(AfroGamers.com) Every so often you just come across a comic or manga with a story that really catches you. Probably half the time, that comic was either finished or cancelled. In diving through manhwa I hadn’t read yet I came across one such series. Fist of Legend is a short-lived series created by Lee Jongkyu and illustrated by Lee Yun-Gyun.
The series is the pair’s first and only work together but Lee jong-kyu has done a number of series such as the currently ongoing P.K. He tends to work with martial arts and drama, often mixing the two. While P.K sits firmly in shonen martial arts with a heavy focus on the action, Fist of Legend is for the more mature seinen demographic and has a heavy focus on drama and suspense with martial arts as a backdrop.
It’s a weird but interesting kind of crime drama.
What Is Fist of Legend
The series takes place in modern South Korea and is centered around three middle-aged former high school delinquents. Lim-Duk Gue is a construction worker separated from his wife and somewhat estranged from his daughter. His soon-to-be ex-wife is a kind woman who dealt
with Lim-Duk’s physical abuse for years until he was kicked out of the house. His daughter is a high school student who takes after him.
There’s a show that is popular called Fist of Legend. It takes people who were either badasses, delinquents, or gangsters in high school and known for their fighting ability and toughness. As is often the case, these people live on via either or former classmates reminiscing about fights and events from their youth. These are the legends in Fist of Legend.
It’s the TV network’s biggest hit since viewers like to see these legends fight for their amusement. Each show starts with a reenactment then their fight is scheduled. Two legends square off under MMA rules. It’s an awful show idea but I could see this being a hit show in real life.
Lim-Duk is approached by a gofer at the network who came across his legend from over 25 years early. In high school, Lim-Duk beat up a couple of delinquents and told them to stay out of the neighborhood. He turns down the offer for $10,000.
After Lim-Duk’s daughter beats up another girl, he is called in for a conference. From what I’ve learned in modern day setting manhwa, it’s apparently expected that the parent of the offending party is to kneel and beg for forgiveness in their child’s name. He offers the mother $10,000 to cover things against his daughter’s pleas for him to not beg and takes the fight.
Check It Out
Not to give away the real hook of the series but it ties into something that happened. People from his childhood turn up and like him, life didn’t shake out for them as they expected. That said, the main adult players in this comic are all either trying to protect the secret or uncover it.
Why would someone want to know about something that happened over 20 years ago? The secret is too juicy for the network to pass up and could spike ratings while someone from a fighting magazine wants to bring down Fist of Legend at any cost.
There’s a lot going on in the story and it only ran for 19 chapters! The artwork is extremely good and has a gritty slant to it but the real star is the story. It’s something I could easily see on the big or little screen. Give Fist of Legend a read, it’s not extremely long and it’s a dead series so you don’t have to catch up anything. Check it out!
Staff Writer; M. Swift
This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.