Lee Myung-jin (Korean: 이명진; born 1974) is a South Korean manhwa author and artist.[1] His work Ragnarok was adapted into the game Ragnarok Online by Gravity Corp. This game was later turned into an anime.
| Lee Myung-jin 이명진 | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 12, 1974 |
| Nationality | South Korean |
| Area(s) | Artist |
Notable works | Ragnarok |
| Lee Myung-jin | |
| Hangul | 이명진 |
|---|---|
| Revised Romanization | I Myeongjin |
| McCune–Reischauer | I Myŏngjin |
History
editLee was born in South Korea in 1974 and graduated from Holy Child Catholic School in Seoul with a degree in Visual Design. In 1992 he began work on his first manhwa series, An Evening When Something Good is About To Happen (어쩐지 좋은 일이 생길 것 같은 저녁), which ran for four years (nine volumes) and won him the distinguished Champ Super Manhwa award from Super Champ, South Korea's top manhwa publisher. In the Americas, the series was instead called Lights Out.
In August 1995, he put his artistic career on hold to serve his mandatory two years in the South Korean military. Upon his return, he formed his studio Dive to Dream Sea and began work on Ragnarok (for Boy Champ), one of the top-selling manhwa of all time.[citation needed] Expanding upon his epic fantasy, Lee has also become involved in the creation of Ragnarok Online, a game that takes the RPG analogies and rules of his manhwa series to the next level. With concepts taken from his own series, there are multiple players, worlds, and enemies to control, attack, and rule, with character designs and scenes somewhat reminiscent of Final Fantasy. The game is in its finished form and has been distributed in over 100 countries by South Korean online game makers Gravity Corp.
In 2004, Ragnarok achieved a new milestone, becoming the first South Korean manhwa to inspire a Japanese anime series. Based on the character designs and sensibilities of the online game, Ragnarok the Animation was given a 26-episode series that was broadcast on TV Tokyo.
Lee's studio, Dive to Dream Sea, also created the two-volume indie comics comedy manhwa Laya, the Witch of Red Pooh. Lee also produced a one volume manhwa named Genocide.
According to a article from 2010, Lee would sign a business contract with Choi Young-geun and Dreamers Entertainment for the publishing of a new comic to be titled Soul Grasper.[2]
Works
edit| Name | Year | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lights Out | 1992 | Serialized in Boy Champ in 1992 | |
| Genocider | 1995 | Three-part short story serialized in issues 27, 28, and 29 of Boys Champ in 1995 | |
| Ragnarok | 1998 | Serialized in Boy Champ | [3] |
| Ragnarok Online | 2002 | Artist | |
| Soul Ark | 2017 | Korean webtoon serialized on KakaoPage |
References
edit- ^ "Lee Myoung-Jin". Lambiek. Retrieved June 21, 2010.
- ^ '라그나로크' 이명진 작가, 만화 'Soul Grasper'로 컴백. www.gamemeca.com (in Korean). Retrieved March 18, 2024.
- ^ Eo, Suung (October 31, 1999). [만화세상] 작가 이명진 "만화가는 시나리오부터 연출까지…". The Chosun Ilbo. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
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