Review by Frank Plowright
Choi Gyu-seok starts this opening volume of four to date with an introduction explaining that The Awl began with the idea of his wanting to produce a comic about the labour movement, and that he gave up several times, but always returned to the idea. Thank goodness for his persistence, as The Awl is a completely unique drama for comics.
Go-shin Gu is a director of Bujang Labor Counseling Center and first seen in a short prologue where he meets a man sleeping in the streets. He’s owed back wages by a pizza parlour, and Gu’s no nonsense approach soon has the man paid. It establishes both the man and his methods, and the impression is that we’ve been introduced to the main character. That isn’t the case, and it’s almost a hundred pages before Gu is seen again. Two further stories follow, the considerably longer of them dealing with a food distribution company.
Choi credits three story advisors along with Jung Pil-won for writing assistance, and between them they supply the corporate conversations and machinations one always imagines takes place, but which are always publicly denied. The staff are hard working, if annoyed at the military manner of the floor manager Soo-in Lee, but the new corporate manager wants rid of the staff and instructs Lee to achieve it by making conditions intolerable so the staff leave of their own accord.
Rather than continue with the story he’s set up, Choi then takes a prolonged diversion to consider Lee’s past. He’s shown as a decent man who knows right from wrong and the courage to stand up for what’s right, but the personal cost eventually persuades him to turn a blind eye. Along the way Choi highlights iniquities of South Korean society, including the system of teachers beating children whose parents didn’t pay them extra, routine election fraud to ensure the ‘right’ people are elected, military corruption… It’s an extensive list. One wonders how this extensive boat rocking was received in Choi’s South Korean homeland.
Neat art and a burning resentment at social ills fuel The Awl, and Gu is a magnificent character, never at a loss, always prepared and able to talk to bosses with the respect they deserve. He carries the same certain righteousness as a Steve Ditko hero.
Choi’s storytelling is unconventional in concentrating for long periods on a single character at the expense of others, rather than integrating Gu more smoothly into Lee’s story via a second spotlight, and too many diversions. There’s a lack of finesse about transitions between different scenes also Choi’s not one for compacting. However, as a first step into a topic not covered in comics there are some great moments, not least a story about boxing and the accompanying pep talk. Following a massive information dump about labour laws toward the end, Gu and Lee finally cross paths, by which point the bullying and intimidation has become extremely uncomfortable. Confrontation at first, Choi works toward a powerful ending. Much of the preparatory work and employment information is now covered, so the continuation of Lee’s story in The Awl 2, is something to anticipate.
