I've been a longtime fan of The Breaker, and I was very excited to see a compilation being published in English. This omnibus was 300+ pages long and contained several volumes, which is always handy for a long series like this. Can't wait for the next volume!

The Breaker Omnibus Vol. 1 is my first time reading a Korean graphic novel and I really enjoyed it. The artwork is excellent, especially in the fight scenes, and the characters are fun and engaging. I finished this first volume interested to know what would happen to them next, so I would definitely be keen to read on to volume two in the future. As well as the martial arts side of the story, the piece also looks at issues like high school bullying and teen suicide, so it has some emotional depth alongside the action. I'd intended to read the book over several days, but I ended up finishing it in one as I just couldn't stop reading. This is a 4.5-star read for me.

Although the art is dynamic and clean, the story didn't quite hold up. This wasn't the book for me, but that doesn't mean that others wouldn't enjoy it. The main character's motivation wasn't clear until about one-third of the way into the book. This wasn't necessarily a pacing problem—the story didn't lag for me—but it seemed like the main character kept going through the same motions with the same results, and it was tiring to read.

I also didn't care for the treatment of female characters. Although one could argue that some of them do things freely without fearing the judgement of others, because our main point of view character is an immature high schooler (and sometimes, his older male mentor), the women are still objectified. The second page literally depicts women from the male mentor's point of view, and it made me hesitate to continue reading. Those point of view shots continue throughout the book and are never addressed. Women truly seemed like mere accessories to the action-heavy plot.

If I had seen any reversals or refreshing takes on the action genre in The Breaker, I would have rated it more highly, but because it generally stuck to conventional fighting comic tropes, I cannot. There are other martial arts comics out there that treat the genre and their female characters with more grace.

The story of a timid high school student who wants to learn martial arts from his new strange high school substitute teacher. Shiwoon Yi is constantly getting beat up and wants to find a way to defend himself, when he witnesses his new substitute teacher beating the heck out of some dudes he decides he wants to become his disciple. Theres definitely something more to his new substitute teacher than he knows. Chunwoo Han is a martial artist who is hiding from the secret martial arts society known as the Murim, and has taken up an identity in the highschool in order to lay low. Throw in some fights, a super determined dude he keeps getting beat up, and a weird new school nurse, and this is the beginning of the journey for Shiwoon and Chunwoo.

*Thanks Netgalley and Diamond Book Distributors for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*