NOW is a Manwha released in the English language for the North American market by Infinity Studios LLC. NOW was illustrated/written by Sung-Woo-Park.

Content

As the book opens up, we find a bunch of mostly no-name thugs going after a book of martial arts skills called the Sa Shin Mu. Sa Shin Mu, as it turns out, is a very powerful form of martial arts wherein masters of it's skills can kill in a single blow. With it's final owner Pa Goon Sung now deceased, would be wielders are flowing out of the wood work in order to obtain it's power.

One of the seekers is Se-Ha Yu and his Sah-Hyung (one more skilled in the school of martial arts they are part of). Se-Ha's Sah-Hyung is attacked and Se-Ha makes a run for it, unaware of what his friend's fate may be.

Se-Ha Yu collapses in the valley, unable to continue on his flight from his attackers whom it seems his Sah-Hyung has successfully kept occupied during Se-Ha's escape. Just as Se-Ha collpses, he is happened upon by Ah-Rhin Yhun who helps him after falling over him. The two become fast friends and while making their introductions, Ah-Rhin's sword is stolen by a cat like girl whose name is Cho-Rhung. Cho-Rhung heads off into the distance with the two following closely behind.

Cho-Rhung leads them to Bi-Ryu, her "friend" of sorts. Bi-Ryu is the final pupil, in a sense, to Pa Goon Sung and is bestowed the powerful Sa Shin Mu book on Pa Goon's deathbed, with a final wish that the book only be turned over to one who has already mastered the book's lessons. Bi-Ryu has and will fight to kill anyone looking for the book. And as it turns out, there are a lot of people after the power that cannot wield it!

Presentation/Packaging

NOW is in a standard size Manwha format. No oversize for this release. The paper use is of a very nice, high quality bright white type. This helps contrast the exquisite black and white artwork drawn by Sung-Woo Park.

I've found that some of the artwork suffers from what I can only describe as a screen door type effect. If you look at some of the characters' clothing, you will see what I mean. Not having access to the original Korean version and no longer owning the original Comics One version, I cannot compare to find out if this is "normal." It does not detract from the story at all, and the artwork is still very, very nice.

Included with this release is a slip cover, similar to what Infinity Studios has been doing with a lot of its titles lately. The color slip cover has the Bi-Ryu cover art from the Comics One release along with the color Ah-Rhin montage on the back. When you take the slip cover off you are presented with another, different, picture of Bi-Ryu in black and white for the cover. The naked back cover is a black and white image of the same montage used of Ah-Rhin on the slip cover. Very nice all around.

Yet another bonus, only found in the re-release, is a very nice embossed poster of Bi-Ryu and Ah-Rhin standing before a tree. A great treat and some beautiful artwork.

One final note is that the first couple of pages are full color, something most Manga/Manwha studios generally don't bother giving us when they release them, despite the original Japanese/Korean releases having them. And another full color bonus occurs roughly right at the center of the book. There are 2 pages (4 sides) of color artwork, with Ah-Rhin displayed in a brown tone to make the image look old, the center 2 pages being the lovely Ah-Rhin in centerfold style, with Bi-Ryu taking up the last page in a similar style to the brown tinted Ah-Rhin.

MSRP is $10.95 and Infinity Studios has once again gone above and beyond and presented us with a fantastic example of just how well done a Manga/Manwha release can be. Now if only other studios would step up to the challenge. Though I suppose then Infinity Studios just might become a little less special...

Text

The text is clear and legible, though there are some scenes where you can tell the staff was struggling to fit all that was being said into the confines of the word bubble they were given.

Included in some of the empty space are translations and foot notes that pertain to the panels surrounding the note. The fact that these are in the text while you are reading, and not left as liner notes in the back, is greatly appreciated. Using the dead space in this manner makes a good use of the space and makes understanding the text that much easier. If the option was edit some of the artwork to include notes or put them in the back and not edit artwork, I'd opt for the back of the book. Thankfully this option is not needed.

The translation is now more consistent than the original release. Attack names are phonetic spellings of their Korean originals with English translations either in the word bubble or translated in the white space. Character names are also phonetically spelled Korean versions. In the original Comics One release it seemed they'd flip a coin with every name to decide if it was phonetic Korean or translated to English. With a more consistent translation comes a book that is much easier to understand than its original release.

Another bonus is what appears to be a complete lack of grammatical or spelling errors. If there are any errors in the text, I certainly missed them. This is a testament to the time and care Infinity Studios has put into this title.

Artwork

I can remember when I first picked up NOW (the Comics One edition) and thinking "I wonder why Comics One decided to flop a book?" It wasn't until I opened the book up and started flipping through the pages that I realized the book wasn't flopped; it was presented as it was in its original Korean language! The style, the characters and the settings all reminded me of the Japanese Manga I had become so accustomed to that it didn't even register the book was Korean in nature. This was my first foray into the Korean Manwha, and what a wonderful introduction it was!

Calling Sung-Woo Park's artwork similar to Japanese styling is in no way an insult or meant as disrespect to his work. I believe he and a few other Korean comic writers have managed to blur the line between the two countries and create a well designed and beautiful background that allows the reader to step away from the origins and just enjoy the title.

In other words, NOW is a very beautifully drawn book from the master Sung-Woo Park.

Final Thoughts

One of my favorite scenes in the book is the Se-Ha Yu/Ah-Rhin Yhung meeting. Having not read Chun Rhang Yhur Jhun prior to NOW when I read it before (thanks to it having not been released in English at that point), I can now get a much fuller appreciation of the scene and the comedy value it lent to O'Rhang and Ha-Rhang Whur meeting. Comedy gold and a great nod to fans of Sung-Woo Park's previous work.

If this review seems like nothing but high praise with only a touch of negativity to it, that would be for good reason. There isn't really anything that I can find glaringly wrong with the title. Honestly. The action based story may not be everyone's idea of a great title and if you aren't a fan of action, then this definitely isn't a title for you. Fans of action, intrigue and crazy plot twists should jump all over this book however.

NOW Vol. 1 is yet another example of Infinity Studios' outstretched hand grasping for the description of "perfect" for it's books. I can honestly say that they've nearly attained this goal with the NOW Vol. 1 re-release. I hope the NOW re-releases and eventual progression into the volumes we have not yet gotten translated continues the "strive for perfection" nature that this volume exudes.