Award-winning cartoons reflect present day society
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Winners of the 2017 Today’s Our Manhwa Award pose at an award ceremony at the Korea Manhwa Museum in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, Nov. 3. / Courtesy of the Korea Manwha Contents Agency
By Baek Byung-yeul
The smartphone has enabled more people to read “manhwa,” or comic books, anywhere. Thanks to the industry’s growing popularity and success, readers can experience more comic books that are entertaining and thought provoking.
On Nov. 3, five local cartoonists were recognized for their comic books, becoming recipients of Today’s Our Manhwa Award. They are “Danji” by cartoonist Danji, “Myeoneuragi” by Soo Sin-ji, “San Francisco Hwa Rang Kwan” by Dolbae, “I Forgot to Bring My Wallet” by Miyeokuihyoneung, and “Cashero” by team befar. All received prize money of 5 million won ($4490) and the culture minister’s award at a ceremony at the Korea Manhwa Museum in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province.
The annual award, organized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and given to the five best cartoon works of the year, is regarded as one of the top comics awards in Korea. Since its establishment in 1999, many cartoonists here have won it.
The organizing committee said the five comics were recognized for their high-quality work and for being finely adapted to contemporary society.
An image from “Myeoneuragi” / Courtesy of the Korea Manwha Contents Agency
“Myeoneulagi,” an affectionate name for daughter-in-law, received high marks for dealing with the conflicts between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.
“I would like to express my gratitude to the committee for recognizing my work, which has been serialized on a private social network account,” the author said when accepting her prize.
The cartoon, which has been serialized on the author’s Facebook and Instagram accounts, has been arousing interest from many businesswomen in Korea who are struggling to accommodate the need for balance between work and family.
It revolves around businesswoman Min Sa-rin, who lives with her husband and his family. As a daughter-in-law, Min tries to get along with her mother-in-law, but she is uncomfortable with her because she still believes women should do more chores.
The conflicts are also seen when Min announces her plan for a business trip. Her mother-in-law says Min needs to stay with her husband because they have not been married long. The comic strip describes the mother-in-law’s duplicity when she serves ox-bone soup to Min’s husband when he is sent on a business trip.
“Danji” is also appreciated by many female readers for dealing with domestic violence. The title is the same as the author’s pen name as this comic strip is autobiographical.
In “Danji,” the author, 31, looks back on her childhood. In a family that has a strong gender gap with a son preference, the author grew up with domestic violence. At that time she didn’t recognize that it was violence because she was too young. But as she grows older, she realizes she was discriminated against by her parents, compared with her older sister and younger brother.
After revealing her story in season 1, the author deals with the stories of readers who had a similar experience. “I just described my personal story into comic strips, and I am so thankful that I could earn sympathy from many,” the author said.
“I Forgot to Bring My Wallet” is in line with “Myeoneulagi” and “Danji” for dealing with women’s problems such as surviving as a single mother.
An image from “Cashero” by team befar / Courtesy of the Korea Manwha Contents Agency
“Cashero,” a combined word of cash and hero, seemingly looks like a superhero-type cartoon work, but it is recognized for dealing with the 880,000 won generation. The term refers to the low-paid young generation rattled by an unstable job market.
In the cartoon, protagonist Kang Sung-woong suddenly earns superhuman powers after he is laid off. With the power, Kang can easily lift a car and jump between buildings like Spider-Man.
However, he cannot use the power every time as he can only control his power when he has enough cash. As a low-paid part-time worker, Kang cannot conceive the idea of saving the world or overthrowing the socialist system. He just helps people around him when he earns enough cash.
“San Francisco Hwa Rang Kwan” received a favorable evaluation for providing a healing experience through episodes that reflected everyday life. The work revolves around Lee Ga-ya, a Korea-born computer programmer in San Francisco, and describes her life after she begins to learn taekwondo at the Hwa Rang Kwan academy there.