Made In Korea

A great unease permeates this visually striking graphic sci-fi fable from Holt (Skip to the End) and Schall (Better Angels), which takes place in a world where synthetic children are sold to childless couples. An engineer in Seoul makes a mathematical discovery and sells one “discounted” to a couple in Texas, with his new code secretly uploaded. When this “proxy,” Jesse, is powered on for the first time by her adoptive parents, her eyes suddenly snap open. Then her behavior seems to go off-kilter. Schall’s art adds to the disquiet with otherworldly character drawings. Jesse has the information-processing capabilities of a super computer but no social skills. Once enrolled in school, she falls in with an extremely bad crowd, with violent consequences. Instead of dealing with the repercussions of Jesse’s actions, the narrative finds her whisked back to South Korea. There, for the first time, she confronts her uncertainty about her assigned gender and faces off against the company that manufactured her. The plot leaps can pull readers out of the strange and mysterious world, and while themes around identity, gender, and personhood are introduced, many questions are left hanging. Despite the uneven execution, there’s much to chew on in a cool package for philosophical sci-fi fans. (Feb.)