Review: NATSUME’S BOOK OF FRIENDS Volume 16

NATSUME’S BOOK OF FRIENDS, VOL. 16
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

CARTOONIST: Yuki Midorikawa
TRANSLATION & ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Lillian Olsen
LETTERS: Sabrina Heep
ISBN: 978-1-4215-6782-2; paperback (June 2014), Rated “T” for “Teen”
196pp, B&W, $9.99 U.S. $12.99 CAN, £6.99 UK

One of my favorite manga is Natsume’s Book of Friends, created by mangaka, Yuki Midorikawa.  I think it is also one of the best comic books published in North America the past three years.

Natsume’s Book of Friends focuses on Takashi Natsume.  He is a high school boy who can see the spirits and demons called “yokai.”  This ability has been a curse and has set him apart from others.  Takashi, an orphaned teen, finds a stable home with Tôko and Shigeru Fujiwara, a kindly couple who are distant relatives.

Natsume also has a companion in Nyanko-Sensei, a guardian yokai.  Takashi learns that he has inherited two things from his mysterious grandmother, Reiko Natsume: “the Sight” and her “Book of Friends,” a tome in which Reiko wrote the names of yokai.

As Natsume’s Book of Friends, Vol. 16 (Chapters 64 to 67) opens, Natsume discovers strange, graffiti-like writing on the blackboard in his second period classroom.  While he engages that mystery, he meets his friend, Taki Tohru.  Taki can see yokai when they enter one of her spell circles.  She recently discovered a spell circle created by her late grandfather, and she used it to help a yokai.  This yokai, however, still remains near Taki’s house, and if he doesn’t want revenge, Natsume wonders, what does he want?

Next, Natsume visits Kaname Tanuma, his friend who can sense when yokai are present.  Kaname is going to visit his Aunt Satomi, who is remodeling an inn she owns and operates.  She wants some help cleaning the place for a few days.  Two of their school friends, Nishimura and Kitamoto, join Natsume and Kaname on a trip to the inn to work in exchange for room and board.  Not long after arriving, Natsume discovers the presence of a yokai that has stolen something important, endangering all their lives.

[This volume includes a bonus story, “Out of Season Blossoms.”]

As I have stated before, I had no idea that I would like the Natsume’s Book of Friends manga so much after I read the first volume of the English adaptation a few years ago.  This unique manga is the kind of literary fantasy that would fit in at Vertigo, the DC Comics’ imprint which focuses on adult-oriented fantasy comics (among other genres).

It would also be at home with juvenile and young adult graphic novels offered by publishers like First Second Books and Scholastic.  In fact, if Neil Gaiman was listed as the author of Natsume’s Book of Friends, this series would already be a bestseller, be a multiple Eisner Award-winner, and have won at least one Hugo Award.  The film or television rights would have been snapped up after the first graphic novel was published.

Instead, Natsume’s Book of Friends seems largely unknown outside of manga fans.  I wonder what the highest position on the New York Times bestselling manga list is that Natsume’s Book of Friends has achieved.

Natsume’s Book of Friends Volume 16 is one of the volumes that are perfect for new readers.  Neither of the two main stories (each running two chapters) involves the series’ internal mythology beyond the fact that Taki and Kaname are reoccurring characters.  Vol. 16 is a good example of the wonderful sense of magic and enchantment this series offers, and it proves that this series should be a big hit.

A+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

I Reads You Review: Wally Wood’s T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #1

Wally Wood's T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS #1
DELUXE COMICS

WRITERS: Dann Thomas; Stephen Perry; Steve Englehart
PENCILS: George Perez; Keith Giffen; Dave Cockrum
INKS: Dave Cockrum; Rick Bryant
COLORS: Paty Cockrum
LETTERS: John Workman
PIN-UPS: Jerry Ordway; Steve Ditko and Greg Theakston; Stan Drake; Pat Broderick
COVER: George Perez
48pp, Color, $2.00 U.S., $2.75 CAN (November 1984)

The T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents is a team of superheroes that appeared in comic books originally published by Tower Comics from 1965 to 1969.  The original T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents team was an arm of the United Nations.  Their name, T.H.U.N.D.E.R., is an acronym for “The Higher United Nations Defense Enforcement Reserves.”

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents the comic book series was published for 20 issues.  Two of the most popular T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, Dynamo and NoMan, had short lived series.  Tower Comics closed, and the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents characters did not appear in new comic book stories until 1983.  For the next four or five years, five different entities published T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents comics.

One of those entities was Deluxe Comics (a division of Singer Publishing Company, Inc.).  Believing that the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents property was in the public domain, Deluxe launched its own T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents comic book series, entitled Wally Wood’s T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents.  Wood was the driving creative and editorial force behind the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents:  creating the characters, writing and editing the stories, and providing much of the art, in one form or another.  Singer eventually cancelled Wally Wood’s T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents after losing a lawsuit over ownership of the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents characters and concepts.

I have a soft spot for Wally Wood’s T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents because I genuinely liked the characters and Deluxe’s comic book series.  Most of all, I like this series because it introduced me to Wally Wood.  At the time I first read this series, I only knew Wood’s name through a small obituary printed in the back of Marvel Comics titles published a few months after Wood’s death in 1981.  [I don’t remember the comic book in which I first saw the obit; it may have been Marvel’s Star Wars.]

As it was in the original Tower Comics series, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. is an acronym for “The Higher United Nations Defense Enforcement Reserves.”  This is a combination spy agency and international police force that deals with threats to Earth, from dictatorships to outlandish threats such as alien invasions.  The organization also helps with natural disasters.  Some agents are given mechanical devices, including what is called a “Super Suit,” that gives them limited super powers.  These agents are known as “Super Agents.”  Agents without super powers are part of the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Squad.

Wally Wood’s T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #1 is a quasi-anthology comic book.  It opens with two short stories; one focuses on a Super Agent (The Raven) and the other on a potential new Super Agent who has possession of a former agent’s Super Suit (Menthor).

The first story, “Code Name: The Raven” (written by Dann Thomas and drawn by George Pérez and Dave Cockrum) finds the titular hero soaring over the sheikdom of Bahrain.  His destination is a club called “The Falcon’s Roost,” where he has an interesting encounter with the host, Abu Jahl, and a dancer known as “Phoenicia.”

In the second story, “A Change of Mind” (written by Stephen Perry and drawn by Keith Giffen and Rick Bryant), we meet Connie, the young woman who now possesses the helmet of the deceased Super Agent, Menthor.  Some part of John Janus, the original Menthor (who died early in the first T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents series), his spirit or consciousness, remains in the helmet.  Now, Janus taunts Connie as she pursues Eddie, a vicious hood who calls himself the “Prince of the Streets.”

The third story launches Wally Wood’s T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents and opens with an attack on the android NoMan.  Sam Short, the “Chief” of the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, calls the Super Agents and the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Squad to action.  He sees the attack on NoMan as an attack on the entire organization, but little does he realize how far the attackers will go and how far into the past this attack originates.

Wally Wood’s T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #1 is a comic book that is definitely of its time.  As a story, it reads like the kind of 1980s reboot that existed before Alan Moore’s reboots and re-imaginations of such series as Swamp Thing and Marvelman.  Once Moore’s work began to take hold of comic book readers’ imaginations, it also began to fundamentally change comic books.  Wally Wood’s T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents reads like a comic book that could have been written by the top-tier writers and writer/artists of the early to mid-1980s, such as John Byrne, Chris Claremont, Marv Wolfman, and Walter Simonson to name a few.

In that context, this comic book is still a joy to read three decades later.  Wally Wood’s T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #1 is quaint, but not corny.  Still, I could not help but read it and think of what someone like Warren Ellis could have done with T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents in the mid to late 1990s or even today.

The T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents’ existence as an actual comic book series has been so sporadic over a 50-year period.  Thus, the concept has not endeared itself to a large enough group of readers to sustain it as a long-running series.  It is essentially stillborn, and I doubt that its admirers are large enough to even be referred to as a cult.  Nostalgia won’t sustain the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents.  Still, I wonder how long Deluxe Comics’ version would have lasted had a lawsuit not ended it.

As much as I have written in this review/article about Wally Wood’s T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #1, I surprisingly cannot find the words to talk about the art in this issue, from storytelling to pinups.  I have been a fan of almost every artist in this comic book, at one time or another.  I think George Perez, Keith Giffen, and especially Dave Cockrum are the standouts.

Cockrum is a quintessential superhero comic book artist because his graphic style, his compositions, and his storytelling lend themselves to comic book storytelling.  Cockrum, who passed away a decade ago, could take all the weird visual elements of superhero comics:  the costumes, settings, people, creatures, and beings and then, normalize them so that weird fantasy became soap opera with fantastic elements.  Cockrum’s storytelling is poignant and dramatic although he does not have a dazzling, showy style.

Luckily and thanks to eBay, I found Wally Wood’s T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents.  I look forward to reading more, and I wish this series had had a longer run.

A-

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Nisekoi: False Love - Making Sure

I read Nisekoi: False Love, Vol. 4: Making Sure

I posted a review at the ComicBookBin, which is calling for donations.  Follow me on Twitter.

I Reads You Review: George R.R. Martin's A GAME OF THRONES #20

GEORGE R.R. MARTIN’S A GAME OF THRONES #20
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT – @dynamitecomics

WRITER: George R.R. Martin
ADAPTATION: Daniel Abraham
ART: Tommy Patterson
COLORS: Ivan Nunes and Sandra Molina
LETTERS: Marshall Dillon
COVER: Mike S. Miller
32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (2014)

George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones is Dynamite Entertainment’s comic book adaptation of A Game of Thrones.  This is the 1996 novel from science fiction and fantasy author, George R.R. Martin.  It is the first book in his best-selling A Song of Ice and Fire series of high fantasy novels.  That series is also the basis for the award-winning and popular HBO television series, “Game of Thrones.”

Scheduled to run 24-issues, George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones is adapted by science fiction and fantasy novelist, Daniel Abraham, who sometimes collaborates with George R.R. Martin.  Tommy Patterson draws A Game of Thrones the comic book, with Ivan Nunes coloring the art.  I have previously read and reviewed A Game of Thrones the comic book series via three volumes of A Game of Thrones: The Graphic Novel, Bantam Books’ hardcover reprint of the Dynamite comic book series.

George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones #20 opens on the battlefield of the Khals.  Khal Drogo and his warriors (Khalasar) have defeated Khal Ogo and his son, Fogo.  Now, Drogo’s Khalasar begins the pillaging, because to the victor goes the spoils.

Daenerys (or “Dany”) of the House Targaryen is Drogo’s “wife” (his “Khaleesi”).  Astride a horse, Dany makes her way through fields of the dead and witnesses that other thing that goes to victors, the raping of the women.  But Danys is having none of that, as she saves the women.  This is how she asserts her authority within Drogo’s Khalasar and her power over her husband.

Meanwhile, at the Wall, Jon Snow, bastard son of Lord Eddard Stark, wonders about the status of his family, especially the fate of his imprisoned father.  Meanwhile, Lord Mormont, sort of a mentor to Jon, has a special gift for him.  Maester Aemon also has many things to tell young Jon, including information concerning the House to which Aemon belongs.

Prior to reading A Game of Thrones: The Graphic Novel: Volume 1, I was not familiar with the novel, A Game of Thrones, although I had heard of it and the television series adaptation.  I am thankful to Bantam Books (a division of Random House) for sending review copies of the graphic novels.  They were my introduction to what has been a wonderful reading experience.

Dynamite Entertainment and Daniel Abraham and Tommy Patterson have done a brilliant job in producing this comic book series.  The adaptation is so sturdy and well-conceived that each 29-page chapter seems like a 58-page installment.  The depth and detail make me think that I am reading a graphic novel with each issue.  George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones #20 makes me hope that this adaptation continues after issue #24.

A

www.DYNAMITE.com

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

DC Comics from Diamond Distributors for July 9, 2014

DC COMICS
APR140289    AMERICAN VAMPIRE SECOND CYCLE #4 (MR)    $2.99
APR140292    ANIMAL MAN TP VOL 06 FLESH AND BLOOD (MR)    $24.99
MAY140249    BATGIRL #33    $2.99
APR140276    BATMAN BRUCE WAYNE FUGITIVE TP NEW ED    $29.99
MAY140226    BATMAN ETERNAL #14    $2.99
MAY140253    BIRDS OF PREY #33    $2.99
MAY140399    COFFIN HILL #9 (MR)    $2.99
MAY140202    CONSTANTINE #16    $2.99
MAY140240    DETECTIVE COMICS #33    $3.99
MAY140243    DETECTIVE COMICS #33 COMBO PACK    $4.99
MAY140404    FBP FEDERAL BUREAU OF PHYSICS #12 (MR)    $2.99
MAY140156    GRAYSON #1    $2.99
MAY140261    GREEN LANTERN CORPS #33 (UPRISING)    $2.99
MAY140197    INFINITY MAN AND THE FOREVER PEOPLE #2    $2.99
MAY140355    INJUSTICE GODS AMONG US YEAR TWO #7    $2.99
APR140266    JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA TP VOL 01 DANGEROUS (N52)    $16.99
MAY140169    JUSTICE LEAGUE UNITED #3    $3.99
MAY140172    JUSTICE LEAGUE UNITED #3 COMBO PACK    $4.99
MAY140182    NEW 52 FUTURES END #10 (WEEKLY)    $2.99
MAY140162    NEW SUICIDE SQUAD #1    $2.99
APR140258    NIGHTWING TP VOL 04 SECOND CITY (N52)    $14.99
MAY140406    ROYALS MASTERS OF WAR #6 (MR)    $2.99
MAY140390    SCOOBY DOO WHERE ARE YOU #47    $2.99
MAY140360    SMALLVILLE SEASON 11 LANTERN #4    $3.99
MAY140223    SUPERBOY #33    $2.99
MAY140216    SUPERMAN WONDER WOMAN #10    $3.99
MAY140218    SUPERMAN WONDER WOMAN #10 COMBO PACK    $4.99
APR140261    TALON TP VOL 02 THE FALL OF THE OWLS (N52)    $19.99
MAY140203    WORLDS FINEST #25    $2.99

DC COMICS/DC COLLECTIBLES

DEC130367    DC COMICS SUPER HEROES GREEN ARROW BUST    $49.95

Marvel Comics from Diamond Distributors for July 9, 2014

MARVEL COMICS

MAY140813    100TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL #1 SPIDER-MAN    $3.99
MAY140787    ALL NEW INVADERS #7 SIN    $3.99
MAY140879    ALL NEW X-MEN #29    $3.99
MAY140835    AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1.3    $3.99
MAY140895    AMAZING X-MEN #9    $3.99
MAY140784    AVENGERS #32 SIN    $3.99
MAY140825    AVENGERS UNDERCOVER #7    $2.99
MAY140844    CAPTAIN MARVEL #5    $3.99
MAY140847    DAREDEVIL #5    $3.99
MAY140850    DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG FU #3    $3.99
MAY140788    DEADPOOL #31 SIN    $3.99
MAY140889    DEADPOOL DRACULAS GAUNTLET #1    $3.99
MAY140781    FANTASTIC FOUR #7 SIN    $3.99
APR140788    GUARDIANS OF GALAXY BY JIM VALENTINO TP VOL 02    $34.99
MAY140861    MARVEL UNIVERSE AVENGERS ASSEMBLE #10 SYU    $2.99
APR140762    MARVELS AGENTS OF SHIELD DECLASSIFIED SLIPCASE HC    $49.99
APR140789    MU GUARDIANS OF GALAXY COSMIC TEAM UP DIGEST TP    $9.99
MAY140905    NIGHTCRAWLER #4    $3.99
MAY140772    ORIGINAL SIN #5.1    $3.99
MAY140779    ORIGINAL SINS #3    $3.99
MAY140807    SPIDER-MAN 2099 #1 ANMN    $3.99
APR140784    STAR LORD TP GUARDIANS OF GALAXY    $34.99
MAR140695    SUPERIOR FOES OF SPIDER-MAN #13    $3.99
MAY140915    UNITED STATES OF MURDER INC #3 (MR)    $3.99
APR140688    WINTER SOLDIER BITTER MARCH #5    $3.99
MAY140906    WOLVERINE #10    $3.99
MAY140912    X-FORCE #7    $3.99
APR140781    X-MEN TP BATTLE OF ATOM    $34.99

IDW Publishing from Diamond Distributors for July 9, 2014

IDW PUBLISHING

MAY140494    ANGRY BIRDS COMICS #2    $3.99
OCT130380    BLACK DYNAMITE #3    $3.99
MAY140469    GI JOE A REAL AMERICAN HERO #204    $3.99
APR140383    JUDGE DREDD #20    $3.99
APR140448    KNUCKLEHEADS FIST CONTACT TP    $19.99
MAY140451    MAXX MAXXIMIZED #9    $3.99
APR140424    STAR SLAMMERS REMASTERED #4    $3.99
MAY140509    STAR TREK ONGOING #35    $3.99
MAY140504    TMNT MICRO SERIES TP VOL 01 NEW PTG    $17.99
MAY140503    TMNT ONGOING TP VOL 01 CHANGE IS CONSTANT NEW PTG    $17.99
MAR142378    TRANSFORMERS MICRO COMIC FUN PACK DSP    $2.99
MAY140463    TRANSFORMERS MORE THAN MEETS EYE #31 DAWN O/T AUTOBOTS    $3.99