Missing White Dragon, the Vol.#01

By: Mike Dungan
Review Date: Thursday, January 27, 2005
Release Date: Saturday, January 15, 2005



Creative Talent
Writer/Artist:Park Young Ha
Translated by:Je-wa Jeong
Adapted by:

What They Say
Come and enter the world of Asian folk tales and Asian urban tales... All with a romantic twist!

The Review
The Review: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
This collection of romantic short stories from Korean manhwa artist Park Young Ha begins with Baran, a young man in ancient Korea being told by his father he's to be wed. This comes as an unwelcome surprise, and to add insult to injury, his intended bride is the daughter of the demon clan that resides nearby. The family seal went missing ten years ago, and it was necessary to have a perfect fake created in order to save the family. The head of the demon clan made it for him, but on the condition their children wed when they were old enough. Baran meets his fiancé, Sue Sun, who is quite charming and attractive. They both have the same agenda: get their father's to call off the arranged marriage. The fathers agree, on the condition they find the real seal.

The next story is about a beautiful but cold young doctor named HeE Yhun Joo who is battling her own inner demons. She saves the life of a handsome but somewhat stupid and lecherous young shaman, Yoo Soung. His resemblance to her dead brother brings up unwanted memories, and intensifies the nightmares she's already been suffering from. His unabashed interest in her and his genuine concern slowly begins to break down the walls she erected around herself, but it's also making her vulnerable to the pain that's plaguing her.

The next tale takes place in modern day Korea. Miran is a pretty young high school girl, and Joon is both her childhood friend and guinea pig. She loves magic and reads every book on the subject. Every time she learns a new spell, she tries them on Joon. Luckily for him, they never work. But one day, he reads a passage from one of her books, and accidentally turns her into a dog. Sort of. She has dog ears, paws, a tail and fangs. They consult a friend who is familiar with magic, and he warns them that something terrible will happen if she isn't turned back into a human by sundown.

In the next story, we return to ancient Korea. Eyun Yoo is a pretty young woman who steals her family heirloom, a rusty old sword called the Crying Thunder Sword. It's said that it can cut anything, but at the same time, it can't cut anything. She's only taking it because her father planned on selling it, and she couldn't bear to see it go. She encounters a handsome young man fishing in the forest. It turns out he's the spirit of a dragon, and he's collecting special animals that have escaped from heaven. She falls in love with him, but he's reluctant. His lifespan in nearly immortal compared to hers, and he knows the love between a spirit and a mortal creates great pain when they inevitably have to part. While talking it over, a fox spirit comes to them and requests their help. A lightning bolt dislodged a great boulder and trapped his wife. Only Eyun Yoo's rusty old sword can help them, if only she knew how to use it.


The final story takes place in what looks to be Victorian England. Mr. Jackason is a small time magician and Wendy is a cute little blonde magical fairy he summoned. When Jackason learns that Princess Flora is holding a ball to find a suitable husband, he immediately sets to work to find a way to win her heart. With Wendy's help, they manage to crash the ball, but when the singing bird he summons turns out to be an ugly chicken, his deception is discovered and he's thrown in prison. Now Wendy has the job of trying to convince the outraged princess to forgive him and set him free.

Comments
I found this collection of five romantic short stories to be quite entertaining. The first, which the volume is named after, was Park Young Ha's first professional story, and it's full of the energy and spirit you'd expect of a young writer/artist. I found myself going back and rereading several times, it was so fun. The rest of the stories are great fun as well, with the two other stories set in a fantasy version of ancient Korea to be especially noteworthy. Ha's artwork is just as lively as her writing, with great character designs and facial expressions. There's quite a bit of humor in her art and writing as well. The close-ups of her characters, both male and female are quite stunning, showing them off to their best advantage. Backgrounds are sometimes non-existent, but the composition of panels moves smoothly, never getting in the way of the story. I am also quite impressed with the clothing designs. The graceful beauty of traditional Korean clothing adds richness to the art, immersing the reader even deeper in the story.

The front cover features Sue Sun, the demon girl from the first story. Despite the elongated ears, horn on her head, cat's eyes and fang, she's quite attractive. She's dressed in a white kimono with flowers in her hair and floating about her, with a dragon in the background. The back cover is a small image of Baran, her intended partner, reading a scroll. Other than the small blurb and UPC code, the back cover is blank. A bit more work with their graphic designer would do wonders to give it a more professional look. The art reproduction is marginal, with quite a bit of screentoning coming out the worse for wear. On the other hand, the detail in the linework looks good, and dark areas don't seem to bleed too much. Still, it could be quite a bit better. The translation reads fine. Some passages are a little awkward, but there are also some very funny passages as well. Most importantly, the romantic feeling of the stories always comes through. Unfortunately, I notice a couple of typos as well. In the back of the book are four pages of notes on the stories by the author and extra art work. It's a very nice extra, since I always like to hear what an artist thinks of their own work.

The Missing White Dragon is a fun collection of romantic tales from ancient to modern Korea, stories that I thoroughly enjoyed. A little more work from Infinity Studios, and this would a great release. As it is, it's still a pretty darned good book, and I have no problem recommending it.