Mail Order Bride

By Mark Kalesniko

The creator of Why Did Pete Duel Kill Himself? returns with an even more powerful graphic novel. Monty, a Canadian comic-and-toy-shop owner and a pathetic 39-year-old virgin, expects his Asian mail-order bride Kyung Soo to fulfil his female Asian fantasy stereotypes: obedient, hardworking and loyal. Tall and accentless, Kyung turns out to be much more complex than Monte is willing to accept. This sharp and affecting look at their prickly relationship is told over 264 elegant, touching pages in this original graphic novel by Disney animator Mark Kalesniko. Kalesniko adroitly juxtaposes Monty's non-sexual, juvenile obsessions with his objectification of his bride, drawing a direct line between loneliness, consumerism, and how the need for order in one's life compromises the approach to matters of the heart.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1560974109
• ISBN13: 9781560974109
• Release Date: June 2003
• Publisher: Fantagraphics Books
• Length: 264 Pages
• Weight: 1.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 7.7" x 10.9"

Customer Reviews

It's... depressing

This book has a unique, expressive style to the artwork and the dialogue is believable but where it really excels is the realism of the characters. Both of the main characters are at times pitiable and at others really easy to hate, you can side with neither character if you're being fair and honest and thus the book ends, leaving one feeling a touch unsatisfied. Which seems right as the characters in the book also are left unsatisfied. long story short, awesome book, well worth the read.

Excellent exploration of cultural boundaries

'Mail order bride' is a graphic novel focusing on the story of 39 year old comic book store owner Morris Wheeler, and a young Korean woman called Kyung who desires to move to Canada for a freer life, but the only way to do so is to marry a native man in a so called 'greencard' marriage. Wheeler is a awkward and shy man, and lacks the self-confidence to ask women to date him. As a result, he is desperately lonely and sexually frustrated, and spends much of his time using pornographic movies and magazines, especially those of Asian women. Wheeler seems to get the image Asian women are more docile, compliant, and obedient than native Canadian women, and less likely to reject him as inadequate. Seizing the opportunity, Wheeler takes the plunge and meets up with Kyung. The two soon marry, and their relationship begins. It is soon obvious the marriage is a bad one. Loveless, and badly marred by Wheeler's severe lack of self esteem (even on his wedding night he can't consumate the marriage without the initiative of Kyung) and Kyung's growing desire for freedom, the couple soon start to drift apart. Kyung meets a native Chinese Canadian photographer, Ms Wong, who introduces her to a more liberal and relaxed attitude to life than she finds at home with Wheeler. Wong takes a number of nude photos of Kyung and introduces her to a Art history teacher and photographer, who encourages Kyung to develop her natural artistic gifts and to study. This Kyung all does, much to Wheeler's rage, which erupts into poisonous jealousy, envy, and irrational suspicion which destroys his fragile trust in Kyung, leading him to falsely accuse her of having affairs. Things go downhill for the couple, with Kyung becoming increasingly rebellious against Wheeler's attempts to control her and stop her being 'unfaithful' (which she never is) and his pathetic attempts at emotional blackmail and manipulation. Sadly, Kyung's friends including Wong, blast him as pathetic, weak and 'balless', badly damaging Wheeler's already fragile psyche and self esteem, and accelerating the slide to disintegration. Things come to a head when Kyung finds Wheeler's extensive asian pornography collection. Accusing him of never loving her and only wanting an object to gratify his lust, the two engage in a final conflict which tears both apart. The story is a darkly tragic one, but very well told. The illustrations and characters are powerful and effective, and afterwards one is haunted by the destructive forces of self-hate, lust, selfishness, and manipulation which affect us all. The story is a disturbing indictment on relationships where the main aim of both people is not love and kindness but selfish ends to another means, achieved through using people as objects. Kyung seems to come through as the hero of the story, though the ending is not a happy one by any means. Certainly in the end she turns out to be anything but what Wheeler desired and expected her to be, and shows As

loved almost all of it

I loved every page of this book up to the great climax, which in my opinion strikes a false note to say the least. the character development is carefully done and plausible up to that point, where two genres seem to collide to the benefit of neither; I'm not familiar with Mark Kalesniko's previous work, but can imagine it to be in a more traditional "comic" style, where such scenes are somewhat more commonplace.After reading this through I hasten to add that I was deeply impressed and moved by the rest of the book, the artwork as well as the story, and wouldn't want to put anyone off buying it; on the contrary, I seldom got such good value (in terms of time spent reading and re-reading) out of a graphic novel. Great book!

Marvelous example of the modern graphic novel

Complex, believable characters and an unusual, well-conceived plot make this one of my favorite graphic novels. The conflict between the comic book store owner with an Asian fetish and his new Korean mail-order bride is beautifully told in a series of small, telling vignettes, developing slowly as it takes a series of unpredictable turns. Kalesniko's art is, as always, both incisive and gorgeous, and his use of panels and pacing are just brilliant. He obviously has a lot to teach others in the medium of comics. He apparently did work on The Lion King and Mulan, but his wonderfully cinematic storytelling skills have been evident since long before that. I'll admit the ending of the story goes a bit over the top for my taste, but what remains is a dense and fascinating look at a very poignant, very real relationship. I've read it 3 times now and continue to linger over the captivating way Kalesniko tells the story. If you're looking for a graphic novel for people who say they'll never like "comic books," this is one to buy.

funny and brutal

I bought this book quite a while back, but it was only recently I read it. It is the story of a lonely 39 year old comic and toy store owner Monty Wheeler. Who is so desperate for companionship that he gets a mail order bride from Korea. However, the woman he gets, Kyung Seo, is not the petite,deferent Asian girl that he was hoping for, and this is where the story takes off into chaos. The art style is very unique in this book, and the sory telling is top-notch. There is never a trace of love in Monty and Kyung's relationship: Monty has a case of "Yellow Fever" and Kyung was hoping for a better life. They are both met with bitter disappointment that explodes in pure hatred at the end. . .