Copyright Screen Rant
Comic books and general graphic fiction do an excellent job at creating modern gods with their depictions of superheroes, but one of their most foundational teams always shined for being outcasts. In the case of X-Men, the series depicted mutants whose abilities were often feared or rejected by society, standing as an allegory for various marginalized groups. X-Men is a beloved series loaded with rich story opportunities despite, in recent years, falling short of glory compared to its contemporaries in the box office. But that only gives way for other spiritual successors to take the mantle of this Marvel legend. The best part is, in the case of YLAB's Jungle Juice, they're the tip of the iceberg. Jungle Juice Is the X-Men Substitute We All Deserve In the Korean webtoon medium commonly saturated with urban power fantasies, isekai, and otome isekai, superhero manhwa like Jungle Juice can tend to stand out. This is easily thanks to its superb art team led by Juder and a novel, yet approachable power system, where humans have their DNA altered to become variants of Insect Humans based on real-life bugs. For fans who enjoyed Grant Morrison's Animal Man, this may lead to inevitable assumptions about predictable characters based on the relative strength of ants. However, Jungle Juice takes one step further, often giving drastic physical alterations to Insect Humans, with examples like mandibles or stingers growing out of their skin. Their abilities are incredible, but they become outcasts to society. Also, yes, there is a character who is cruelly altered, giving the strength and the entire head of an ant, being trapped as food for other, monstrous Insect Humans. It's a case of seeing a predictable trope, and taking it to a reasonable, heartwrenching extreme as fans see how he, and many others, triumphantly embrace their Complexes. The collective set of powers for each character in Jungle Juice is referred to as a "Complex". Cases include Suchan Jang's Dragonfly Complex granting him flight, extraordinary speed and agility, and capacity for deadly surgical strikes in close combat. The series focuses on Suchan Jang, a popular and prodigious college student who hides his secret condition, where he used a mysterious Jungle Juice bugspray to kill a dragonfly. The spray was far more than an insectide, though, as it destroyed the dragonfly, integrating it with Suchan's DNA. These cans are responsible for giving rise to the Insect Humans. On top of a Spider-Man-like origin, these characters go to NEST, a special campus town for Insect Humans to learn how to handle their Complexes, akin to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. While rewards for top students include Cinderella, a rare compound capable of reversing these conditions, however, much of the story involves these characters accepting their changes. The Manhwa That Scratches the Superhero Itch Jungle Juice is a weekly series published on LINE's Webtoon app, offering a long-term, engaging narrative for fans seeking something akin to X-Men. The humanity of its characters is plentiful, with Suchan as the lovable, pure protagonist, Huijin Park as the resilient class president, and Hyeseong Cha as the athlete battling an inferiority complex, to name an insultingly small sampling. Jungle Juice has anything an X-Men fan could ever want, with social commentary and breathtaking action. For the manga fans, it has an interpersonal charm akin to My Hero Academia, but for college-aged characters. There are even parallels to X-Men's Brotherhood such as Pet Shop, led by Breeder to replace humanity with his particularly brutal army of Insect Humans. Not only does each series show massive attention to detail, but its unusual insect choices and fascinating factoids are deliberately chosen by writer Hyungeun Jo to keep audiences on their toes. But for those remaining unconvinced, manhwa and manga can tend to exist bottled in one self-contained serialized narrative. While that is the case for most manhwa, Jungle Juice is a special exception thanks to one of its most enticing features for fans seeking more. Jungle Juice Is Part of a Sprawling Manhwa Universe Part of the Super String Universe, Jungle Juice is one of 19 series taking place across Korea and much of Earth, and even other dimensions. It functions similarly to the multiverses seen in Marvel and DC, down to series like Marco Polo's Travel to the Multiverse even encountering crossovers with Jungle Juice characters like Suchan, Huijin, and Jun Ji appearing. The multiverse is far from a simple fan service gimmick, too. Terror Man, Distant Sky, and Island blend sci-fi, horror, and apocalyptic manhwa as part of contributing to the multiverse's wider narrative. Fans debate reading orders as this series list continues Blade of the Phantom Master Burning Hell Distant Sky Electronics Horror Store Hanlim Gym Housekeeper Island Jungle Juice Kangtawoo Kuku-Kuku My Nights Shine Brighter Than Your Days Neolithic Girl Prince of Prince Reawakened Man Super String: Marco Polo's Travel to Multiverse Terror Man Terror vs Revival The Queens Westwood Vibrato
