Croquis Pop

Overall Rating: C+
Synopsis: A Manhwa (korean comic) written by KwangHyun Seo, with art by JinHo KoThe, Croquis Pop is the story of Da-Il, the latest assistant of the famous Manwha creator Ho Go. Unfortunately, he sucks as an artist, but he and his dead mom wanted him to draw the hopes and dreams of others, so he's determined to succeed (this speech wins Ho Go over and pisses off the current head assistant). However, Da-Il isn't just any assistant, apparently he has the power of a Croquer, which allows him to enter the “Dead Zone”, a place only the dead can see, and bring his art to life there.

On his first trip to the "Dead Zone", Da-Il encounters Mu-Huk, a spirit that battles the spirits brought to life by grudges. Apparently, Mu-Huk was created by Da-Il, but Da-Il doesn't remember creating the guy. Oh, also, the adventures that occur in the "Dead Zone" are given to other creators (like Ho Go) to draw. Very weird stuff.

Very weird is a great way to describe this one. I kind of like it, and the ideas are interesting and pretty unique, but the plot can get a bit hard to follow and I don't really like Da-Il, which makes it hard to care about what's going on with him. Volume 2 is due out later this year, so I may check that one out as well and see if it improves at all. If you're looking for something a little different in a teen hero story, check this one out. Otherwise, leave it on the shelf.

XS Hybrid Volume 1

Overall Rating: B
Synopsis: Created by S. Ji-Hyung, the series is a science fiction story, and one of Dark Horse's new Manwha (South Korean manga) titles. The story is set in a future where some humans have become "hybrids", with special powers, and follows Mina, a tomboy with psychic powers (clearly one of the hybrids). These hybrids police the planet, or kill many, many people, or both.

A lot of the plot in the first volume focuses on Hinchang, a normal kid who is in love with Mina (despite the fact that she put him in a coma years before. That's love.) Hinchang spends most of the book saving Mina from being attacked by another hybrid (who looks cool and has psychic powers), and various other mysterious men (re: bad guys) who are trying to capture/kill Mina.

I like XS Hybrid, but I don't love it. I don't think there are enough really good science fiction manga/manwha, and this one comes close. Basically, I want to love it, but it hasn't grabbed me yet. I think it's because I'm not totally thrilled with either Hinchang or Mina. Hinchang isn't really interesting aside from apparently being a daredevil, and Mina seems incapable of defending herself, despite having psychic powers. Hopefully, both will develop into interesting characters in later volumes.

Dokebi Bride - Manga Review (Volumes 1 & 2)

Rating: B

Synopsis:
Sunbi is a girl who can see ghosts and spirits. This isn't unusual, since her grandmother and mother had the same powers. Her grandmother has used her understanding of the spirit world to be the shaman of a small town. Unfortunately, Sunbi's mother never found a good way of dealing with these strange abilities, it drove her mad and she committed suicide.

The story follows teenage Sunbi as she leaves her small town home with her grandmother to move in with her estranged father in the city. The spirit world doesn't seem content to leave her alone, and Sunbi is torn between dealing with her new school and dealing with the strange spirit-related happenings that only she can see. Fortunately, the city holds a monk and a nerdy classmate who have an understanding of spirits, and may keep Sunbi from going mad.

From the book
Dokebi: mythical Korean creature, frightening in appearance (typically having giant head horns) - humorous, mischevious, but known to reward good people

Dokebi Bride is a manwha ("comic") from Korea. The story is based in Korea and steeped in Korean culture. The first two volumes have a lot of flashbacks and glimpses into the life of Sunbi's grandmother and Sunbi's younger years in order to establish the characters. Sunbi is really strong, but it's obvious she can't deal with the spirit world on her own and we are left wondering at the end of book two what allies she will develop in her new home.

The storyline and character design are both really well done. The art is very clean and angular (a typical manwha style). The use of white space gives the entire comic a strangely soothing overtone, even though there's a lot of strange things going on. Some particularly cool and well illustrated scenes - a giant dragon (spirit of the ocean) shows up, or when Sunbi and her grandmother feed the Dokebi to help their village's fishing. I absolutely love the cover designs for them (see left).

The second volume has a lot of exposition, because the story is relating a lot of difficult ideas (like detecting spirit energy by scientific means). In this case the exposition works, but I'm hoping the third volume gets back to more character-related dialogue and action.

This book definitely has a dark feel to it, and is not as lighthearted as a lot of other manga out there, but the story is compelling and I look forward to reading more.