Made in Korea

Made in Korea #1-6

by Jeremy Holt, George Schall (artist), Adam Wollett (Letterer)

A Korean nine-year-old named Jesse is adopted and sent to live with a lovely couple in America. Socially awkward, yet equipped with a seemingly encyclopedic brain, the young girl’s journey through the complexities of race, gender, and identity hits a fork in the road when she discovers she’s not entirely human…yet.

Adolescence just got a lot more emotional for the world’s first true A.I. system.

Collects MADE IN KOREA #1-6

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Science Fiction, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Queer, LGBT

164 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 26, 2022

About the author

Jeremy Holt is a non-binary author whose works include Gatsby, Made in Korea, Virtually Yours, Before Houdini, After Houdini, and Skip to the End.

An original art page from After Houdini was acquired by The Houdini Museum of NYC, where it now hangs in its permanent collection. And Skip to the End was one of three works of fiction that The New York Times included in an in-depth expose titled Kurt Cobain: What to Read and Watch, 25 Years After the Nirvana Leader’s Death.

They have received high praise from Brian K. Vaughan (Y the Last Man, Saga, Paper Girls) and NYT crossword constructor David Kwong. Originally from no place in particular, they’ve lived in Italy, Singapore, England, Norway, Texas, Vermont, and Brooklyn, before settling in Kingston, New York.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

A confused mess of a story that tries to mesh too many disparate elements. There are some interesting elements of awakening A.I. and gender identity. It's completely ruined by a tactless school shooting plot that even uses the names of the Columbine shooters. I was pretty much done with this after that story nugget.

[Alexander Peterhans · Rating 2 out of 5]

A confused book, that takes two big topics and tries to meld them together and it doesn't work, simply because they have little to do with eachother.

A corporation in South-Korea produces proxies - lifelike androids of children. A scientist at the corporation finally cracks the code to create actual functional A.I. for the proxies, but doesn't want his work to be taken by the company. He uses his new code to program a proxy, and by sending her to a family in the U.S. smuggles his code out.

In the U.S. the two stories kick into action. In one two older teenagers abuse the proxy's innocence to make her take part in a school shooting. Although a lot of the actual violence isn't depicted, it still feels kind of crass and forced. It's a story about trust and abuse, but it doesn't completely work.

The other story regards her identity (as most A.I. stories tend to pivot to), and specifically her gender. This, to me, is the much more interesting story. Sadly, it feels rushed, it isn't allowed to breathe. The American parents are quickly forgotten, and we're back with the programmer, but there is almost no personal interaction between the proxy and their designer. It feels impersonal, while the search for one's identity is so very personal.

There are a bunch of very short stories, none of which add much to the world.

(Picked up an ARC through Edelweiss)

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

A pretty good story about artificial intelligence, adoption, and gender identity goes terribly awry when it shoehorns in a recreation of the Columbine school shooting complete with shooters named Eric Harris and Dylan and a girl under a table confronted with the question, "Do you believe in God?"

Why go there? And once you have pulled such a cheap and insensitive stunt, why think readers will be able to focus on anything except that?

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started off strong, but then there was just too much going on with none of the storylines really being fleshed out or resolved satisfactorily. The ideas were good but the series too short and meandering.

Some issues were great, which is why my rating is a bit higher than it should be, but the rushed ending brought down the whole series for me.

Individual issue reviews: #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6

Total review score: 3.42

[Rachel (TheShadesofOrange) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.0 Stars
This was such a unique science fiction graphic novel that blended together themes surrounding artificial intelligence with gender identity. The plot was quite unpredictable, which made the story feel fresh. I would recommend this one to readers looking for a new sci fi story with a complex, diverse narrative.

[A.J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Every other review on here has summed this book and it’s problems up better than I ever could, so go read their fantastic reviews instead.

I personally enjoyed the gender identity and artifical intelligence aspects of the story Holt was going for and still think there is a decent enough read here, but as many others here have said, the story really did go off the rails once it tries to make some commentary on school shootings. It also has a gory sequence in there that just feels so out of place in something like this, even if it is Mature Readers.

The story had a lot of great ideas, but does a pretty poor job at cramming it all into a concise 6 issue series. I did love the art though, as even if the story can be a bit of a mess, the art is always a pleasant constant. I’m still debating on whether to drop this down to two stars, but I think the art is gonna keep it at three.

[Chantaal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not great...tries to marry two very distinct ideas (AI growing human + gender identity) that could work if it had focused solely on those themes. Instead, there's a whole awfully handled side plot that soured the entire thing for me. None of the characters felt like more than cardboard cutouts pasted into each panel. Terribly disappointing.

[Brandon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't think 6 issues was long enough for what this series was doing. The whole thing is centred around this idea of manufactured and assigned identity, with a "proxy" named Jesse being programmed with an artificial intelligence but still treated as a property to be owned, of service and easy to command. Jesse has a degree of intelligence and freedom to decide what they think is best for themselves, and that is constantly at odds with what is assigned to them. Jesse wants to grow, but proxies stay children forever. Jesse wants to change, but corporations want to retrieve and factory reset errant proxies. Proxies are seen as property, not as real beings, and are supposed to be controlled and managed. But Jesse develops their own thoughts that do not comply with the rigid system, and it's only through family and support systems can Jesse find some fluidity and chance to be accepted for who they are.

It's a lot to take in! Most of it not engaged with too deeply as Made in Korea tries to cram it all into six issues. This is one of those Image Comics books where there is no distinguishing between issues, no cover pages or chapter breaks inserted between, so I got to the end not realizing I was on the final issue. I expected one or two more, but no. It's missing something, it ends abruptly. It's fine as is but could have been better.

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are three different stories here and they don't play well together. The main robotics tale, the extremely underexplained children-of-men backstory and the wildly dated school shooter plot - any two might have worked; all together like this every part is weakened.

[Chris Thompson · Rating 2 out of 5]

A messy narrative that tries to do too much and ultimately ends in a confusing and rushed manner.

[Benjamin Bauer · Rating 2 out of 5]

A tale of AI identity set decades into the future. A software engineer working for a corp that manufactures "proxies" (Android children for those looking to adopt) stumbles upon an AI breakthrough while on the clock. Not wanting his bosses to own his creation, he sticks the AI into a proxy and sells it ASAP to a childless couple Stateside. This proxy is christened Jesse by her new parents and quickly sets herself apart from her android kin by proving to be a voracious learner with a gamut of emotions. But when Jesse insists on attending school and has to contend with human children, her misunderstanding of cues and the callousness of her peers causes a chain of events that swiftly reach a boiling point.

This book has certain things going for it. The storytelling is understated, without much in the way of whiz-bang scifi shenanigans or an over-indulgence in the cynicism that you sometimes get in Black Mirror-esque science fiction. It also felt personal to the author. Holt is a Korean adoptee and non-binary. It seemed to me as though they used Jesse to explore their own experiences and feelings regarding their identity. So for the author going on the line to delve into those personal matters, I do appreciate the book!

Then there's the art. I think George Schall's art may have contributed most to me following through with finishing this. Like the script it's understated. He's quite good at conveying subtle emotions with the facial expressions of his characters while also giving things a nice, somewhat soft veneer. In particular the interiors of Wook-jin industries and his designs for near-future Korea made me yearn for more of the comic to take place in either location. Definitely going to have an eye out for other books this guy draws.

Sadly great art can only do so much when your plot is all over the place. I would have much preferred if the arc I described earlier was far more pronounced than in its current form. As is the story takes a hard right into exploring gun control in America that didn't quite mesh for me with the whole AI/Identity bits. It left things feeling diluted for me. Not to mention Jesse's parents largely fade away into the background for the final act. You may have noticed if you read this far that I also mentioned Black Mirror? Well, Made in Korea almost feels like a lost episode of that series. Not to mention any number of stories about AI embodied as android children. So I can't really give it many points for originality.

It's a pity because like I said, this story seems quite personal to Holt. Maybe if they had had a larger canvas than six issues I would have found what they whipped up more satisfying. Even then however, I don't know that that would help with the jarring turns the story takes. You might be better served re-watching AI if you really got a hankering for stories about android kids.

[Rory Wilding · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty much all sci-fi stories about artificial intelligence can trace their roots back to Carlo Collodi’s The Adventures of Pinocchio, the famous story of a wooden puppet who comes to life, but dreams of becoming a real boy. The idea of something artificial becoming “human” has been a recurring theme in science fiction for decades. Collidi’s story continues to influence countless others, from Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner to Steven Spielberg’s A.I. Artificial Intelligence — and now, Image Comics’ Made in Korea.

Please click here for my full review.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

As others have said, this short book has a lot of hot-button topics crammed into it. Because of that, the pacing feels a little bit off, rushed at times and low at others. That said, this is a 4-star book for me (instead of a 2-3 star book) because I really enjoyed the art, and there were several moments that just pulled at my hearstrings, even if we have seen many iterations of AI storylines by now. It was also refreshing to see a book that has a substantial amount of not-English, and trans and/or nonbinary rep.

Read as a free review copy from Diamond through Edelweiss+

[Alberto Martín de Hijas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Me gusta la idea y tiene un arranque potente pero da la sensación de que intenta ser demasiadas cosas a la vez y las tramas se vuelven inconexas, dando unos giros un tanto inexplicables. Al final sólo me deja la sensación de un buen dibujo y poco más.

[It's just Deano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Made in Korea is a sweet and at times cautionary book about identity and social belonging. There's undoubtedly a lot of subject matter included in the pages of this paperback, which sometimes does make it feel like the story is moving at a quicker pace than I would have liked.

The characterisation here is great though. It's hard not to love the small A.I protagonist Jesse and even if you may not identify with all the issues in this book on a personal level they're demonstrated wonderfully via the actions of these characters.

The art is suitable to the story and I personally really enjoyed the colour palette used here. I feel it fit the tone of the book very well.

Overall, this isn't a perfect book. It appears to whizz by extremely quickly, never really focusing on a deep-dive into the many issues presented and because of that I feel the messages in the book could have definitely hit a lot harder and clearer. That said, it's extremely difficult not to love this book because it's undoubtedly a brave effort at telling a personal story. It's definitely worth your time and gets a recommendation from me.

_______________

Rating: 8/10

Goodreads: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

_______________

[Sem · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was all over the place. School shootings, AI rights, sexuality and gender exploration - all of this stuff gets spread through 6 issues while the story wanders seemingly aimlessly. A shame because the art itself is a really cool style and the concept was quite promising.

[Theediscerning · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmmm... I expected a bit of a firmer grip on things from this title. We start with a surprisingly Jewish-looking chap working in a Korean android plant, and testing his ultra-superior AI programming by putting it into a character from the reject pile, and then selling this 'proxy' as they're called to a childless couple in Texas. There, Jesse, to all intents and purposes a young Asian girl, reads the entire town library in days – although she clearly registers "Moby Dick" more than the common-or-garden reads, as she fails to see when she's being manipulated and why. Back in Korea (South Korea, to be precise – but never let a point of geopolitical order influence a mediocre title) we find the whole reason for the book is nothing to do with AI – no, it's transgenderism.

Seldom here does an actual scene read badly – in isolation; the birth of Jesse's knowledge, the creator's hunt for her, her response when she finds out what's actually up with her new-found friends – all are enjoyable beats. But they're very rarely connected in a successful manner, and when the bombshell lands that this is a book with a moral - "hey guys, if an advanced AI can't work out what gender it is, what hope do us meatheads have?!?!" - you really do have to wonder why the heck we've seen what we've seen, and gone through what we've gone through. Let's face it, the purpose of "2001 – a Space Odyssey" is to show alien intelligence either responding to, or inspiring, human evolution, but you bloody well have to show the evolution along the way, and not just dump it on the viewer in the last reel.

What we have is inconsistent, and conceivably just afraid of putting its theme out there from the get-go. And it's a theme that needs to be front and centre to make any sense of the nonsensical preludes here, featuring as they do what I've completely circled round, partly as it's a spoiler and mostly as it's inherently rubbish in the light of the final reveals. In the finish what it is is the most cockamamie example of a character being taken advantage of, so thematically at odds with what the book wants to be. Like I say, a firmer grip on what the story was about and how it should portray that more boldly was needed.

[Jake · Rating 5 out of 5]

If there are two things I'm tired of it's people I respect decrying series for not appealing to their preferred genres or conventions and the people who badmouth them for it like there's some agenda behind it.

Maybe I rate this high because I'm on the neurodivergent spectrum, maybe it's because I relate to Jesse in some ways but not in every way, no gender dysphoria for one. But all of the characters have something they want even when they don't know what it is. A programmer wants someone to trust and be close with because in South Korean business culture, corporations matter more than anything even a person's wellness. The company could very well have owned sentience and use it for their purposes. As for the sentient android Jesse, [] is eager to learn about the world and about themselves but the final product seems far away. And the fact [] can't connect with others as easily really hits home. And Jesse's parents, they just want a child to spend their lives with and love them regardless.

That said I can at least accept that people rate this lower because it touches on a very real traumatic event in Columbine. But that's intertextuality for you, you have to know what that is before you can react.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

A company in Korea specializes in creating “proxies”, life-like robots that have taken the place of some human children for families where conceiving has been difficult. A programmer, in his spare time, has possibly unlocked a key of artificial intelligence. He experiments with one unit and sends it out into the world. As she is later named, Jesse is sent to a family in Texas, where she starts to devour every book in the house, and quickly move on to the library where her mom works. She decides she wants to try going to school and being a “normal” child. Jesse’s innocence quickly gets her swept up with the wrong kids, and she finds herself an accessory to a school shooting. The programmer comes back to reclaim Jesse and raise her as his own daughter, but back in Korea, Jesse struggles with her identity and wanting to not be a girl child. Some short stories are also included that are supposed to bring more to the world of proxies.

Read the full review, and find more graphic novel reviews, at The Graphic Library.

[TC Rittenhouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fascinating idea of what AI could be, and a look into ways it could go all wrong.
I loved Jesse and their voracious devouring of knowledge, and also the all so human desire to "fit in".

The shorts at the end were also intriguing and sparked the triggers of what happens when things don't go right (Five More Minutes), generational trauma (Distance), and the anger of not being heard (You Hear Me?).

I received a free advanced e-copy through Edelweiss+ and am voluntarily leaving my review.

[Peacegal · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a stunning and memorable graphic novel about the ramifications of creating human-level AI. The story is engaging and the characters sympathetic.

I do think the plotline was a little too on-the-nose in referencing a real-world tragedy, going even as far as to mention to the perpetrators’ names in creating fictional characters. I didn’t really care for that creative decision.

Other than that, MADE IN KOREA is a great choice for anyone who enjoys plotlines about AI and the ethical issues involved!

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is so different from what I expected from the blurbs. Set in a world where AI proxies have replaced children, Jesse is the precocious nine year old who's actually the world's first sentient AI. This story careens all over the place, and while I wanted more worldbuilding and character development, it accomplishes a lot in a pretty short book.

Cw for a school shooting, dysphoria.

[jude · Rating 1 out of 5]

the school shooting plot, which includes characters named after the columbine shooters, was so incredibly unnecessary. this book tried to do so much and failed at almost all of it. the only interesting bits were the gender identity parts, but even that just boiled down to "i want to wear boy clothes actually" and didn't go into any further depth.

[Midniteillusion · Rating 1 out of 5]

What were the authors trying to do by using the names of actual school shooters?
How vile and insensitive to those who lost their lives at Columbine, their families, and all those effected.

[Emilia Emilika · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was so weird. So much for trying to find a short read.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

No children have been born in over a decade. People who can afford it have proxy robot kids with limited AI. Coder writes algorithm for true AI and subversively uploads it to a proxy ....

[Jeremy Bautista · Rating 3 out of 5]

At first, this sounded like this was going to be a thriller/abduction story about a child, who isn't exactly a child (that's not a spoiler if you read the book description)... Who cares about this child? Who knows the truth about this child? What secrets does this child harbor? But unfortunately, it ended up feeling more like Westworld (sorry, I didn't watch it) where the question really is: How Jesse, the manufactured "proxy", humanoid robot "evolving"?

It's not that this is a bad story, but I kinda wished that there was more exploration between what a "proxy" is (i.e. AI-driven android humanoid robot machine--literally, not human) and the way the humans in the story interact with them as "human". It's a nuance that feels like it could have generated more drama and emotion from the family that initially received Jesse. I think there was a mild foray into this, but I did not sense any grief from separation when Jesse was taken from her first family for example. The engineer showed more of this emotional attachment and he was a scientist. In the end, their level of emotion and familial connection of having a lifelike, high-level AI "child" be part of their home is about how we feel about installing a new smart TV in our living room. We're happy to have it. We're amazed at how smart it is. We're a little surprised when it does things we didn't expect, but want. But in the end, we turn it off at night--just like Jesse. The backup short stories (at the end of the graphic novel) double down on this coldness. So this was no accident.

Again, it's not that this is a bad story, but it feels a little undertold. Maybe it's because the story is told from the point of view of the "proxy" and not the humans... and I'm certainly not easily seeing the story through the proxy's ocular sensors.

[Alex Sarll]

It's at least half a century in the future, though for the most part you wouldn't know it; society doesn't look to have collapsed and temperatures seem clement. Such few changes as have occurred are for the better: there's more 3D printing, the US has something approaching gun control, and there are no children (although there are teenagers, so that one seems pretty recent). People who really want to deal with that last point, and who can afford it, can get robot 'proxies' – except now, one rogue scientist has upgraded a proxy from an approximation of child behaviour to full AI! If you watched AI, or read Image's own Alex + Ada, there'll be nothing particularly new to you here beyond a neatly integrated trans angle. If you saw Westworld's first two seasons, you've already gone far beyond this (and if you saw Westworld's third season, I'm so sorry). And if you've read pretty much any prose SF about artificial intelligence this century, the level of comforting familiarity will be off the charts. But it all tootles along pleasantly enough, and the little robot is fairly sympathetic company, and at least it's not as infuriatingly pleased with itself as something genuinely dreadful like Devs. Plus, other creators contribute back-up strips set in the same world, of which the first, silent one, by Ron Chan, is absolutely lovely.

(Edelweiss ARC)

[Kristina · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 stars, rounded up

The concept of this story is brilliant: a world where humanity is rife with conception difficulties, therefore turning to robotic children to fill their desire for families. The family at the center adopts a "child" that is actually the first sentient AI, leading to a slew of problems. The authors lead this AI to recreating the Columbine Massacre, down to details of the tragedy and even the correct names/likenesses of the shooters. This was in very poor taste. 

I was also not a fan of the AI becoming transgender, as it made no sense within the story and felt like an attempt to add forced diversity and make a statement. An unnecessary ending to a failed execution all around.

[Karen Ng · Rating 3 out of 5]

5 stars for illustrations.

This was a confusing read in the way that the author tried to convey way too many social issues in one story: artificial intelligence, teen angst, technology, future, nature vs nurture, dystopia, parenting, gun violence, identity, mental health, adoption, sexual orientation, morality, you name it... it's a big melting pot of stuff better suited for a TV series. There were also a few unrelated short pieces by other artists that had nothing in common to Holt's just to fill up the pages. The art of George Schall was stunning but I can't say the same for either the story or art of the other short pieces. If rating is given by illustrations alone, this would have been a 5-star book.

The plot was definitely influenced by lots of older books and TV series: Klara and the Sun, Absolute Boyfriend(manga), Black Mirror, Humans, so nothing was new here.