Korea Webcomic Adaptation: '26 Years'

Prolific webcomic artist Kang Do-young has already spearheaded the transition of a half-dozen comics to the live-action movie media, but this year pledges to revisit a project abandoned a handful of years ago. 26 Years, a comic he first authored and illustrated back in 2006, is perking up the ears of interested moviegoers as Kang assigns the theatrical adaptation a new director to charge forward. Kang, pseudonym "Kang Full," is the man behind the original stories that inspired recent productions such as Late Blossom (2010), Pained (2011), and Timing, announced roughly one year ago [past A.I. news: "Korea-Japan Feature Animation News" (01/2011)].

One of the earliest, and by extension most comfortable adopters of Korea's thriving market for self-published webcomics, Kang Do-young knows his audience better than anyone. His simple and homely character art beguiles sufficiently thoughtful observations of the human condition, and frequently unveil character drama and romance as it relates the everyday Korean. 26 Years, by contrast, is one of Kang's few departures from the realm of romance, comedy, and light drama. The artist often dabbles in mystery and the unknowable as well. But speaking directly to his work on 26 Years, Kang takes a meaningful and aggressive look at the socio-political undercurrents and wells of emotion following civic unrest in 1980s Korea.

26 Years is so named for taking place in the two and a half decades following the Gwangju People's Uprising (1980), a democratization movement held in the City of Gwangju, an at-first peaceful rebellion against the military dictatorship of then President Chun Doo-whan. It didn't take long, however, for President Chun's paratroopers and military specialists to recede from, and then take back with garish ferocity, the City of Gwangju. Hundreds of civilians were executed by the order of the president in late May 1980.

In Kang's 26 Years, the children and other descendants of the victims are joining together to seek vengeance for the greatest tragedy in modern Korean history.

The webcomic is frequently characterized as a radically fictitious chronicle of social unrest, what with its deep focus on violent protest, governmental coups, and simplified if altogether drastic departure from the creator's previous, softer efforts of a more empathic nature.

These characterizations are, by and large, accurate. 26 Years openly contests the politics in reaction to the uprising, further contextualizing the anguish of the affected with a decidedly contemporary passion for change. Perhaps an oversimplification to some degree, the comic cautiously draws a line in the sand between the lighter and darker elements of the human subconscience.

29 Years, the live-action theatrical adaptation of the webcomic, is likely to follow in the footsteps of Kang's original story. Many characters converge, pool resources, and formulate their revenge against the people or persons they feel is responsible for the 1980 massacre. In the webcomic, that person was the former president himself. It may also help to recall that 29 Years has been up for a feature adaptation before. Back in 2008, a USD $6.5 million project (then helmed by Lee Hae-yeong) brought its focus onto a former soldier during the uprising and his conflicted emotions over the event's place in Korean history.

Now, Kwon Chil-in has signed on as director of the re-started 29 Years. Kwon's most recent film, Wonderful Radio (2012), is a drama that opened in the first weekend of January at the top of the charts, and continues to pull in respectable audiences. Whereas the webcomic creator's previous attempt to get a film adaptation made was stymied by a profound lack of investment support, this time things are different, Kang comments to one source.

Local news reports confirm that casting is underway (29 Years), and that the entire cast will "change dramatically" from what was originally reported for the 2008-version of the adaptation.

Kang Do-young's original 26 Years comic has long since been collected into bound volumes, a recurring and now common step for successful webcomics authors. Kang's title invariably focuses more on injury than instigation, discussing the heartache of civil unrest, and continues to provoke a reasonable level of discussion at local comics industry events regarding popular culture as political manifestation.

(sources: HanCinema.net, Korean Popular Culture Conference Proceedings (2011), NATE Media, LIST Magazine, Daum Media, and The Korea Times)

Recent Korea Feature Animation News:
"The King of Pigs: Korea Feature Animation News" / {watch} at AnimationInsider.net (10/2011)