TERROR MAN (VOL. 1), from Ablaze Publishing on 6/14/23, follows Jungwoo Min – a high schooler with the power to see misfortune before it happens. How can a teenager save people from disaster when nobody will believe him?
The Details
- Written by: Han Dong-Woo
- Art by: Ko Jin-Ho
- Colors by: Ko Jin-Ho
- Letters by: Ko Jin-Ho
- Cover art by: Ko Jin-Ho
- Comic Rating: Teen+
- Cover price: $19.99
- Release date: June 14, 2023
Is It Good?
TERROR MAN (VOL. 1) is the latest Mahwa offering (Korean Manga) from Ablzae Publishing, and it takes the common premise of a teenager with superpowers and flips it on its head. In a strange twist, Terror Man is a bad guy for all the right reasons.
Han Dong-Woo’s premise hits the nail on the head by giving readers a different kind of hero story, wrapped around a plot with increasing stakes, mystery, cool characters, and plenty of dramatic tension. The concept centers on Jungwoo Min – a high school student with the ability to see misfortune before it happens and avoid it with the visual equivalent of Spidey-Sense. When Jungwoo “sees” major disasters about to happen, and nobody will believe his pleas to evacuate, Jingwoo adopts the persona of a terrorist bent on death and destruction to cause innocent bystanders to flee.
The basic premise is interesting enough to capture your attention, Han Dong-Woo’s excellent writing style keeps you hanging on when Jungwoo encounters a “real” terrorist who might be connected to his mother’s death years earlier. In other words, the flipped premise about a superhero gets a big boost with intrigue and mystery related to a larger conspiracy that’s good enough to be interesting as its own story.
Regarding the art, Ko Jin-Ho’s style is clean, energetic, and dramatic. This volume is different from most Manhwa in that color is necessary to tell part of the story, so Ko Jin-Ho uses the color sparingly and only when necessary to tell the story where needed and to add visual punch.
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What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
We begin with an introduction to Jungwoo Min. He’s a timid teenager with a unique power. He can see misfortune in the form of a purple mist hanging over anything that could go wrong. His power allows him to do exceptionally well on tests and games of chance, but it never occurred to him to do much else with it. Part of Jungwoo’s timidity is the result of his mother’s death from a rockslide when Jungwoo was a young boy.
Now, Jungwoo keeps to himself, and he’s looked after by his Russian au pair, Lilia. One day, Lilia takes Jungwoo out grocery shopping to get Jungwoo out of his depression. Jungwoo agrees, but the trip turns serious when he sees the entire department store bathed in purple mist.
Jungwqoo races to the security office to warn the people to evacuate before the building collapses, but the security officers don’t believe him.
Lilia knows about Jungwoo’s power and hatches an alternate plan to get everyone out of the building. We continue the volume with hostages, a bridge explosion, and a terrorist hunt.
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Final Thoughts
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TERROR MAN (VOL. 1) takes the classic trope of a teenager with powers who reluctantly becomes a hero and flips it on its head, wherein the hero is considered a villain. The premise is different enough from standard fare to be interesting, the lead gets into incredibly hot water very quickly, and a greater conspiracy stacks layers of intrigue on top of an already interesting story.
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