Admiral Yi headlines superhero comics
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The cover of graphic novel, “Yi Soon Shin: Fallen Avenger #4,” and its writer Onrie Kompan / Courtesy of Onrie Kompan Productions
By Kwon Mee-yoo
Superheroes are big business now. Amid the prevalence of fictional heroes with magical powers, an American indie visual novel is shedding light on a real Korean hero--Onrie Kompan Production’s "Yi Soon Shin.”
Though a statue of the naval commander Yi Sun-shin (1545-1598) has been standing in Seoul’s central Gwanghwamun area since 1968, no one had thought of him as a superhero until Onrie Kompan.
Kompan, 32, a graduate of Columbia College Chicago majoring in fictional writing, is the writer and driving force of the Yi graphic novel. He first came to know the admiral and the Imjin War (1592-1598) through the 2004 KBS drama "Immortal Admiral Yi Sun-shin."
"Every aspect of it inspired me to tell my own version of his tale. This was a story that had everything," Kompan said during an interview with The Korea Times. "The stakes for Korea were never so high. The heroes were outnumbered. The villains were vile. And the beauty of it all was that this all actually happened. You can’t make stuff like this up."
He carried out thorough research on Yi’s life, reading translated materials such as “Nanjungilgi” (the war journal written by Yi) and other books written about the Imjin War (1592-1598). Kompan also worked with professor Chung Byung-woong of the Yi Sun-shin Research Institute at Soonchunhyang University to gather information.
To make the comics based on the life of Yi, he created an international team after months of searching. Kompan is in charge of script and layout with co-writer/editor David Anthony Kraft; artists Giovanni Timpano and El Arnakleus do the artwork that goes to colorist Adriana De Los Santos; later Joel Saavedra puts the final touches with typesetting.
Kompan’s first professional comic “Yi Soon Shin” gained attention in the independent comic book industry in the United States since its debut five years ago and has sold over 40,000 units, which is a great success for an indie production.
The "Yi Soon Shin" graphic novel has finished the first part of the trilogy "Warrior and Defender" and the team is currently working on the second part "Fallen Avenger,” which revolves around the famous battle of Myeongnyang in 1597.
To complete the series, Kompan began crowd funding at Kickstarter, the U.S.-based crowd funding site, and Tumblbug, a Korean social funding company. "Due to the fact that we’re now running low on money, this is our last chance to finish what we’ve started. Crowd funding is another means of selling your work. We are offering our backers rewards in exchange for their support and are delivering the product to them," he said.
Stan Lee, the legendary creator behind Iron Man, Spider-Man and Hulk, was so impressed by the comic that he wrote the foreword for "Warrior and Defender."
"Unlike all the beloved superheroes we know and read about today, I was amazed to discover that admiral Yi actually existed. Although from the Far East, his brave actions have inspired many people from all over the world, much the same as Captain America and Spider-Man," Lee wrote.
Kompan also emphasized the strength of the character coming from historical basis."Unlike superheroes, Yi Sun-shin is the real deal. He actually existed. We are showing why he surpasses all of the superheroes."
Though based on a true story, it is not a biography of admiral Yi, rather "a Western take on an Eastern legend and our objective is to entertain our audience."
"All we have is historical documents, journals, and fragments of weaponry and clothing. That being said, we don’t have a complete disregard of what actually happened. It is not our intent to be historically inaccurate but our objective is to bring Yi into the spotlight," Kompan said. "We aim to give everyone around the world a fresh and new take on admiral Yi’s story."
The team takes liberties to tell the story interestingly, but they also do their best to ensure that dates, battles and major events are historically accurate.
“Another important thing to note is that the integrity of admiral Yi is what drives this story. He is an incorruptible force that must overcome all the odds set against him. That’s not something that you can fictionalize. That’s what happened. That’s who he was. That is reality.”
Kompan paid a visit to Korea last August for the premier of the film "Roaring Currents" during the Great Admiral Yi Sun-shin Festival.
"The best part of 'Roaring Currents,' aside from the fact that it was my first experience in a Korean movie theater, was hearing cannons go off in surround sound. One of these days, I hope that I’ll be able to hear them again when movies based on my series are made," Kompan said.
For more information, visit www.yisoonshin.com.