Rat in Hanbok

Here's a rat wearing hanbok.
Happy, rosey cheeked, and not a care in the world!

Here's a rat NOT wearing hanbok. Oh my! What a difference!

Which of these rats do you think got the better advertising gig? Rats are in hot demand this year, being that it's Year of the Rat.

The rat wearing hanbok must have a better agent. He gets to wear hanbok, traditional Korean clothing, usually only worn on special occasions. He gets to wear it out in the nice open air.

This poor rat is forced into a dimly lit subway station with nothing to wear at all! He really should talk to his agent.

Convenience Store Comics

I noticed a new comic book distribution model today in Korea: selling them in convenience stores. This is actually a very new approach that began in October of this year.2030 Comics are aimed at the 2030 generation (people in their twenties and thirties). They feature a series of seven comic magazines. Apparently, they are selling quite well. I could only manage to find a couple first volume comics left in the magazine rack.They are being sold exclusively at GS25, a convenience store chain in Korea. See, you can spot the GS25 logo on the cover.
Most Korean comics come in a bounded collection of multiple stories or in graphic novel format. Unlike most Korean comics, they are published in a Western format. I'm quite impressed that the comics are printed in full color, contain absolutely no advertisements, and still manage to cost only KRW1,500 per copy. This doesn't seem profitable, but apparently there is governmental support in this venture.

This is a unique experiment. I'm interested to see where it leads. Let's hope that the most popular stories are turned into animated projects! What do you think?

Here are some links where I learned more about this and so can you:

1. Comic books will soon be made available in convenience stores
2. "2030 Comics," a comic magazine for convenient stores, will be on the shelves this October
3. '2030 Comix' is selling well