Most of Derek Kirk Kim’s
comics/stories feature Korean Americans in their twenties, presumably because
that is the group he is part of.  Most of them were previously published on his
website www.lowbrow.com and are still
available there.  In this collection, the longest and best story is "Same
Difference," in which a bunch of Korean American friends hang out together
teasing each other and then Simon and Nancy go on a journey to Pacifica
together, where Simon grew up.  He meets some people he knew at high school and
the two of them find a mystery man who has been sending love letters to Nancy’s
house.  A back story involves a blind girl who Simon liked in high school, but
was too embarrassed to date because he was worried about what people would
say.  The tone is light and fun, with occasional moments of seriousness.  Kim’s
drawing style is careful , detailed, and yet fluid, with very neat lettering
(presumably done using a computer).  The number of frames per page varies, but
typically there are 9; he devotes more space to important points in the story,
and there’s plenty of variation, which keeps it visually interesting.  One of
his signature techniques is to repeat the same picture in several frames to
indicate the passing of time or sometimes time standing still in a crucial
moment.  It is nicely done, and the story is a good read.

The shorter pieces are,
unsurprisingly, less substantial.  They feature different characters, and a few
are just a page or two long, while others have the space to develop more
detailed stories.  Nearly all are fun or silly, although "Super
Unleaded" is more serious, about the decay of the marriage of a boy’s
parents.  Kim is versatile in his ability to do lots of different kinds of
work, so the whole book is enjoyable.  The most memorable piece is about the
difficulty of using Korean toilets, which I found really funny. 

© 2005 Christian Perring. All
rights reserved. 

Christian
Perring, Ph.D., is Academic Chair of the Arts & Humanities
Division and Chair of the Philosophy Department at Dowling College, Long Island.
He is also editor of Metapsychology Online Review.  His main
research is on philosophical issues in medicine, psychiatry and psychology.

Categories: ArtAndPhotography