Re-Gifters by Mike Carey, Sonny Liew and Marc Hempel is set in LA’s Koreatown and features Jen Dik Seong aka “Dixie”. Here is the plot description below:
Meet Jen Dik Seong — or “Dixie” as she’s known to her friends. Korean American, dirt poor, and living on the ragged edge of LA’s Koreatown, Dixie’s only outlet is the ancient martial art of hapkido. In fact, she’s on the verge of winning a championship — until she falls for fellow hapkido fan/California surfer boy Adam and gets thrown spectacularly off her game. As she struggles to win the tournament — not to mention Adam’s affections — Dixie learns that in love and in gift-giving, what goes around comes around.
Re-Gifters is the second release, I think, from the new Minx Imprint from DC Comics. I quite liked this title very much. Dixie narrates the story and tells us that she is studying hapkido. It’s her only outlet and the only way to express herself without words. Another big reason for learning hapkido is because it is important part of her heritage. Also, Dixie’s family once had ran a store in LA but it burned down during the Rodney King riots so money is tight. However, her father financially supports her hobby finding hapkido just as important as school. Also, her father’s trying to get a loan from the bank to open another store. Loan officer, Mr. Park is impressed with Dixie, sharing that he is a “black belt” himself and wants to see Dixie in the hapkido tournament.
Meanwhile, Dixie’s hapkido instructor, Master Choi, feels that Dixie is holding herself back because she has lost her “ki” or “harmonious essence”. Dixie has a mad crush on fellow hapkido fan, Adam Heller. Adam is your typical blond surfer boy who is completely oblivious to Dixie until they meet at a party. Dixie drums up the courage to give him a gift to show her affection. She uses her money from her hapkido tournament entrance fee. Needless to say, Adam re-gifts it to someone else and Dixie is burdend with scraping up funds to get back into the tournament.
The romance was predictable but fun. Characterizations are decent. Dixie was a fun narrator. Her crush on Adam was a major distraction for her as she tries to win the hapkido tournament. Love does come into Dixie’s life where she least expects it. I’d love to read more about Dixie’s adventures but I see no sequel has been planned. I loved how the Korean culture played a significant role in the story. Anyway, Re-Gifter’s was pretty good and worth a look. Artwork wasn’t overly impressive to me but Dixie’s personality shines through. I’d give this a B.
