Shaman Warrior, Volume 1

Genre fantasy Author Park Joong-Ki Publisher Dark Horse External Links Official Dark Horse Website

Shaman Warrior, Volume One is a collection of the first seven chapters of the series, and it is also one of the first books in Dark Horse's Manhwa line. For the uninitiated, manhwa is a general term used for Korean comics and cartoons, though has come to be analogous to manga in the U.S. in that it refers to the comics produced in a certain region. Japanese manga is widely known and hugely popular in the States now, but Korean manhwa is still relatively unknown. Yet it is, like manga, quite popular in its home country. Dark Horse has chosen their first two main titles in their Manhwa line to be Kim Young-Oh's Banya: The Explosive Delivery Man and Park Joong-Ki's Shaman Warrior. Both books have been translated to English by the mother/son team of Taesoon Kang and novelist Derek Kirk Kim. Manhwa has advantages to manga for translation because it reads, like English and unlike Japanese, left to right. Therefore, Shaman Warrior can be published left-to-right like an American graphic novel. One of the best selling comics in Korea, Shaman Warrior tells the story of a Shaman Warrior (a warrior "chosen by God to receive special powers" is what a note tells us) named Yarong and his sidekick Batu. Dark Horse writes that "if you've never read manhwa before, we welcome you to a world of rich characterization and lush, detailed artwork." And while the latter is undeniably true of "Shaman Warrior," what I found lacking in this volume was precisely rich characterization.

The first chapter of the graphic novel does a nice job of establishing mood. Yarong (hooded and disguised) and Batu arrive at an inn for food when they are confronted by a belligerent warrior. While the two heroes try to avoid conflict, you just know this is going to play out like the Star Wars canteena scene. Batu does the heavy work of roughing up the agitator while Yarong plays the detached wiser role, saying simply as he walks out "Believe me, you don't want to fight me," with the implication that he can say such a bad-ass thing because he is bad-ass enough to back it up. However, it does establish the dynamic between calm Yarong and brass Batu. Soon they are ambushed by the menacing Yuda and his hired bandits. Thoroughly outnumbered, Yarong and Batu are bloodied but manage to esacape. We then find out that Yarong has a daughter Yaki whom he picks up in his home village. When Yuda gains on the three, an injured Yarong decides that he will confront them allowing Batu to safeguard Yaki to safety since he correctly believes that Yuda is pursuing the Shaman Warrior. What follows is an epic battle between Yarong and Yuda's gang where Yarong pulls some serious Shaman Warrior magic to change himself into a wolfman creature. The battle ends in a surprising fashion which sets up the events of a second volume.

There's not much to the story in narrative terms, which is fine, because it is clear the is a fighting book to begin with. The majority of the seven chapters consists in different battles between Yarong and Yuda's men, with a bit of political intrigue thrown in as a respite. The problem is that so much fighting of the same opponent becomes a bit similar. Likewise, we are given precious little background about any of the characters. Ironically, we learn more about the general who appears in only two chapters than we do about any of the main characters. I realize that the intent is start the series with a sword-filled bang without getting bogged down in histories. Still, without context it is difficult not only to care about these characters or see their motivation, but even at times to keep them straight. The action is admittedly spectacularly rendered at times. With the kinetic and exaggerated feeling of manga, but not quite as rounded or stylized, Park Joong-Ki is skilled at portraying energy through these fight scenes.

The book declares itself as appealing to fans of titles like Blade of the Immortal and Lone Wolf and Cub, and I do not doubt that fans of action/fantasy graphic novels and comics will be impressed by Shaman Warrior. Readers who enjoy more characterization, however, may be entertained but not entirely fulfilled. Part of this may be due to the serial nature of the title. Many graphic novels are self-contained stories, whereas this functions more like a trade paperback collection of a monthly comic series, unfurling one arc while setting up the next. So perhaps the second volume of this book will further delve into character, but evaluating this book on its own, it is well-rendered action fare with underdeveloped characters.