Yongbi the Invincible Vol-2
Story by: Ki Woon Ryu
Artwork: Jung Who Moon
Pages: 200
Published Domestically by: CPM Press
By: Jeffrey Couto

Introduction

After a brief brake from the written medium I decided to take a look at Yongbi the Invincible volume 2 and see how the story evolves and moves beyond what we saw in the first book.

I was pleasantly surprised by how fun the first volume in the series was and the striking balance it achieved between its action, comedy and drama components. With this next entry I was hoping to see it move a little beyond that and maybe more of a focus on one two of these elements rather than all three.

Story

"Conspiracy, Chaos...and constipation? Who is the mysterious wandering bounty hunter called YONGBI BULPE? Why does even GOO-HWI, the legendary undefeated warrior, cower at the sight of him? Why is the entire attention of the China's MURIM focused on the young master YUL, the owner of the mystical amulet? And what did Yongbi's faithful horse eat to cause such a profound case of intestinal distress?" -- CPM Yongbi the Invincible Page

Review

We open with a scene depicting the leader of the Black Snake Assassin Clan, Goo-Hwi, down and out for the count while the young child he was protecting, Yul Mug, looks shell-shockedi. However, we soon learn Goo-Hwi is not dead and is in reality still a formidable contender that can handle almost any opponent that comes his way, which he proves early into the opening chapter.

Meanwhile our titular hero, Yongbi, is busy trying to help his horse through some…how should I say this…biological problems that he’s having, specifically constipation. Fortunately for Bi-Yong a group of three brothers happens to be making their way through when they hear his cries of pain, because as it turns out one of them has some experience with these types of problems. After a few tense moments and some daring methods this friendly stranger helps Bi-Yong with his affliction. However when they discover the nature of the item that the horse had swallowed and was trying to pass their personalities change from that of good samaritans to deadly assassins.

Will Yongbi be able to stand up against the attacks of the three deadly brothers known as Hwi-Mo Mah and their individual skills in the martial arts arena? Will Goo-Hwi rise to the challenge and protect Yul Mulgi from his pursuers?

With this second book the author took a decidedly different approach than he did with the first one. Whereas before we experienced different sides of Yongbi and enjoyed a story that was for the most part adventurous in feel here we switch gears a bit and go for a more action oriented angle. It seemed like from beginning to end the book kept going from one action scene to the next with a small number of plot and character advancement scenes thrown in for good measure.

Considering how balanced the story was before it was interesting to see to the three-pronged focus narrowed down almost entirely on Yongbi as a fearless and vicious warrior. This is also true of Goo-Hwi, who although was supposed to be this all powerful evil leader of the Black Snake Assassin Clan, was easily taken out (almost with too much ease!) by Yongbi in the opening of the first chapter in the series. Here we finally see some glimpses of his powers and skills, which are truly to be feared all but the top masters of martial arts in the world.

While the action scenes are great and filled with a great amount of kinetic energy very little attention seems to have been paid to moving the story forward however, with only Goo-Hwi’s subplot seeming to make any sort of advancements towards its next stage. Yongbi spends almost the entire book engaged in combat with Hwi-Mo Mah, taking each brother on in a fight to the death.

This isn’t completely bad as it gives the title a faster paced feel, but I did miss some of the humor and adventure-oriented narrative. That’s not to say its not here, but not as much. Despite this I still had an immense amount of fun reading this book and getting to see more of the two main characters and their darker side. In the case of Goo-Hwi it was particularly interesting to see a more fatherly side to him as he’s supposed to be this evil martial artist that’s known throughout the land for his decidedly wicked ways yet here he is taking great care of Yul Mugi and risking his life for him!

The artwork here continues to impress and is a definite plus to the book. The action-heavy sequences in particular lend themselves to some neat layouts and panel arrangements that jump right off the page. The drawings themselves are clean although this time out they seemed more complex in nature as they depict more realistic looking characters. During the non-combat segments the drawings go back to their slightly cleaner looks.

On the product end the book feels solidly constructed with a page format that goes from left-to-right. The ink reproduction seemed perfectly good with no real issues to speak of and the translation seemed on target. Sounds effects enjoyed subtitles for folks who are not familiar with the original language. This second book enjoyed better cover art than the first one, but I still don’t think it captures the best of what’s inside the book.

Conclusion

I enjoyed this title as much as I thought I would and as before we are left hanging with a cool cliffhanger that is sure to make you come back and see what happens next!

If you enjoy reading martial arts adventure stories or are looking for a new Manhwa to check out Yongbi the Invincible is highly recommended. Next time you’re at your local book shop make sure to look it up and check it out. You’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Jeffrey Couto