Dokebi Bride Vol. 1 (v. 1) [Paperback]

Marley (Author, Artist)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 4, 2006 | Series: Dokebi Bride (Book 1)

Korea's most talked-about series in 2005! Born into a shaman family, Sunbi has inherited the power to see and communicate with spirits just like her grandmother, a notable shaman and savior of their little fishing village in the South Sea. Early on, she sees things like an imposter shaman being thrashed by a dragon of the deep, and doesn't understand that none of her schoolmates can see such things. Her powers make her the amorous target of hedonistic demons even as a child. Long shielded from the reality of her power, she finally learns the secret of her mother's death, and why her grandmother was never able to leave their village. Enter Sunbi's world in this mind-boggling psychological chiller!

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This moody, beautiful tale follows the life story of Sunbi Shin, a teenage girl forced to leave her small Korean fishing village after her grandmother's death to live with her estranged father's new family in Seoul. Raised by the grandmother, Sunbi barely knows her father, who abandoned her long-dead mother years before. But Sunbi's colorful past is filled with Dokebis, mischieveous Korean spirits and demons. Like her mother and grandmother, Sunbi can see and communicate with these demons, an ability first manifested at a village ritual that calls forth a dragon to help bring the village a prosperous year. The dragon responds but can only be seen by Sunbi and her grandmother; there we begin to learn the story of a family of spiritual seers, simultaneously respected and feared for their supernatural abilities. Sunbi's spiritual gifts mark her as different, alienating her from adults and from classmates. Marley's b&w drawing of the dragon undulating across the page is breathtaking. Her drawings are crisp, natural and packed with the graphic details of Korean traditional dress and rich in the vivid emotions and mental states of her characters. As Sunbi comes to grips with her grandmother's death and her new family, we're introduced to the mystery surrounding her mother's life and death, clearly setting the scene for much more to come in subsequent volumes.
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Product Details

• Paperback: 184 pages
• Publisher: NETCOMICS (April 4, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1600090753
• ISBN-13: 978-1600090752
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,307,670 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My favorite., February 22, 2006

By 

Arthur Jarret (NJ, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dokebi Bride Vol. 1 (v. 1) (Paperback)

The illustrations are fun, friendly, intricate, and very beautiful. Sunbi, the hero of the story, will resonate with anyone who's ever felt alone against the world. Aloneness does seem to be her destiny, but if you're like me you'll be soon hoping that somehow she finds human love to help carry the burden she will bear...or at least pick up her shattered pieces as she survives another crucible. The novel would make an excellent film, as mere reading prompted other senses...I heard sad music ("The Shape of my Heart") as Sunbi's life begins to unfold. More than any graphic novel I've ever known, the first volume telegraphed the storms of trouble which will follow in the volumes to come.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best manga ever!!!, April 29, 2006

By 

manga queen - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dokebi Bride Vol. 1 (v. 1) (Paperback)

Okay, so we call these Manhwa rather than manga.

But whatever the category it falls into, this is the best graphic novel I have ever read in my entire book-reading life!

I would recommend this book to everyone from even elementary school kids (there's a few parts with ugly Dokebis but there's no violence) to mature readers. Adults will find this book more engaging than any other graphic novel they are used to.

Plus, they will learn about a completely new culture: Korean culture. This is a fresh new title everyone should check out.

This book has completely changed my conception of manga.

4.0 out of 5 stars Sunbi's feeling of being an outcast can also be cathartic to teen readers, though this is a series that can interest adults, January 27, 2010

By 

GraphicNovelReporter.com (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Dokebi Bride Vol. 1 (v. 1) (Paperback)

Dokebi Bride is a teen manhwa series where shamans rule supreme. However, that doesn't mean shamans don't have their fair share of life-and-death problems. Sunbi is a teenager who's inherited shamanic powers from the women in her family, including her grandmother and her mother. Unfortunately, her mother was not able to cope with these powers and died when Sunbi was young. Some people say the cause of death was "demon possession."

Sunbi is raised by her grandmother while her father remarries and moves on with his life. Sunbi's grandmother is a very wise and calm woman, admired by many. As a young child, Sunbi can see and talk to spirits, being taught how to handle each one by her beloved grandmother.

But then the grandmother dies and Sunbi is sent to live with her father in the city. Here she fails to get along with her stepmother and stepsister and has an even worse time at school. She's standoffish, so everyone thinks she's a snob. When she tries to explain to them she sees things other people don't, they believe she's insane. They also believe her mother was insane.

Sunbi sees spirits all the time and some of them are terrifying. A gruesome spirit is sitting at her school desk, but she still has to sit there because no one else knows what the problem is. She's haunted by nightmares and visions. Will she meet the same awful end as her mother? Without her grandmother, how can she control the spirits?

Dokebi Bride has many morbid and chilling elements to it. Nonetheless, it's really not a horror book. It also has cute and humorous moments. Dokebi are goblin-like creatures of Korean mythology, and one brutish but well-meaning Dokebi falls in love with Sunbi. She rebuffs him. It doesn't change things, and this Dokebi brings some lighter moods into the story. Despite the fact that he doesn't come into the story right away, we can thank him for the title. He insists Sunbi is his bride, though she's ready to make it clear that's only true in his imagination.

Different types of readers might be drawn to Dokebi Bride. For starters, there are manhwa and graphic novel fans. But people who are interested in shamanism, particularly Korean shamanism, might also want to take a look. There's a mystical and occult side to Dokebi Bride that will catch the interest of some readers too. Marley additionally gives a foreword to each volume, and some of her own opinions on shamans are very interesting. Sunbi's feeling of being an outcast can also be cathartic to teen readers, though this is a series that can interest adults as well.

-- Danica Davidson