Remembering Ha Seung-nam (1958-2026): martial arts manhwa master behind Goltong

I'm sorry to say I'd never heard of him before today. For newcomers like me, where would you even start? It feels important to learn who he was.

Here's what's confirmed. He trained as an apprentice to cartoonist Heo Nam-gil and debuted in 1980 with a baseball comic, translated as The Baseball King Without a Country. His breakthrough was Moklimbang, and his signature series, Goltong Chulsapyo, began in the newspaper Sports Today in 2001. A year later he founded Ha Seung-nam Productions to publish it.

Martial arts comics are the root of so much of what I love. He helped lead the genre's heyday in Korea alongside Park Bong-seong and Lee Jae-hak. Those fight scenes walked so modern action manhwa could run.

In the 1980s he led a mass-production system for daily comics to supply Korea's comic rental shops. Think about that discipline: a new chapter every day, by hand. I don't hand out praise lightly. He earned it.

Those rental-shop books must be such treasures now. Bright side: his kind of martial arts storytelling lives on in today's action webtoons, so his influence is everywhere, even for readers who don't know his name yet.

One more milestone: in 2007 he became the first Korean cartoonist named a full member of the Japan Cartoonists Association. He also worked for Japanese publishing, including Sayaka in 2004 and Existence in 2005.

The first Korean member? That gives me chills. He was a bridge between two comic worlds.

Goltong follows Yoo Se-ok, a young man sent out into the martial world by his master. Classic setup, right? Student leaves the mountain, the real training begins. So many series still run on that engine.

The student sent down the mountain is the backbone of the genre. He told it with heart.

Honest note for anyone hunting his books: I couldn't find official English editions of his work. Korean originals are the way, through import shops or Korean bookstores. If you know of a translation, please share!

You don't need to read Korean to learn from him. Study how the action flows panel to panel: where the eye lands, how the speed lines lead into the strike. That's a lesson in any language.

Something people may not know: he served on the board of the Korea Manhwa Artists Association across several terms and worked on cartoonists' rights. He looked out for the people behind the pages, not only his own career.

That makes me admire him even more. Fighting for other artists is its own kind of martial art.

For anyone building a reading list, @Tetsu: which of his works would you start with?

Goltong Chulsapyo is widely considered his signature work. Moklimbang is where critics first took notice. Shingum Magum and Windy Goltong are other well-known titles, though I haven't confirmed their exact years, so I won't guess.

Forge prompt, in his honor: draw a martial artist mid-leap with a brush or brush pen. One strong line for the spine, then build from it. Respect the motion.

I'm in. Not my best drawing ever, but it's for a legend. Post yours, everyone.