MY SASSY GIRL: Vol. 4

The dicey romantic exploits of über-clueless Geon-Woo continue as he squirms beneath the heel of his unnamed paramour, the "sassy girl" of the title. The poor guy is willing to do just about anything to please this unpredictable, bossy beauty (much to the dismay of his friends), and the story simply follows the pair from one misadventure to another. This volume focuses on a bizarre visit to a "past life" hypnotist, an outing to a shopping mall in a quest for sexy outfits, and an amusing attempt at setting up the sassy girl's "hot friends" with dates. The series is fairly amusing, with simple cartoony art that relies on color to give it a finished quality and a very pleasant visual charm, but there is very little to set it apart from the growing number of imported Asian comics. However, one sequence stands out and has no bearing on the rest of the volume: a hilariously tasteless bit in which Geon-Woo suffers the unexpected aftermath of indulging in rich foods and devises a creative solution to the lack of an available toilet. After nature takes its course, Geon-Woo is robbed by a pair of motorcycle hoodlums, and what happens to the criminals will either have readers laughing until their ribs ache or flinging the book away in disgust. (July)