Looking for more graphic novels? This post features seven graphic novels by Korean diasporic authors. Through different genres, styles, and narrative forms, these seven graphic novels utilize the medium to explore how we grow, how we love, and even how we express our frustration. Pick one up to lose yourself in their evocative visual art and witty writing.

Palimpsest: Documents From a Korean Adoption by Lisa Wool-Rim Sjöblom

In Lisa Wool-Rim Sjöblom’s graphic memoir Palimpsest: Documents From a Korean Adoption, the Korean Swedish adoptee author depicts the bureaucratic wall and corrupt practices she encountered when she attempted to learn more about her adoption. 

Living in Sweden as a Korean adoptee, Sjöblom was treated like a perpetual outsider. When she had her second child, she thought more about her own birth as well as her adoption. She and her partner began to investigate her adoption, but when they did, they came up against a system that stymied their efforts and withheld information from them to uphold a positive image of adoption practices. In spite of considerable resistance, Sjöblom was able to retrieve information on her adoption, and she did eventually travel to South Korea.

Palimpsest’s muted, sepia-tone colors evoke the manila folders of archives and the dullness of depression. Sjöblom’s writing critiques the narratives surrounding international adoptions through close engagements with her own experiences and through critical social, historical, and political considerations of international adoption practices. 

Same Difference by Derek Kirk Kim

Derek Kirk Kim’s Same Difference is a coming of age story focusing on the two friends Simon and Nancy, Korean Americans in their twenties living in the Bay Area.

While eating at a pho restaurant, Simon and Nancy reveal personal secrets to one another. Simon bears guilt from high school, when he lied to Irene—a girl who asked him to a school dance—because he was ashamed of her being blind. Meanwhile, Nancy has been toying with  Ben Leland, someone who has been sending love letters to a previous tenant of Nancy’s apartment. When Simon and Nancy take a trip to Pacifica—Simon’s hometown and the home of Ben Leland—both confront their pasts and try to make amends.

The lively illustrations in Kim’s work provide the characters with emotional depth and personality while showcasing the fun, intimate energy that characterizes Simon and Nancy’s friendship. Same Difference won Kim the prestigious Eisner, Ignatz, and Harvey Awards. This would be a great read if you’re looking for a story about personal growth in young adulthood.

Almost American Girl by Robin Ha

Almost American Girl by Robin Ha is a graphic memoir about a Korean American with a deep love for comics as she comes of age in Alabama. The protagonist, Robin, goes through a lot of change through the work—she doesn’t even start off as Robin.

Her name in Korea is Chuna before her mother gets remarried in the US. When she and her mother emigrate from Korea, Chuna’s world is abruptly transformed—Chuna isn’t even aware that she won’t be coming back to Korea when they leave. Once they’re in Alabama, Chuna is thrust into an unfamiliar environment where she must attend school and deal with bullying, racism, a language barrier, and culture shock. In time, Chuna becomes Robin.

Though Almost American Girl depicts Robin struggling as she navigates her new life, she begins to thrive when her mother signs her up for a class on comics. Through comics, Robin is able to find friends, confidence, and a way forward in life. The graphic memoir’s reflections also show how Robin is also able to recontextualize and value the decisions her mother made as a single mother in Korea.

Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Life by Bryan Lee O’Malley

If you’re into indie rock cool and video game tributes, Scott Pilgrim is here for you. 

In Toronto, Scott Pilgrim is a slacker in his early twenties. He’s unemployed, and he plays the bass in a band. When he meets Ramona Flowers, he becomes infatuated with the edgy Amazon delivery girl. He’s even up to the task of fighting her seven evil ex-boyfriends in order to date her. 

The award-winning Scott Pilgrim series has been adapted countless times (which includes the 2010 film Scott Pilgrim vs. The World starring Michael Cera) and has been a New York Times bestseller. Although it was originally published in black and white, it is now available in color. Pick up this first volume to get pulled into the whole six-volume saga.

Angry Little Girls by Lela Lee

In Lela Lee’s Angry Little Girls, five angry little girls—Kim, Deborah, Maria, Wanda, and Xyla—seethe at the injustices and annoyances committed against them in life. 

The central character of the work, Kim, is based on Lee. She is “the angry little Asian girl” of the group, while the four other characters take on their own typified personalities. Through their bickering and wit, these angry little girls say what’s on their mind. The book was originally developed from Lee’s weekly comic strips, and in them, Lee lets the angry little girls say what everyone wishes they could have said in the moment but didn’t.

With a style that often garners comparisons to South Park and Peanuts, Angry Little Girls is a work that features understated, bubbly illustrations of children who harbor the pent up frustrations and psychological quirks of adults. Feeling angry? This charming book might show you you’re not so alone.

Shoplifter by Michael Cho

In Michael Cho’s Shoplifter, Corrina Park works at an ad agency in New York. As she works on copy that she couldn’t care less about, she feels herself slipping further from her dream of becoming an author.

Advertising’s constant presence in Corrina’s life—from her work to her general surroundings—point to a hollowness. Writing copy isn’t what Corrina had in mind for herself when she studied English literature in college, and her life in general feels like a slump. She deals with an alienating loneliness in the city, a setting lit up and plastered with billboards and ads. To cope with her stress and ennui, Corrina shoplifts magazines.

Shoplifter’s artwork is composed of striking images rendered in white, black, and pink. This is a work that can have you empathizing and cringing along with the protagonist as she navigates the city and her own dissatisfaction with life.

Mech Cadet Yu by Greg Pak, Takeshi Miyazawa, and Triona Farrell

In Mech Cadet Yu’s world, sentient robots from space visit Earth once a year to bond with cadets from Sky Corps Academy. Stanford Yu, the son of a janitor who works at Sky Corps Academy, gets his chance to shine when a robot unexpectedly chooses him as his pilot.

Aliens called the Sharg regularly threaten safety on Earth, and the robots from space bond with human pilots to defend against them. It’s understood that only the best and brightest are groomed as cadets at Sky Corps Academy for their shot to bond with a robot. Stanford is no cadet—according to the social hierarchy, he’s the last person people would expect to take on the responsibility of saving the world.

Mech Cadet Yu is an underdog story that will satisfy fans of giant mechs and robots. The work’s  visual art brings personality to the settings and characters through vibrant colors and rough linework, while Pak’s writing nurtures tender moments to keep readers thoroughly engaged.