Shoplifter Review
by Eli Hedstrom
More than likely you have seen Michael Cho’s artwork somewhere at
some time. It may have been from a variant cover for some comic or you
might have glimpsed some sketches of his floating throughout the
Tumblrverse. Either way he has been around, and just recently he has
debuted his first full length graphic novel with ​Shoplifter.
​Shoplifter’s ​tale centers around the life of a young woman named Corinna
Park. Corinna is living in the big city from her dreams, yet she has been
working for the past five years, at an advertising agency far from her
dreams. After finally snapping at a business meeting. Corinna is left with
the question “is this what I want to keep doing”. Which then leads Corinna
and us to review her personal wants and desires for one weekend. She
also gives us a lesson in shoplifting magazines(thus the title *wink).
So I guess the big question is. Is the book really worth your personal time
and money? Especially since there are so many other great graphic novels

new and old that deal with such existential and life questions. To that I
would answer YES!! This is book is worth every penny. Mainly because is
does one major thing that many of those other books don't. But before I
describe what that is, let me talk about some smaller things.
First is Michael Cho’s artwork. His style reminds me of Darwyn Cooke with
a sprinkle of Daniel Clowes (Ya I know sounds weird). Cho’s attention to
details is just superb. Capturing every thought and emotion his characters
are thinking or feeling. One thing that specifically stood out to me, was
every so often he will do these single panels that would take up two pages.
Which just fully and purely presented the life and tone of a big city.
The only downside to Cho’s artwork, is that it is so reminiscent of Darwyn
Cooke or Adrian Tomine. That for me to pinpoint his artwork in the future, it
would need to have his name attached to it. As far as I can see, there is
nothing going on in Cho’s artstyle that just separates him from these two.
Thats alright though, because you're going to be too enamored with the
writing to notice such a slight thing. Outside of that big question “is this

what I want to be doing”, there are so many other subject matters that Cho
brings to light. I would talk about them, but I feel like I would be robbing you
the readers of experiencing these revelations yourself.
The only thing I will speak on. Is that one major thing I said I would get to
earlier, that makes this book amazing. Most books or graphic novels that
deal with these tougher questions in life, tend to come off dark or
open­ended. Like its saying “thats life so deal with it, we do”. Where as
here, Cho actually gives us an answer to that typical job question we all
face and a few others.

So if you're in the mood for just somthing new to read or you would like a
jolt of positivity to get you back on track. You can not go wrong with picking
up ​Shoplifter.
Score:
8.5