YONGBI THE INVINCIBLE: Volume 1

This Korean comic works equally well as a lone-rider adventure and a spoof on the saga of the grim-looking hero. We first meet the Yongbi when he's a young bounty hunter who has captured Goo-Hwi, head of the Black Snake, a fearsome assassins' guild. Getting his prisoner to the authorities is a challenge, since squads of Black Snake members try to ambush him, but Yongbi meets these difficulties with the usual phenomenal martial arts acrobatics. At the same time, it's clear that the chief assassin is strikingly dim-witted for a criminal mastermind and that Yongbi is greedier and hornier than most heroic loners. The plot thickens when Yongbi rescues a child prince and goes off on a new quest to return him—for a reward, of course. Broad comedy mixes with action: e.g., Yongbi's horse sometimes seems smarter and more reliable than his rider and is one of the funniest characters in the book. Moon's artwork is stunning, deftly handling both action and comedy; Ryu carefully plots his story, incorporating rich detail and exciting twists. However, the slapdash translation makes the story somewhat hard to follow. Still, Yongbi , like Stan Lynde's western strip Rick O'Shay , is good-hearted, richly imagined fun. (Aug.)