Jormungand: Castle of Lies

I read Jormungand, Vol. 8


I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin (which has free comics).

Tenjo Tenge: The Natsumes

I read Tenjo Tenge, Vol. 4: Full Contact Edition 2-in-1

I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin (which has free comics).

Dogs: Bullets and Carnage: Cage and Puppies

I read Dogs, Vol. 6 (Dogs (Viz Media))

I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin (which has FREE smart phone apps).

Death Metal City: The Final Chapter

I read Detroit Metal City, Vol. 10

I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin.

Tenjo Tenge: Bunshichi Takes on Shin

I read Tenjo Tenge, Vol. 3: Full Contact Edition 2-in-1 (Tenjho Tenge)

I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin.

Leroy Douresseaux on WANDERING SON Volume 1

WANDERING SON, VOL. 1
FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS

CARTOONIST: Shimura Takako
TRANSLATION: Matt Thorn
LETTERS: Paul Baresh, Ian Burns, and Priscilla Miller
ISBN: 978-1-60699-416-0; hardcover
208pp, B&W with some color, $19.99 U.S.

Fantagraphics Books is back in the manga-publishing game, but their new series does not feature boy heroes, aliens, monsters, robots, magic, super powers, or even love-starved teen girls.

Wandering Son is a manga from creator Shimura Takako that began serialization in 2002 in the manga magazine, Comic Beam. Fantagraphics Books recently began publishing English-language graphic novel editions of the series. Wandering Son follows fifth grader Shuichi Nitori, a boy who wants to be a girl, and his friend Yoshino Takatsuki, a girl who wants to be a boy.

Wandering Son Volume 1 introduces the two protagonists and their friends and family whose lives intersect with their own. Nitori is the new student in school and makes his first friend, Takatsuki. They bond over a dress that Takatsuki doesn’t want and gives to Nitori’s sister, Maho. Nitori wonders what he would look like in a dress, and soon his female classmates are encouraging him to wear them. Meanwhile, Takatsuki is exploring life as a boy by passing for a boy. When the fifth-graders put on a production of The Rose of Versailles for the farewell ceremony for the sixth graders, the play’s gender-bending brings gender issues out in the open.

Ostensibly a seinen manga (comic book for adult males), Wandering Son begins with characters that are preteens or preadolescents and is appropriate for readers of that demographic (although I say this as someone who isn’t a parent). I assume parents and guardians freaked out about any discussion or visual fiction depiction of issues relating to gender identity, puberty, and transsexuality would consider Wandering Son inappropriate for their preteens.

However, Shimura Takako tells this story in such a gentle, unobtrusive way, one might believe that this story flows naturally – as if it simply spun itself from nature and is the way it is supposed to be. I think Matt Thorn’s tidy translation, which goes down the mental gullet with such smoothness, is a big reason for how readable this is. Wandering Son is not flashy or aggressive, nor does it pander or try to be hip and stylish. Takako draws the reader in so quietly that some may be surprised to find themselves on a journey of discovery and exploration with these characters. It’s like seeing preadolescence for the first time or seeing it again through fresh eyes and a new perspective.

Takako’s simple approach to compositions and graphical storytelling entails sparse backgrounds and a cartoony method of figure drawing. The figures are striking in their simplicity, and their emotions and actions in the story are crystal clear. If only more comic books were so evocative and so clear in their storytelling like Wandering Son, an ideal comic book. Ages 8 to 80 will like Wandering Son.

A

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Tenge Tenjo: Enter Todo High

I read Tenjo Tenge, Vol. 1: Full Contact Edition 2-in-1

I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin (which has FREE smart phone apps).

Jormungand Dance with Undershaft

I read Jormungand, Vol. 7 (See all Manga)

I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin (which has FREE smart phone apps).

Biomega the Final Volume

I read Biomega, Vol. 6 (See all Manga)

I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin (which has FREE smart phone apps).

Excel Saga Lies and Misunderstandings

I read Excel Saga, Vol. 22

I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin (which has FREE smart phone apps).

Dogs: Bullets and Carnage: Aggressors and Strugglers

I read Dogs, Vol. 5 (Dogs (Viz Media))

I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin (which has FREE smart phone apps).

I Reads You Review: LIVES, VOL. 1

Creator: Masayuki Taguchi with Bryce P. Coleman (English adaptation) and Monica Seya Chin (translation)

Publishing Information: TOKYOPOP, B&W, paperback, 192 pages, $12.99 (US), $16.99 CAN

Ordering Numbers: ISBN: 978-1-4278-1667-2

 

Action/Fantasy; Rated “M” for “Mature Ages 18+”

 

I enjoy reading manga, and for most of the last eight years, I’ve been exposed to a lot of it. Manga offers high-quality series in so many genres and sub-genres, and there is such diversity that some manga are simply hard to classify. There are also titles that I call “guy comics” because those manga appeal to the action-loving, science fiction/fantasy fan that cannot get enough of kick-ass shonen and seinen manga like Bleach, Naruto, Black Lagoon and Akira. I just discovered a new seinen manga (comics for adult men) that has made me anxious for the next volume.

TOKYOPOP recently published the first volume of their English language release of Lives. Created by Masayuki Taguchi (the artist of the Battle Royale manga), Lives has elements of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and monster comics. It also has a passing resemblance to TOKYOPOP’s World of Warcraft graphic novels.

Lives, Vol. 1 focuses on a group of people who live in the Kanto region of Japan, which is devastated by a freak meteor storm. People caught in the terrific blasts caused by meteors hitting the area are mysteriously transported to a strange world that one of them dubs “Afterworld.” There, the human arrivals transform into monstrous cannibalistic beasts that must fight and sometimes eat each other to survive. Shinma Shingo, a genial martial arts student, leads a small group of survivors. His peaceful and protecting ways, however, are at odds with what seems to be the way to deal with life on Afterworld.

Readers who enjoy battles between behemoths and other super freaks, like those found in teen-oriented, battle manga, will like Lives. The story is a little confusing in places because Taguchi uses a non-linear narrative in which he builds chapters around the back story, arrival, and survival stories of individual characters. Chronologically, Vol. 1’s opening chapter, which his about a girl group singer, actually takes place after the main character’s (Shinma Shingo) story has already taken place. Shingo’s story doesn’t appear until late in the second half of this volume, although it is chronologically the beginning of this story.

Still, Taguchi is very good at telling a story using graphics and the word-and-pictures dynamic of comic books. While his art is beautiful, the beauty is merely an element in what is a spry and expressive visual narrative that is capable of conveying the characters’ thoughts, emotions, and actions. I have to praise Taguchi, though, for his imaginative creature design, which mixes dinosaurs, reptiles, big cats, assorted mammals, and a touch of Cthulhu. Shinma’s beast mode is like a mix of Wolverine and Sabertooth, but with three-foot claws.

If the monsters aren’t enough for potential readers, there is fanservice in the form of crotch shots and tits-and-ass galore. I look forward to more cool monsters.

A-

Dorohedor and Fire-Flushing Toilet

I read Dorohedoro, Vol. 3

I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin (which has FREE smart phone apps).

Now Called xxxHOLiC Ro

I read xxxHOLiC 16 (Xxxholic (Graphic Novels))

I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin (which has FREE smart phone apps).

Biomega New World

I read Biomega, Vol. 4

I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin (which has FREE smart phone apps).

I Reads You Review: AKIRA, VOL. 3

Creator: Katsuhiro Otomo; Yoko Umezawa, Linda M. York, Jo Duffy (translation and adaptation)
Publishing Information: Kodansha Comics, paperback, 288 pages, $24.99 (US), $28.99 CAN
Ordering Numbers: ISBN: 978-1-935-42904-3 (ISBN-13)

Kodansha Comics (through Del Rey Manga, apparently) recently released the third volume in their current English-language republication of Katsuhiro Otomo’s legendary manga, Akira. Just as the first two volumes did, Vol. 3 had me racing through nearly 300 pages of comics as if my life depended on it.

Originally published in the Japanese manga periodical, Young Magazine (from December 1982 to June 1990), Akira takes place in the year 2030 A.D. and is set Neo-Tokyo, the new city built upon the ashes of Tokyo. 38 years earlier, Tokyo was destroyed by a monstrous psychokinetic power known as Akira in a nuclear-like blast that also started World War III. Tetsuo Shima, a juvenile delinquent, begins to exhibit paranormal abilities, which brings him to the attention of The Colonel, the head of a covert government program that studies children with telekinetic powers. Tetsuo’s kidnapping thrusts his friend Shotaro Kaneda into this conspiracy.

As Akira, Vol. 3 opens, Akira, who actually a boy, is awake and is now the pawn in a deadly game of take-away. Kaneda, Rei the young resistance member and her associate, Chiyoko, rescue the boy from the clutches of Tetsuo, who awakened Akira in hopes of challenging his powers. Soon, however, other competing forces attain, lose, and regain the boy in a chase that culminates in a quite neighborhood, where a small war breaks out.

On the back cover of this third volume of Akira, there is a quote from comic book writer Warren Ellis (Red) that says, “Utterly unlike anything you’ve experience before.” A short sentence that speaks volumes of truth, that’s what it is. Praise Ellis! Testify!

There have been science fiction comic books with majestic art (like the works of French cartoonist/illustrator Moebius). There have been dystopian comics that are both great reads, highly acclaimed, and hugely influential (like American Flagg!, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, and Watchmen). They live in Akira’s shadow. The entirety of Vol. 3 is fantastic, but the last 60 pages have a visual power unparalleled in comic books. I think we would have to reference motion pictures in order to quantify Akira’s visual power. Right now, I’m thinking that this is the greatest comic book ever.

A+

Dorohedoro and the Night of the Living Dead

I read Dorohedoro, Vol. 2

I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin (which has apps for the iPhone and Palm smart phone and they're FREE!).

I Reads You Review: BLACK LAGOON, VOL. 8

Creator: Rei Hiroe
Publishing Information: VIZ Media, paperback, 198 pages, $12.99 (US), $16.99 CAN, £8.99 UK
Ordering Numbers: ISBN: 978-1-4215-2779-6 (ISBN-13)

Black Lagoon is a seinen manga (comics for adult men) from manga-ka Rei Hiroe. A violent action series that uses action lines in the art for atmosphere, Black Lagoon focuses on four mercenaries who prowl the waters off the coast of Southeast Asia in a modified, 80-foot, Elco PT boat (a World War II torpedo boat) dubbed the Black Lagoon.

The Black Lagoon’s skipper and the leader of this quartet is Dutch the Boss, an African-American Vietnam veteran. Benny the Mechanic, an American ex-patriot on the run both from the FBI and the mafia, is the guy who basically operates the boat and handles the Black Lagoon’s complicated high tech electronics. The sole female of the crew is Revy, a foulmouthed gunslinger nicknamed “Two Hand.” Rokuro Okajima was a Japanese “salaryman” who was abandoned by his employers after the crew of the Black Lagoon kidnapped him; now, he is Rock and a member of the crew.

The current storyline, “El Baile de la Muerte,” began in Vol. 6 and takes up the entirety of Black Lagoon, Vol. 8. It revolves around a former Black Lagoon guest star, Roberta, the head matron of a prominent South American family and a former (supernaturally skilled) mercenary. Roberta has returned to Roanapur, Black Lagoon’s setting, seeking revenge for the killing of the head of the Lovelace family. Roanapur’s criminal overlords have marked Roberta for execution for fear that if she reaches and kills her target (a U.S. special operations unit called “Grey Fox”), she will bring the fury of the United States upon Roanapur. Rock and Revy lead a small motley crew, including the new head of the Lovelace family, Garcia (a boy), to find Roberta.

Black Lagoon is like a John Woo movie delivered with hurricane force. Half of every volume is a wild dance of gun play and a ballet of bodies contorting to deliver the kill shot. Rei Hiroe’s art offers a pandemonium of action lines and facial close-ups that probably are as close as printed graphics will every get to replicating the kinetic feel of the action movie.

It’s not as if the characters and their struggles aren’t interesting. The story of Roberta and the Lovelace family is a tragic one that references the political corruption, drug wars, U.S. interventionism, and poverty that seem to keep much of Latin America in third world status. Rock’s misfortunes alone are worthy of a graphic novel. But all that takes a backseat to the invigorating violence. This rip-roaring series is the comic book for the action-loving guy who doesn’t read comics but would try the right one. This is certainly the right one.

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