Comics, juche style

Without taking a survey or anything, I’ll go ahead and say that Yen Press is the most prolific company releasing South Korean comics to an Anglophone audience. But what do things look like on the northern side of the world’s most dangerous border? Via MangaBlog via Sleep Is For the Weak, I’ve come across a web site which features translations of segments of North Korean comics by Professor Heinz Insu Fenkl - scroll down to the section titled “North Korean Comics.” The artwork of some of them is quite good; The Crystal Key has an old-skool manga feel, while Blizzard in the Jungle is so gritty, you’ll have to brush your teeth afterwards.

If that’s not enough for you, check out Empress Chung, a North Korean/South Korean co-produced animated feature film, of which most of the animation was done in the North. Click on the “Media” link to watch the trailer; it’s easily to the standards of Disney or Dreamworks (back before they quit doing 2D animation, anyway). More information about it can be found on its Wikipedia article. Will we ever see an English release?