Posted in: Ablaze Publishing, Comics, Comics Publishers, Manga | Tagged: ABLAZE Publishing, Choi Gyu-seok, Hellbound, manhwa, The Awl, Webtoon

The Awl: ABLAZE to Publish Acclaimed Korean Webtoon Graphic Novel

The Awl, the critically-acclaimed Korean webtoon from Hellbound creator Choi Gyu-seok is getting an English edition from ABLAZE in December.

The Awl, an award-winning Korean webtoon about a charismatic labor union activist battling corporate greed to improve the lives of workers, will get its English language debut from ABLAZE. The publishing house is expanding its webtoon manhwa lineup with the moving and socially conscious series about workers' struggles at an oppressive Korean big-box superstore as they strive for better lives and working conditions. The work is by creator Choi Gyu-Seok, who was also the artist of The Hellbound, a manhwa series adapted into a live-action show and streaming on Netflix now.

The Awl is critically acclaimed and the recipient of the Korean Cartoon of Today Prize. It caused a stir by raising public awareness about acute labor problems when it was initially published. It was also adapted into a successful TV series in South Korea by the JTBC network. ABLAZE will launch the 6-volume series in print with the debut of Volume 1 this December.

THE AWL, Vol. 1

Story and art by Choi Gyu-seok

SRP: $14.99 ∙ 248 Pages ∙ ISBN: 978-1-68497-190-9

Available December 6th

Set in the latter half of the 2000s, against the backdrop of "Pureumi," a fictional superstore chain in South Korea, the work unfolds with a focus on two protagonists: Yi Su-in, who has been instructed by the corporation to dismiss workers unjustly; and Gu Go-sin, a labor activist.
A man of principles, Su-in is someone who cannot restrain outspoken criticism and is constantly at odds with the world. Though he has quit a career in the armed forces to live quietly and chosen an ordinary job, he once again clashes against the world because the company has ordered him to drive out employees by force.
Aiding Su-in is Go-sin, a cool-headed and deft labor activist who runs a labor counseling center near the Pureumi chain. Unlike Su-in, who has difficulty getting along with people and sternly sticks to rules, he approaches others without hesitation and even resorts to extreme measures at times to accomplish goals.

Choi Gyu-Seok's art depicts with finesse all the adventures of this shock of two worlds and, at the same time, offers an amazing portrait of a complex Korean society, crossed by multiple tensions.

"The Awl is a very special title, and we are proud to bring it to the ABLAZE catalog and to English readers for the first time," says Rich Young, co-founder and publisher of ABLAZE. "The struggle between the haves and have-nots, between the rich and poor, between oppressors and the oppressed is timeless, and the struggles by workers all over the world continue each day. The Awl is a testament to these workers and to how one man's actions have far-reaching consequences to change the lives of many people."

Born in 1977 in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province, Choi Gyu-seok studied illustration and animation at Sang Myung University and made his debut as a cartoonist with the selection of his work in a competition hosted by a Korean magazine in 1998. He went on to be the recipient of Dong-LG International Festival of Comics, Cartoon, Character Design and Animation (DIFECA) for his The Cola Man in 2002. In 2003, He won the Comics Readers Award and the Presidential Awar Award for Outstanding Leaders of the 21^st Century. He was also invited that year to the Angouleme International Comics Festival and selected among "New Cultural Stars" by the Daily Hankyoreh in 2006. His other works include A Report on the Ecology of Marshes and A Sad Homage to Dooly the Dinosaur. Currently, he serializes the historical drama The Natives of the Republic of Korea in the weekly Hankyoreh 21.

The Awl is critically acclaimed and the recipient of the Korean Cartoon of Today Prize. It caused a stir by raising public awareness about acute labor problems when it was initially published. It was also adapted into a successful TV series in South Korea by the JTBC network.

The Awl will be available in print and most major digital platforms.

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