
In retrospect, the 20th century has been a period of war. While World War I and World War II expanded almost each corner of the world, civil wars overwhelmed nearly the whole Asian continent. At that time, myriads of common people were forced to leave their homes to avoid wars and millions of families were scattered. Some people did not even have time enough to say goodbye to their families, and left them forever. In the comics “Back Soon”, Seokhan Jung uses artistic techniques to uncover the cruelty of war through his grandfather’s personal anecdote of leaving home at a young age. War cuts off the relationships of individuals and deeply hurts people mentally.

In the first frame, the author makes a subtle yet efficient use of the long shot, color scheme, and focus, to suggest that war brings people endless agony. He establishes the setting where the story begins. There was a civil war in the grandfather’s hometown. The whole frame is set in a dark color scheme, laying a basis for a sad tone. In the background, smoke rises and broken houses could be found in the corner of the frame, which indicates that the war was going on and people were in danger. Then the author draws the audience’s attention to a boat of refugees in the foreground, involving the main character—his grandfather. There are no extreme details on the faces of people on the boat except for his grandparents. We could imply underlying information that each one could be a victim of the war. In the other words, war could affect everyone. In the center of the frame, his grandfather in a darker color than others is looking back sadly. From the facial expression on his grandfather, we could feel his fear of the war, confusion about the future, and worry about his parents at home. It is war that makes amounts of people, like his grandfather, flee their hometowns and move to unknown locations. They not only suffer the hardships of migration, but also endure homesickness. They are experiencing the torment both physically and mentally. 

In the second frame, the author employs a close-up shot and dialogue, comprehensively depicting the facial expression of his grandfather to indicate that war blocks people’s freedom and hope. From the painting, we could figure out that the grandfather aged a lot during the past years, with wrinkles on his face, cold sweat over his brow, and beard around his mouth. These detailed descriptions imply that it has been several years since he left his hometown, and furthermore he may have experienced a lot of hardship and torment during the period of migration. However, the flag of South Korea in the background indicates that he is still far from home, and the steam uncovers the fact that the war has not yet ended and does not seem as though it will end soon. In the frame, the grandfather puts his fingers on the iron fence, which implicitly conveys that his longing to go back home is blocked as well as his physical body. Moreover, the words in the dialogue box show that he repeats the promise of going back. He never stops thinking about home and never gives up the hope of returning. Even though it is a small part of the whole comic, it reflects the thinking in the minds of millions of people who are forced to flee their homes by war. They are exhausted on the way, and they may worry about relatives who are separated from them, and they may long for their lands. However, all the hope and freedom is blocked by the reality—war. They are oppressed by the force and have to accept the fate.

 The frame of the grandfather’s funeral indicates that he achieved his dream of “going back home” through death. The background is a white snowfield, as the grandfather’s remains are buried into the deep black hole without a coffin as tradition. “In the Korean culture, a euphemism for ‘die’ is ‘going back’. Going back to ‘mother nature’. Going back to where we are from” (Jung). As Jung expresses in the comics, the grandfather’s strongest deisre is to go back home. However, it is regretful that he goes ‘back’ through death. On the other hand, it leaves the audience a rosy image of the grandfather’s soul going over the iron fence, the impassable boundary between countries, and the long period of time, to go back home, which may have appeared several times in his dreams. Particularly, Jung states that the grandfather “did not have straw ropes to tie”, which suggests that the grandfather is free to go home. It contrasts implicitly to the frame above, in which the grandfather was blocked by the iron fence and could not go back home when he was young. In addition, Jung highlights the contrast of color between the white snow and the black remains, which present the frame in a solemn and respectful tone. It also indicates the ending of the story.

The wars leave irreparable injuries to people both physically and mentally. The story of Jung’s grandfather intends to promote that each one of us has the obligation to avoid war and seek peace. During his lifetime, the grandfather never achieved going back home, which is a tiny epitome of millions of individuals who have had the same experience. There is no winner in war. The people on both sides suffer.
