I Reads You Review: DENGEKI DAISY Volume 11

DENGEKI DAISY, VOL. 11
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

CARTOONIST: Kyousuke Motomi
TRANSLATION/ENGLISH ADAPTATION: JN Productions
LETTERS: Rina Mapa
ISBN: 978-1-4215-5060-2; paperback; Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
192pp, B&W, $9.99 US, $12.99 CAN

Kyousuke Motomi is female mangaka (manga creator) who debut in 2002 with the manga, No-Good Cupid! (English title). Her current series is Dengeki Daisy.

Teru Kurebayshi, an orphan, is the lead character in Dengeki Daisy. She lost her brother, Soichiro, but she wasn’t alone. Teru exchanges messages with DAISY, a mysterious figure who can only be reached through a cell phone her brother left her. Eventually, Teru learns that DAISY is Tasuku Kurosaki, a janitor who is always around when she needs him.

As Dengeki Daisy, Vol. 11 opens, Teru is frustrated at the lingering fear she feels from the threat of Chiharu Mori and her flunky, Akira. Teru is glad that Kurosaki is around to protect her, but she also wants to be able to protect herself. Meanwhile, Teru’s longtime friend, Kiyoshi Hasegawa, struggles with his deeply romantic feelings for Rena Ichinose, another friend of Teru’s. But Rena already has a fiancé.

That fiancé is a shady-acting business man named Kazuki Morizono. His actions will give Teru a chance to show her strength. Morizono brings up Kurosaki’s past as a hacker and endangers Rena. Can Teru protect her friend?

After first reading the Dengeki Daisy manga, I saw it as another romantic tale featuring a beastly male love interest, from the creator of Beast Master, Kyousuke Motomi. After reading Dengeki Daisy Volume 11, I now see it as a kind of manga version of American television soap operas. Why?

Dengeki Daisy borrows from several genres. It has a high school romance. The male love interest is an older man, while the female is a high school student, so there is a tad bit of a tawdry true romance feel to it. Kurosaki’s past as a hacker and Teru’s late brother’s life as a programmer adds an espionage angle. The series is also a light suspense thriller because of the threats of violence, personal destruction, and kidnapping. I could see a young Susan Lucci as perfect for a dramatization of this.

I like the soap opera and melodrama. This is a shojo high school romance that is not as comic as some shojo romances and is darker, in a theatrical way, than most. Readers looking for shojo romantic drama as American soap opera will like the Shojo Beat title, Dengeki Daisy.

A-

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

Albert Avilla Reviews: Indestructible Hulk #2

Indestructible Hulk # 2
Marvel Comics

Reviewed by Albert Avilla

Writer: Mark Waid
Pencils: Leinil Yu
Inks: Gerry Alanguilan

(Spoilers!)
Hulk, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. is a good premise. This new direction for the Hulk is an excellent idea. Banner has decided to embrace the idea of being the Hulk, and using him in situations where he can do good. Why keep a potential force for good relegated to the status of criminal?

The Hulk is the ultimate stick for S.H.I.E.L.D. to wield. You better be committed to whatever terrorism you are thinking about, knowing that the Hulk might be a consequence of your actions. Just think about the money S.H.I.E.L.D. can save. Why develop any weapons? All you need is a truck; put Hulk in the back, and drive to the scene. “What’s up now Hydra? Suck on this!” Drop off the Hulk, end of evildoing.

This issue is about Banner being a super-scientist on a level with Reed Richards. With this new situation, Banner will have time to work, which should have a calming effect on him. He has a goal of completing an invention a week. I can’t complete any of my chores on the honey-do list each week.

Iron Man pays a visit to check out the situation, but he is unknowingly set up by Banner for a good-old, stress-relieving butt-kicking. This story would be a good bridge between two good story arcs, but as it stands, it’s just an unnecessary character developing story. When we pick up a Hulk mag, we expect more Hulk-smash for our money, not a sparring match with Iron Man.

The art is passable. The coloring goes a little too far; it makes the art look like pieces of a puzzle. A lighter hand may make the art more engaging.

I rate Indestructible Hulk 002 Read a Friend’s Copy. #3 (of 5) on the Al-O-Meter

Hunter x Hunter: Memory

I read Hunter x Hunter, Vol. 29

I posted a review at the ComicBookBin.

Albert Avilla Reviews: Red Lanterns #14

Red Lanterns #14
DC Comics

Reviewed by Albert Avilla

Writer: Peter Milligan writer
Artist: Miguel Sepulveda

“Home Is Where the Heart Is” (Spoilers!)

In the “Rise of the Third Army” event this is where the action is. The Red Lanterns are fighting the Third Army. The Red Lanterns have found their weakness and destroyed the creatures through their eyes. We are not talking about let’s subdue these creatures and take them in kind of action. This is fight to the death: tear off arms, body parts flying all over the place action. The Red Lanterns are able to defeat the creatures, but not without the lost of Skorch.

Atrocitus takes the remains of one of the creatures to Ysmault to find the origins of the creatures. Using his blood magic, Atrocitus learns that the creatures come from the DNA of the Guardians. These are some really gruesome scenes; if horror is your thing, then this is the book for you. Atrocitus’s animosity toward the Guardians is increasing. Atrocitus gives his Lanterns missions to seek out the blood of the guilty to feed the Red Power Battery; a leader delegating responsibility. Then, bam! The creature regenerates from a rat; you can’t get away from those little B’s anywhere in the Universe, and it attacks. Atrocitus, being the battle leader that he is, instantly comes up with a plan to destroy the creature. Artist Miguel Sepulveda gives us another blood-splattering, gore-fest page.

Atrocitus comes up with another plan to defeat the Third Army by using a synthetic army, the Manhunters. Rankorr is sent to Earth to get his vengeance and become a true Red Lantern. Atrocitus returns to Ayutt, his home planet, where he relives the destruction of Sector 666 by the Manhunters. If you like science fiction, superhero throw-down, and blood and guts action, then, look no farther.

Milligan keeps the action rolling, and when there is a pause in the action, it’s building up to some more action. Milligan keeps the intensity level high and the story is well done. The characters are exciting and vibrant; they are not just rage-filled maniacs running around the Universe, killing the guilty, but the rage does give these characters that certain spice to their personalities. Atrocitus is quite fascinating, with his intelligence and leadership shining through the rage. This book is a punch in the gut that sends shivers down the back.

The art is horrifically wonderful, and it accentuates the writing completely. After he has splattered this bloody rage throughout the book, Sepulveda surprises us with a landscape of a beautiful country town. What did his teachers say when they caught him drawing these scenes in elementary school?

I rate Red Lanterns 14 Buy Your Own Copy. (#2 on the Al-O-Meter Ranking)

Review: NUMBER 13 #2

NUMBER 13 #2
DARK HORSE COMICS – @DarkHorseComics

STORY: Robert Love and David Walker
PENCILS: Robert Love – @Robert33071
INKS: Dana Shukartsi
COLORS: Heather Breckel
LETTERS: David Walker with Robert Love
COVER: Robert Love with Christian Colbert
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S.

Robert Love formed Gettosake Entertainment with his brothers, Jeremy and Maurice, in 1998. Since then, he has worked on a number of comic books, including Fierce (with his brother, Jeremy).

Number 13 is a new comic book series from Robert Love that he co-writes with David Walker. This science fiction tale is set in a world where a plague, Monstrum Morbus (the monster plague), turned people into mutated monsters (“the fected”) or killed them. Only a few humans remained (“the mune”), but they became like monsters as they slaughtered the fected and effectively ended the world. The story centers on a bionic amnesiac known as Number 13 (or Number Thirteen), who is trying to recover his past.

Number 13 #2 opens 60 years after the end of the world. Number 13’s creator, the Professor, recounts the beginning of the plague and the war that followed. He continues his search for 13, his “son.” Meanwhile, Mother Goose, the leader of a small “kingdom” of the fected, continues her manipulation of 13, because she hopes to use him as a defense against the mune who hunt her kind. Meanwhile, some of 13’s new fected friends strike out on their own, only to fall into a trap.

As did the first issue, Number 13 #2 shows the influence on creator/artist Robert Love of Jack Kirby and John Byrne (himself influenced by Kirby). Love has taken his influences and created something new, something that also recalls Vaughn Bodé’s post-apocalyptic-set comics.

Number 13 is like a Saturday morning cartoon, but reflecting Barack Obama-era diversity in terms of the characters and players. After reading the first issue, I was careful not to over-praise. Now, I know I’m right. Number 13 is simply fun to read. I can’t get enough, and I want to spread the Robert Love all over your reading list.

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

Review: NUMBER 13 #1

NUMBER 13 #1
DARK HORSE COMICS – @DarkHorseComics

STORY: Robert Love and David Walker
PENCILS: Robert Love – @Robert33071
INKS: Dana Shukartsi
COLORS: Brennan Wagner
LETTERS: David Walker with Robert Love
COVER: Robert Love with Christian Colbert
PIN-UPS: Ibrahim Moustafa, Jeffrey Kimbler
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S.

Robert Love of Gettosake Entertainment has a new comic book. It is entitled Number 13, and Love co-writes the series with David Walker. The series is a dystopian science fiction tale set in a future world of mutants and those who hate and fear mutants. Into this world, a young bionic man, with no memory of his past, searches for answers and for his creator.

As Number 13 #1 opens, we learn that a plague, Monstrum Morbus (the monster plague), turned people into mutants, or into monsters, as their human brethren saw it. The human race became divided basically into the two groups: the mune (immune to the plague) and the fected (those infected with it). The violence between the two groups caused the end of the world, as we know it.

Sixty years after the end of the world, the fected are a race of mutants looking for safe haven. A small band of them find a young man who turns out to be a bionic amnesiac known as Number 13 (or Number Thirteen). Neither Number 13 nor his new friends know that they are about to become pawns in a great struggle.

In terms of style and graphics, Number 13 #1 bears a strong resemblance to the comic books Jack Kirby produced for DC Comics in the 1970s. In fact, Dana Shukartsi’s strong inks over Robert Love’s pencils create an art style that is something akin to John Byrne’s Kirby-influenced work, such as the excellent Byrne series, Jack Kirby’s Fourth World.

Of course, that means comic book art that pops off the page and a comic book that is a fun read. The first issue is raw in terms of storytelling, but this will get better. I think many readers will feel the way I do; by the time, I reached the last page, I immediately want to see the first page of the next issue.

B+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

Fantagraphics Books Collects "Delphine"

Delphine by Richard Sala

128-page two-color (with some full color) 7.25" x 10" hardcover • $24.99
ISBN: 978-1-60699-590-7

A mysterious traveler gets off the train in a small village surrounded by a thick sinister forest. He is searching for Delphine, who vanished with only a scrawled-out address on a scrap of paper as a trace.

Richard Sala takes the tale of Snow White and stands it on its head, retelling it from Prince Charming's perspective (the unnamed traveler) in a contemporary setting. This twisted tale includes all the elements of terror from the original fairy tale, with none of the insipid saccharine coating of the Disney animated adaptation: Yes, there will be blood.

Originally serialized as a multiple Ignatz Award-nominated deluxe comic book series, Delphine is executed in a rich and ominous duotone that shows off Sala's virtuosity — punctuated with stunning full-color chapter breaks.

"Richard Sala is an artist, a superb craftsman and a very funny man." – Gahan Wilson

"I adore Richard Sala's Delphine." – Junot Diaz

"Richard Sala’s take on Snow White is as beautiful as it is macabre." – Comic Book Resources

ABOUT THE CARTOONIST: Richard Sala lives in Berkeley, California. His artwork been exhibited internationally and his animated serial "Invisible Hands" appeared on MTV's Liquid Television. He has done illustrations for many magazines and newspapers, including Esquire, Newsweek, Playboy, The Washington Post and The New York Times, and for work by writers including Lemony Snicket and Jack Kerouac. Delphine is his eighth book for Fantagraphics.