Justice N Mercy Vol.#01

By: Jarred Pine
Review Date: Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Release Date: Tuesday, October 11, 2005



Creative Talent
Writer/Artist:Min-Woo Hyung
Translated by:Youngju Ryu
Adapted by:

What They Say
This slipcased volume uses special printing techniques and high-quality paper to present the artist's work as it was meant to be viewed. It includes never-before-seen artwork based on the artist's popular Priest graphic novel series, published by TOKYOPOP in the United States, as well as images from past and upcoming projects such as Doomslave, Hitman and Sal.

Also included is an interview with Min-Woo illustrated with photographs of the artist in his workshop. In order to render Min-Woo's stunning artwork faithfully, the TOKYOPOP edition of Justice N Mercy will be printed in Korea with special color and metallic inks not available in the United States. This edition features text in three languages: English, German and Japanese.

The Review
When I was first introduced to Korean manwha a couple years ago, I had no idea that this title called Priest would forever change how I read and enjoy sequential art storytelling. The epic and cinematic styles, chiseled artwork, complex characters, multi-layered storylines, there is just so much going for the title and it will forever remain at the top of my shelf. So when TOKYOPOP announced an art book featuring conceptual artwork and sketches from Priest’s creator, Min-Woo Hyung, you can bet that I was jumping at the chance to explore more work from this up and coming artist.

Taken from the words tattooed on his forearms, Min-Woo’s Justice N Mercy is a collection of artwork that he has done for fantasy book covers, promos, production sketches, as well as past, current, and upcoming serial projects. Going into the book, I had thought that the content would mostly contain art from Priest. However, it’s really only a small percentage of the book as most is work from projects that we have yet to experience here in North America. For those who are already fans of Min-Woo, this book provides a taste of what else could come, teasing our appetites by providing us with a few samples that will leave us foaming at the mouth for more, more, MORE!

As far as the artwork goes, if you enjoyed the black & white illustrations of Priest then you are going to love these full color pieces. Like I said before, this isn’t just about staring at concept art for Priest, but rather it is digesting all the other works that Min-Woo has been working on. The first chapter features cover artwork from what I believe are fantasy books that were released in Korea. There are all in full color, with a few featuring side-by-side comparisons between the conceptual sketch and the colored end result. There is one Priest cover that is a nice treat since North American readers did not get the original Korean covers illustrated by Min-Woo (no disrespect to the wonderfully created English covers by Raymond Swanland). It is definitely interesting to see what else Min-Woo works on outside of his comic book creations. Also included in this first chapter are 4 pages of colored character designs from Sal, a title that has yet to grace US shores but after seeing these few designs I am most interested.


The second chapter is a real treat for those wondering what Min-Woo is working on and his process of putting his comics together. This chapter features 20 pages of what looks to be the opening chapter to the title Doomslave. Printed on thick cardboard paper, one could flip over each page and decipher a story that is going on even though there is no dialogue bubbles yet on the pages. It features a race of four-armed “humans” that have no doubt undergone a long history of torture and dismemberment, as well as possible gene manipulation, oppressed by a bigger kingdom led by giant, powerful warriors. Even from these 20 pages, I could feel the grandness and epic story that no doubt Min-Woo is weaving, all styled with that great cinematic appeal. There is even a foldout page for a large illustrated spread that I wish I could get printed as a colored poster to hang on my wall.

The third chapter features 17 pages of character designs for a title called Steel Shadow Hitman. Like the cover artwork pages, this section is made up of side-by-side sketches and colored versions. They are an interesting looking bunch, having a variety of designs and an array of influences including American urban street gang, gothic, ninja/samurai, Native American, and others. There is no information about the story included with this set of designs, other than a background of a city that indicates a more modern setting, but just from characters alone this is yet another Min-Woo title that I would love to get my hands on.

For those interested in the rough pencil and line sketches, the fourth chapter is an accumulation of 30 pages worth of material from most of the projects Min-Woo has worked on as well as other miscellaneous designs. It is this section that contains most of the Priest artwork found in the book. What really stood out to me in this chapter is the wonderful print reproduction done by TOKYOPOP to capture the rawness of the artwork. The pencil work comes out so clear and refined that I felt I could actually pull out an eraser and start rubbing away the drawings (NOT THAT I EVER, EVER WOULD!). Continuing on into the fifth chapter is another set of sketches for something called Mercenary, again keeping with the strong production qualities. To wrap up the barrage of wonderful artwork is a full painted poster for Doomslave that has some of the brightest and most stunning paint/ink work that I have seen in an art book. I wish I could get a larger version of this blown up as well.

Aside from all the artwork, there are some letters from TOKYOPOP Editorial Director Jeremy Ross, Min-Woo himself, and Studio Ice Editor-In-Chief Eddie Yu, as well as an interview with Min-Woo--all providing some interesting information for the fans wondering what is on the horizon. Eddie Yu talks a bit him and Min-Woo’s meeting with Hollywood film execs to discuss the live-action Priest movie, as well as attending a premiere party for Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life where they left convinced that soon someday they would also be having a party of their own. There is also talk from both Eddie and Min-Woo about an upcoming serial that is targeted to the North American audience, but there is no information about if that title is one included in this art book. Keep in mind that this information is probably about a year old now, so who knows what the progress is on these news items.

Finally, TOKYOPOP definitely must be given credit for putting together a gorgeous presentation that should please all the fans looking forward to this art book. The book comes housed in a chipboard slipcase, which at first I thought was badly designed due to what I believed was empty space but turned out that it was the padded cover that was taking up said space. The cover is perfect for a Min-Woo book, featuring a sampling of all his designs focused around a glossy inlay image of Min-Woo himself showing off his tattoos. The back cover features more artwork and another glossy inlay. Like I said before, the print reproduction is fantastic and I’m happy that TOKYOPOP spent the extra dollars to make sure that this was handled well. The translations are trilingual, which allowed TOKYOPOP to do one print run to target their three markets: English, German, and Japanese. Even though that is a lot of text to fit on a page, it is really placed well and arranged in a way that nothing is sacrificed. My one gripe I have is that some of the Korean text included in the Mercenary sketches was not translated and I found myself wanting to know what was written as it might have had some insight into Min-Woo’s work.

Comments
Simply put, Justice N Mercy is a wonderfully put together package that will most definitely please all the Min-Woo Hyung fans out there waiting for that next volume of Priest or other works from this unique, up-and-coming artist. What I liked most about this art book is that is wasn’t just simply a bunch of designs from Priest, but was mostly artwork from his other projects--giving the fans an idea of what he has been working on and hints at future works that we will hopefully see released here in the States. It is great to see a publisher really show this much love for one of their artists as well as the fans of the creator.

The one drawback? I am now even hungrier than before for more translated works from Min-Woo. From the sounds of the letters and interview, they are on their way. However, I am not sure how much longer I can hold out until I turn into one of those tortured souls from Min-Woo’s stunningly powerful designs. This art book is a no-brainer for fans of Min-Woo Hyung.