Warning: SPOILERS for Tiger Division #1Marvel's most famous team of superheroes are about to have serious competition as the first South Korean superhero team. It is no secret that the Marvel Universe (and the DC Universe as well) are mostly American-centric, focusing the vast majority of their stories and superhero teams within the United States. Tiger Division #1 not only entirely takes place within South Korea, it also includes an all-Korean team on a mission to save their country.
While multiple famous superheroes are neither American citizens nor raised in the United States ( of the X-Men including Storm, Nightcrawler and Sunfire immediately come to mind), the superhero teams usually hail from America. Notable exceptions include the Alpha Flight team from Canada (of which Wolverine was a member), the British Excalibur team, the Russian Winter Guard, the Chinese People's Defense Force and the French Les Heroes de Paris (although this is by far the least-observed international team). While Korean heroes do exist (an example would be the Spider-Man-esque hero Silk), they have never before appeared on a team - until now.
In Marvel's Tiger Division #1, written by Emily Kim with art by Creees Lee, six heroes assemble to save a city from a massive runaway ferry (which happens to be on fire) about to plow into the coastline. One by one, each hero does their part: Luna Snow uses her powers to put out the fire on the deck, Lady Bright and Mr. Enigma save civilians in the path of the vessel, and the mechanical characters The General and Gun-R II information along to the other heroes. Finally, the super-strong leader of the team, Taegugki, stops the ship from crashing into the land with his tremendous strength.
Korea's First Superhero Team Springs Into Action
While the other superheroes aren't granted a large amount of backstory within this issue, Taegugki's past is elaborated on further; his is a tragic backstory that involves the Korean War in 1950. Orphaned as a baby (again, similar to Superman's backstory), Tae-Won was adopted and raised by a woman who had also lost her brother in the conflict - and immediately after saving the city from the ferry, Taegugki sees her spirit (and no one else can see what he sees). Though the Tiger Division was first seen in Jed MacKay and Alessandro Vitti's Taskmaster #3 in 2021, seeing all the Korean heroes in their own book - along with a new mystery plot (a thief has broken into a secure vault) - is a welcome sight for international Marvel fans.
At the end of the issue, the six of the Tiger Division pursue the "thief" and instead find a trap for the heroic super-team. The first issue must also be commended for leaving out all Western superheroes and organizations; they are not needed, as these superheroes are well-developed and can clearly stand on their own. This team is quite new (so much so that they were left out of the 2022 Judgment Day crossover), but in the future, perhaps the Avengers will be ed by the exciting Tiger Division on future missions.
Tiger Division #1 is available now from Marvel Comics.
