A Daunting Team (1983)
A Daunting Team, written and illustrated by Lee Hyun Se in 1983, is a scathing statement on Korean politics in the guise of a sports drama. The comic was set against the backdrop of President Chun Doo-Hwan’s military dictatorship (1980-1988). Chun continued the repressive policies of his predecessor, Park Chung-Hee, but during his rule civil society pushed back harder: large public protests were routine, especially on college campuses.At the same time, baseball was becoming an increasingly important sphere of public discourse. During the 1980s, professional baseball teams were launched and watching televised games, in color for the first time, became a national pastime.The protagonist of A Daunting Team is Kkach’i, a headstrong player with unkempt hair and wild eyes. Kkach’i resisted authority, but it didn’t diminish his talent. By continuing to play, Kkach’i served as a hero for a society in the mood for rebellion.

 Cho Pyŏng-Kwon (Story) / Im Wal-Yong (Art)

The Great General Mighty Wing (1994)
Published in 1994 by Gold Star Children’s Press 

The Great General Mighty Wing encapsulates many of the realities of contemporary North Korean society. In a pattern common to much socialist art, it glorifies the state through images of workers, bountiful food resources and a beautiful homeland. The primary storyline follows a conflict between anthropomorphic honeybees and wasps over control of the Garden of a Thousand Flowers, which is the source of all the honeybees’ food. The Garden of a Thousand Flowers represents the socialist ideal of a workers’ paradise. The workers in this metaphor are represented by the honeybees, which (in another pattern common to socialist art) are always depicted in a state of activity that conveys visual motion. The main character, Mighty Wing, is a highly symbolic and ideological figure.He looks similar to Japan's Atom (Astro Boy) and South Korea's Chumŏk Taejang (Fist Boss). He is a collectivist, social insect and is loyal to the queen bee. Interestingly, in The Great General Mighty Wing, North Korea’s traditional patriarchy has been recast as a matriarchy: the queen bee represents North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il.  Mighty Wing’s loyalty to the hive leadership has a transparently political purpose. The Great General Mighty Wing was published in 1994, shortly after North Korea’s leader of 46 years, Kim Il Sung, died of heart attack and his son, Kim Jong-Il had ascended to complete power. In stressing the loyalty of the honeybees, the comic was aiming to reinforce its readers’ attachment to North Korea’s leadership during a period of political change. Throughout its dramatically drawn frames, The Great General Mighty Wing expresses the underlying values of North Korean society. Every page includes a socialist axiom, such as: “To win happiness one must first endure suffering and overcome hardship,” or “A hundred allies are not enough and even one enemy is too much.” In its time, The Great General Mighty Wing was one of the most powerful advertisements for North Korea’s particular brand of communism.

 World Professional Wrestling King—Ryok To San
Published in 1995 by Pyongyang D.P.R.K Print  

World Professional Wrestling King—Ryok To San 력도산 is a biographical comic of Kim Sin-Nak (1924-1963), a famous wrestler from North Korea who became a major figure in wrestling competitions in Japan during the 1950s. Born in South Hamkyŏng province in what is now North Korea, Kim moved to Japan to become a sumo wrestler during the Japanese colonial period. Japanese sumo fans would not accept a Korean competitor, so Kim used a Japanese ring name—Rikidozan. The Korean version of his ring name, Ryok To San, translates as “rugged mountain road.”            

Despite success in the ring, Kim’s sumo career was dogged by anti-Korean discrimination. In 1950, Kim gave up on sumo and became a mainstream, professional wrestler on the Japanese circuit in 1951. He quickly established himself as Japan’s greatest wrestling star by defeating one American wrestler after another.           

Rikidozan’s popularity stemmed in large part from the wounded national pride of his Japanese fans. Still stinging from their collective defeat in World War II, the Japanese public needed to see figures who could best the Americans in some way, however symbolic. And when Rikidozan did, they responded enthusiastically.                   

In this comic, and in North Korean culture, Ryok To San is depicted as a patriotic figure: a man who rose to incredible heights despite the challenges of a harsh, foreign society. Throughout, Ryok To San is glorified as someone who can defeat foreigners. In contemporary North Korea his mythology lives on in a variety of comic books, toys and souvenirs.                        

The story of Kim Sin-Nak resonates in South Korea as well. In 2004, South Korean director Song Hae-Sŏng made a biopic about the wrestler titled Rikidozan: A Hero Extraordinary with South Korean actor Sŏl Kyŏng-Ku playing the titular role.