once again!

4. Milkyway Hitchhiking (Yen Press) – As a big fan of Sirial’s One Fine Day (interestingly featured in a recent column on Manga Bookshelf), I’m definitely looking forward to this new, cat-themed series.

So, readers, I put the question to you: What new (or old) manhwa are looking forward to reading in the near future?

Filed Under: Manhwa Bookshelf, Manhwa Monday

Manhwa Monday: holiday quick links

January 17, 2011 by MJ 3 Comments

Excerpt from Sunjeong Manhwa Chapter 8Welcome to another Manhwa Monday! It’s been a quiet week on the manhwa front, so there are just a few quick links to share on this American holiday.

It’s Martin Luther King Jr. day here in the US, and The Korean has a message for his Asian-American readers today.

Our friends at iSeeToon have unveiled a new front page design for their blog, with easy access to their currently available (and in-progress) iOS manhwa apps, as well as their series on types of manhwa. They are actively looking for feedback on pretty much all these things, so please let them know how you think they’re doing!

This week’s manhwa news is nearly all live-action news, with HANCINEMA posting the newest Priest trailer, and Dramabeans sharing casting info for the new drama adaptation of Kang Pool’s Pain. Kang Pool is also the author of Sunjeong Manhwa, reviewed by Hana Lee in her introduction to Korean webcomics, and pictured here in this entry.

At Manga-Market.com, tomnomnom joins the legions who attempt to explain “What is manhwa?”

This week in reviews, Todd Douglass at Anime Maki takes a look at volume 11 of Korean-created Black God (Yen Press). And at Panel Patter, Rob McMonigal talks about Korea as Viewed by 12 Creators (Fanfare/Ponent-Mon).

That’s all for this week!

Is there something I’ve missed? Leave your manhwa-related links in comments!

Filed Under: Manhwa Bookshelf, Manhwa Monday

Manhwa Monday: 12 Creators & the Milky Way

January 10, 2011 by MJ Leave a Comment

Welcome to another Manhwa Monday!

After last week’s whining about the lack of new manhwa licenses, we’ve discovered at least one, though we don’t know for sure whether there are plans to release it in print.

The December issue of Yen Plus advertises an upcoming manhwa series from Sirial (One Fine Day), called Milkyway Hitchhiking, about a cat with a pattern that looks like the Milky Way on his back. The series will be in full color, and is also Yen Press’ first simultaneous serialization. Let’s hope it sees print publication as well! Lori Henderson has some thoughts on the series in her write-up of December’s issue of Yen Plus. (Thanks to Michelle Smith for the tip!)

Robot 6 has an exclusive look at cover art for TOKYOPOP’s new Priest Purgatory series. And on the subject of Priest, 411 mania lists the upcoming film adaptation as one of its Biggest Comic Book Movies of 2011 .

iSeeToon continues their series on different types of manhwa with a look at Korean webtoons in their blog this week.

Blog of Asia attempts to explain the difference between manga and manhwa, drawing some interesting conclusions about both.

Here at Manhwa Bookshelf, Hana Lee translates the list of winners from Korea’s Reader Awards for manhwa in 2010.

This week in reviews, both Ed Sizemore of Manga Worth Reading and Richard of Forbidden Planet International take a look at Korea as Viewed by 12 Creators (Fanfare/Ponent Mon), offering a nice break from our usual cluster of Yen Press titles.

That’s all for this week!

Is there something I’ve missed? Leave your manhwa-related links in comments!

Filed Under: Manhwa Bookshelf, Manhwa Monday

Manhwa Monday: Doom & Gloom?

January 3, 2011 by MJ 7 Comments

Welcome to the first Manhwa Monday column in 2011! Though I’m sorry to say, readers, that I’ve come here mainly to whine. This morning, I did my regular beginning-of-the-month search for new manhwa releases for January, and these were the results:

Laon, vol. 4.

Yep, that’s it. The sole upcoming manhwa release for the month is volume four of Laon from Yen Press. Now, surely one slow month is nothing to whine about, but with no new manhwa license announcements (so far) for the upcoming year, things are starting to look a little bit grim.

Udon Entertainment and TOKYOPOP have seemingly abandoned their manhwa lines. Dark Horse has two series still running, with nothing new on the horizon. NETCOMICS hasn’t updated any of their online series since October (and has nearly given up print). Even Yen Press, the industry’s trustiest source for English-language manhwa, has more series winding down than anything else.

Despite KOCCA’s strong presence at 2010’s New York Comic Con, manhwa seems to have lost momentum in the North American comics market, with very little obvious push coming even from KOCCA itself, if the current state of NETCOMICS’ release schedule is anything to go by. So imagine my surprise when an article entitled Will Manhwa Catch Manga? turned up in my Google Alerts this week.

My surprise faded quickly as I actually read the piece. The article’s author, Ulara Nakagawa, quotes Jung-sun Park, a professor at California State University, thusly, ” Though they’ve been consistently popular domestically up to now, she said, Korean comics, or manhwa, have yet to really take off outside of the country.” This obviously jives with what we’ve been seeing here in the US.

Where Park sees the future of manhwa, however, is in digital comics, particularly those that may potentially be offered for the iPad. Now, while I’m not particularly thrilled with this idea as a trend–I like my manhwa in print, especially the long, soapy, sunjeong series of which I’ve become so fond–evidence points to webtoons as being the source of much innovation in Korea’s comics industry, and I’ll take what I can get.

With that in mind, it’s telling that my only real bit of manhwa news this week comes from iSeeToon, who recently announced their updated app schedule for the beginning of the year–the only new English-translated manhwa to be announced by any publisher so far for 2011. Though I’ve been unable to check out their Magician series thus far, I’m hoping that the updated app may be available for iPad as well as iPhone/iPod. iSeeToon also continues their series on types of manhwa in Korea with an article on educational manhwa.

This week in reviews, at Slightly Biased Manga, Connie takes a look at volumes four, five, and six of Very! Very! Sweet (Yen Press). And at Anime Salvation, Finn checks out Change Guy (ADV). And for a look at what we’re missing, our own Hana Lee shares a review of volume two of Joseon Female Detective Damo.

That’s all for this week!

Is there something I’ve missed? Leave your manhwa-related links in comments!

Filed Under: Manhwa Bookshelf

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