Re-Gifters

Plot: Jen Dik Seong is studying the ancient martial art of hapkido. She's awesome at the sport. In fact, her parents and friends want her to participate in the 25th National Hapkido Championship because they think that she stands an excellent chance of winning. She saves up the money for the ticket to participate in the championship, but then she spends the money on buying a birthday gift for her crush Adam. He not only doesn't like her back (argh!), he re-gifts her present to a girl that he likes. In the end, Adam and Jen have to fight each other in the championship. He even asks her to throw the fight, but Jen stays true to herself and kicks his butt in the championship. She realizes that she doesn't like him and that she likes show more another boy, Dillinger, instead.

Evaluation: This graphic novel is beautiful in design and the illustrations are wonderful as well. The front cover features Jen and in the background there's a pink present wrapped with a light pink bow. Both Liew and Hempel give the illustrations a sense of humor, especially in the fight scenes. In the pictures, where Jen is fighting Adam, it looks like she's going to fly right of off the page. The shocked look on Adam's face made me smile. Actually the look on most of Jen's opponents, whenever she was about to kick butt, made me laugh.

The author and illustrators do a good job at showing what a dweeb Adam is...I mean, to re-gift a present from someone that has a crush on you and then give it to a girl that you're after is just bad karma. It definitely comes back to bite him in the butt and the sad part is that he's still a jerk even at the end of the novel. He tries to get Jen to throw the fight because he wants to win and he's willing to use her affections for him in order to get what he wants. Yuk. I was happy when Jen realized that Adam was not worth it, especially when she finds out that he re-gifted her present. Dillinger was obviously a much better choice as a boyfriend because he admires Jen's talent, but also likes her instead of pretending to.

My favorite character in the novel is Megan Schofield because of the way she disses Adam. Once she finds out that the present that he has given her was Jen's gift to him, she decides to dump Adam. The best part is that she does it to him at the championship and tells him that she doesn't under the sport or the violence of it. She literally ripes his self esteem apart and he deserved it. show less

Oh, so much fun. I love Sonny Liew's art style, all fluid line work and unusual shapes. The story follows Dixie Seong through, oh, about a month of her life in LA's Koreatown and involves "rebellion, romance, and recycled gifts." It's also about the relative merits of wanting and getting, and how appearances can be deceiving, to use a few cliches. A lovely story all in all. Oh, also: One thing I like about Liew/Hempel/Carey's work is that, for stories written and illustrated by men, they're filled with engaging, kickass, interesting women and girls. Everyone regardless of gender is three-dimensional, complicated and silly and unique and imperfect and depicted with realistic body shapes (well, stylized, sure, but nobody looks like Barbie show more or Ken, or Pamela Anderson or the men from 300 - the movie version). In the comics industry, that is something that can be hard to find - humor and caricature without being derogatory, respect without it being some kind of statement. These are good storytellers, good artists. show less

re-gift –verb
1. to give an unwanted gift to someone else; to give as a gift something one previously received as a gift; also written regift

Dik Seong Jen (Dixie) has a spiky exterior–her spikiness is a defense mechanism guarding against her powerful emotions–as she puts it, “I don’t show it, but deep down I’m really a passionate person”.

For many years, she has loved hapkido because she is proud of her Korean heritage and because she needs the physical outlet for what she cannot express in words. More recently, she has discovered that she loves (or at least has a huge crush on) Adam Heller. This crush is so powerful that it’s throwing off her ki (”the universal energy that some call spirit”), and, subsequently, her show more ability to fight her best in hapkido. She has been ending up swept off her feet (in more ways than one) in sparring sessions with Adam.

Paralleling Dixie and Adam’s storyline is Dixie’s run-ins with Dillinger and his crew. Dillinger’s spiky exterior as the tough Hispanic kid is countered by his actions–he defends Dixie against his gang who have derided her heritage by telling her to “walk on the Korean side of the street” and he helps her practice for the hapkido tournament. Most importantly (at least for the sake of the book’s title), he plays a role in the re-gifting–the Hwarang warrior figure really makes its way around to sundry recipients throughout the book. By doing so, Dillinger helps Dixie to reboot her Korean American pride in who she is and to re-discover her ki.

Dixie’s crush on Adam causes her to misplace her passion for a time and to muddle her decision-making so that she stands in danger of losing her spot in the National Tournament and in danger of losing control. She also risks losing everything else she holds dear–her ki, her self-respect, her best friend, her pride in her heritage, and her family’s trust.

In the end, Dixie sees clearly what she has to do, “No confusion. No hormones. No need to think twice.” The story really moves–the illustrators’ masterful use of line makes the hapkido sequences look real and the apt character facial expressions and body positions say a lot without the text having to say anything. When the character’s are speaking, their voices are consistent with their personalities and depictions. Re-gifters is a fun story that speaks to family and cultural expectations, unrequited love, friendship, perseverance, and competition all wrapped up in a complete package to give to the graphic novel fans out there as well as to those who like sports and/or multicultural stories. Re-gifters is not likely to be re-gifted, although it is likely to be loaned out its fair share. show less

Teen graphic novel. Dixie has very few friends (only one, in fact), doesn't get along with other kids at school, and can barely speak comprehensibly in front of the boy she likes. One day she decides to go out on a limb and blow all of her savings to buy him a unique birthday present, which has the unfortunate fate of being re-gifted a number of times before she figures out that her crush is a total jerk. This one is clever, satisfying and very enjoyable.

I've read nearly all the MINX comics, and I've gotta say that the Re-Gifters and The P.L.A.I.N. Janes are my favorites from this imprint of DC comics (it had a lot of potential...wish it was still around).

Basically, the Re-Gifters is the story of a young Korean girl, "Dixie", her hapkido tournament, and the love triangle she gets caught up with, involving the boy she likes, the girl he likes, and the guy she never considered before. I really liked Dixie's character, because I felt like she was the right mix of sensitive teenage girl and tough hapkido student. I was actually surprised to learn the story was written by a guy, because he did a really good job at creating a realistic teenage girl. The romance wasn't overly gushy and, show more overall, the book had a classic teenage story feel, something like "The Karate Kid" meets "Pretty In Pink." show less

Re-Gifters is the second book to be published by Minx, a division of DC, called (by themselves) "the face of modern fiction" (yeah, whatever). Minx was developed to target women. Their books have a manga-like feel, they're softcover, small and cheap(er). Protagonists are women. No spandex here.
Naturally, some people were a bit dubious about this tactic.
But appealing to female comics readers seems to be important in the industry right now. Anyone remember that New York Comic Con panel, "Capturing Female Readers"? Which makes it sound like they're out there with tranquilizer guns and nets. Additionally, the name "minx" irks me as I feel it has strong connotations-devious, seductive, overtly sexual, etc.
So the Minx line has this whole show more "chick lit comics" feel that disturbs me. This is the first Minx title I've read and I picked it up only because Mike Carey wrote it, and I adore his Lucifer series. In September "Confessions of a Blabbermouth" will come out, also by Carey, and I'll probably pick that up as well though the title puts me off. Brian Wood is working on "The New York Four" with Ryan Kelly and I've no doubt that'll be great, because Brian Wood is my favorite of the Brians (Brian Michael Bendis, Brian Wood, Brian K Vaughn-all bald, male comics creators currently popular).

Um, getting back to Re-Gifters.

It was really good. Not Lucifer good, but good. Conflict resolution wasn't cheesy, and neither was the requisite "strong female protagonist." She kicked butt. Literally. show less

"Dixie" is Korean-American and a feisty teenager. Her (only) friend Avril calls her a spiky porcupine, because she is very emotional and quick to anger. That is part of the reason why she practices the ancient fighting art of hapkido - as an outlet for her anger and aggression. But Dixie has a crush on a boy, Adam, who also practices hapkido and because of her crush, she no longers tries as hard at hapkido. When she receives an invite to Adam's birthday party, Dixie is ecstactic, but does not know what to give him as a gift. A huge hapkido contest is coming up that Dixie is supposed to compete in and which costs a whopping $200. But Dixie takes a big risk and spends her entry fee money on Adam's present instead. At the party, Dixie show more learns that Adam has a crush on another girl and feels even more rejected- not only did she spend her money unwisely on Adam's gift, but she has to somehow get into the competition for her family's honor and for her dad's business deal. Wonderfully draw, this graphic novel is a fast and entertaining read. Dixie's character is very fun and personable, and the cast of minor characters are also interesting. Her twin brothers Timmy and Soon are especially entertaining. Highly recommended! show less