Phantom, Vols. 1 – 3

Story by Ki-Hoon Lee, Art by Seung-Yip Cho
Published by Tokyopop
Rating: Teen (13+)

After the earth is devastated by “Meteor Rain,” the world falls to ruin as the various surviving countries battle for the world’s remaining natural resources. Eventually a peace is brokered and the planet is unified under the auspices of the UN. Enter K, a young idealistic member of the Korean police force’s mechanized division. During a routine battle with members of a terrorist group named Raven, K finds himself drawn into a shadowy world of conspiracies and secrets where his beliefs are sorely challenged. Oh, and he may or may not be some kind of Gundam-esque “newtype” with special powers and abilities.

That one paragraph sums up the good and bad about Phantom quite nicely. At times, the series feels like a slightly more serious sci-fi action series. Yet K behaves like a typical shonen character, though not quite as stupid or silly. It creates an odd tonal clash within the series that sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t. At its best, K seems like a fairly naive and idealistic young man facing the harsh realities of his world; at its worst, he sounds like a typical shonen lead character shouting about how he won’t let himself be beaten for one reason or another. (I suppose that could be a plus for some folks, though.)

Generally speaking, Ki-Hoon Lee’s writing isn’t too shabby. The story isn’t exceptional, but he does a decent job making the whole situation interesting and entertaining while mixing in bits of social commentary, usually in the form of anti-globalization messages. The big baddies of the series are the multinational corporations which seized power following the “Meteor Rain.” They’re given private armies and security firms, who have the best equipment and mechas, beyond even those possessed by the police and military. It’s an oddly timely message, given the current Blackwater scandal in Iraq. I have no idea how the Korean media has covered the US war in Iraq, but since the book was published post-invasion, it’s possible Lee took inspiration from certain events.

Seung-Yip Cho’s artwork is pretty good. There were some choppy moments in the first volume, but he seems to work things out as the series progresses. Most of the problems with the artwork come from the mecha designs. They’re nice looking, but they tend to look alike. By the second and third volumes, it’s a bit easier to tell the different mechas apart, and their fight scenes become a bit clearer and easier to follow as well.

I have to admit that I was surprised by this series–I didn’t expect to like it half as much as I did. It’s not perfect, nor does it break new ground, but it’s entertaining enough for me to want to see how it all plays out.

Volumes one through three of Phantom are available now.