The Webcomics Weekly is back in your life with a new comic and a new challenger for the title of “King of the Octagon”.
King of the Octagon
Episodes 1-4
Schedule: Wednesday
Written and Illustrated by GOPUBI
Original Story by peeleep
Reviewed by Michael Mazzacane
“King of the Octagon” honestly doesn’t offer much new in terms of narrative or art style. In fact, the art is kind of rough if you go in expecting something closer to the more detailed representational style of MMA fights in comics like “All-Rounder Meguru” by Hiroki Endo. GOPUBI’s figure work is more cartooned with elongated proportions and a flat inking style that doesn’t give much sense of space and rendering. The paneling found in the first four episodes of this strip is basic but functional. And yet I’m anxiously awaiting the next episode come Wednesday. There is a charm factor to this comic that speaks to a lot of my interests as a lapsed MMA fan and all-around combat sports junkie.
Not to devolve into reification and calcification genre tropes, but after Rocky do you really need to add more to the combat sports genre from a narrative standpoint? Sure, change out how the plot unfolds, but the core points remain largely the same. Unlike Balboa, Hwiseong Lee isn’t a working poor journeyman fighter who moonlights as a debt collector with a heart of gold. Instead, Lee is a part-time conveyance store clerk despite a promising athletic career in high school. The opening scene with Lee is one of the first real hooks for this series as they deal with an angry customer demanding a refund on “just some cigarettes.” The lettering throughout the series so far hasn’t been much to write home about, but the witty dialogue stands out all the same as Lee parries verbal jabs. He’s a bit of a wise ass. So far there is a kinda generic everyman quality to this character but there are enough hints at more that I’m a little intrigued.
One thing leads to another, and Lee finds himself rooting for his friend’s pro debut. The reveal of the underground arena is the strongest sequence in these episodes artistically as it uses the momentum of scrolling down to open the reader’s eyes to this new world of barely managed violence. After watching this fight, I am wondering if all of this is a shoot, in the parlance of pro wrestling. Lee’s best friend is soon mauled by a sadistic fighter who is just a few steps removed from being an acolyte to Khorne. And in a fury of this unsportsmanlike beatdown (not to be confused with a Horseman Beatdown), Lee enters the octagon and shows he might just have what it takes hold it in the octagon.
Que the scene of a shady looking vertically integrated promoter (running a gym, managing the fighters, and promoting) and “King of the Octagon” has nearly completed the Rocky narrative bingo. While it would’ve been nice if this strip leaned more towards the “Hajime no Ippo” side of things, there is a character-based simplicity to the Rocky formula that just works. “Ippo” is a foundational Shōnen manga for many reasons, but its introductory arcs lean more into archetype and the tonality of a Shōnen story than the more dollar and sense inflected narrative in “King of the Octagon”. Lee, like Rocky, is often more concerned with the price of things than a philosophical lean towards self-improvement and sufficiency.
“King of the Octagon” isn’t all that new in terms of sports and combat sports comics or narratives. But it is a good example of how execution matters both on a technical artistic level and narratively. Combat sport strips aren’t all that common on Line at the moment so if you’re looking for something familiar but a little different aesthetically this might be worth looking at. If anything it’s worth checking out to see how the limited use of panels can highlight content and force some creative problem solving.
