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Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Monday, July 28, 2014
Phantom Thief Jeanne: Because I Want You to Love Me...
I read Phantom Thief Jeanne, Vol. 2
I posted a review at the ComicBookBin, which is seeking donations. Follow me on Twitter.
I posted a review at the ComicBookBin, which is seeking donations. Follow me on Twitter.
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Comic Book Review: THE STRAIN #4
DARK HORSE COMICS – @DarkHorseComics
STORY: Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan
SCRIPT: David Lapham
ART: Mike Huddleston
COLORS: Dan Jackson
LETTERS: Clem Robins
COVER: Mike Huddleston
28pp, Color, $3.50 U.S. (March 2012)
Part 4: “Conspiracy”
Early in 2013, Dark Horse Comics made PDF copies of all 11 issues of its horror comic book series, The Strain, available to comic book reviewers on its mailing list. This offer was part of DHC’s promotional effort for a second maxi-series, The Strain: The Fall. I took up that offer and reviewed all 11 issues of The Strain for the ComicBookBin.
I have previously posted my reviews of The Strain, issues #1 through 3 on my “I Reads You” blog. Over the course of the coming weeks, I will post the reviews of issues 4 to 11 on this blog in conjunction with the broadcast of “The Strain,” the television adaptation of the original novel. The first episode aired on Sunday night, July 13, 2014 on cable channel, FX, with each new episode airing the following Sunday.
Thus far, the first two issues The Strain comic book are better than the first two episodes of “The Strain” TV series.
------------------
The Strain is the 11-issue comic book adaptation of The Strain, a 2009 vampire novel from filmmaker Guillermo del Toro and novelist Chuck Hogan. Hogan’s 2004 novel, Prince of Thieves, became the Ben Affleck film, The Town. Published by Dark Horse Comics, The Strain comic book is scripted by David Lapham, drawn by Mike Huddleston, and colored by Dan Jackson.
The Strain follows Dr. Ephraim “Eph” Goodweather of the CDC (Centers for Disease Control). Eph heads the Canary Project, a rapid-response team that investigates biological threats. With his second-in-command, Nora Martinez, Eph has found just that kind a threat. It begins at J.F.K. International Airport in New York City, where a Boeing 777 went dead silent after landing.
The Strain #4 opens at the Stoneheart Group Headquarters in Manhattan. There, CEO Eldritch Palmer begins to orchestrate his part in the madness that has already begun. Eph’s son, Zack, witnesses something frightening. Exhausted, Eph struggles to discover the secrets of what looks like an epidemic, while Nora comforts him.
Gabe Bolivar, rock star and survivor of the Boeing flight, gets a visit from his manager, Rudy, a visit that leaves the visitor stunned. The wife of Ansel Barbour, another survivor, seeks comfort in “The Lord’s Prayer.” Eph and Nora have a completely unexpected encounter with the third survivor, Captain Redfern.
The Strain #3 was f’ing awesome, and so is #4. Artist Mike Huddleston has complete control of this narrative’s pace. He draws out the coming horror in a measured pace that tries one’s nerves. Could I take the heat? Then, Huddleston unleashes brief action scenes that hit the viewer like a mean action movie. Every one page of action feels like three pages. Many media properties would be well served by a Mike Huddleston as their comic book artist.
Fans of horror comic books must have The Strain.
A+
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux
The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.
Saturday, July 26, 2014
Review: MONSTER: The Perfect Edition Volume 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia
CARTOONIST: Naoki Urasawa with Takashi Nagasaki
TRANSLATION/ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Camellia Nieh
LETTERS: Steve Dutro
ISBN: 978-1-4215-6906-2; paperback (July 2014); Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
432pp, B&W with some color, $19.99 U.S., $22.99 CAN, £12.99 UK
Monster is a seinen manga (comics for adult men) written and drawn by Naoki Urasawa. It was originally serialized in Japan in the manga magazine, Big Comic Original (published by Shogakukan), from December 1994 to December 2001. From February 2006 to December 2008, VIZ Media published Monster in 18 paperback graphic novel editions (known as tankōbon in Japan). Now, VIZ Media is collecting the series in a new “Perfect Edition” format in which two graphic novels are gathered in each oversized paperback volume.
Monster: The Perfect Edition, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 16) reprints Monster Volume 1 and Volume 2. This edition is print-only and is published under the VIZ Signature imprint and it is rated “‘T+’ for Older Teens.” The series carries an MSRP (manufacturer’s suggested retail price) of $19.99 U.S. and $22.99 CAN. Monster: The Perfect Edition features a new English translation of Monster, re-mastered pages, and many pages of full-color content. After Vol. 1, future volumes of Monster: The Perfect Edition will be released four times a year in North America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand for a total of nine volumes covering the entire series.
Naoki Urasawa’s Monster focuses on a young and very talented doctor who discovers that no good deed goes unpunished. Dr. Kenzo Tenma moved from Japan to Germany to find success as a brain surgeon. As the go-to-surgeon at Eisler Memorial Hospital in Düsseldorf, Tenma is the hospital’s golden boy. However, it comes at a cost. Tenma writes the medical papers that hospital director, Dr. Heinemann, presents as his own work. Kenzo dates Heinemann’s daughter, Eva, but she is a spoiled daddy’s girl who cares more about appearances and material wealth than other people. Then, Tenma makes a decision that leads to his fall from grace with Heinemann.
Tenma is determined to prove that he made the right decision. So when two children come into the emergency room at Eisler one night, Tenma operates on Johan Liebert, the brother who has been shot in the head. Johan’s sister, Anna, is in shock, but Tenma is determined to protect them both. Tenma does not realize that his decision will force him to confront questions of good and evil. Years later, he discovers a bizarre series of serial murders, and Tenma realizes that he may have saved a monster.
The Monster manga by Naoki Urasawa is one of the best comics published in the last decade of the 20th century. Urasawa’s acclaimed manga may even be the best.
Monster can best be described as a psychological thriller, in which the central conspiracy expands ever outward. Although the hero, Dr. Tenma, initially believes that all he has to do is find a serial killer, he gradually discovers that he must investigate history as well as track a killer. Of course, Monster is a murder mystery, and there is plenty of political intrigue, some of it involving workplace politics.
Whatever genres and styles upon which it touches, Monster is a riveting, absorbing read. It is a chilling story in which the monsters are not of supernatural origins, but instead come from the dark recesses of the human mind. Monster is such an engrossing, page-turner that it is unforgettable. I never forgot it, and I am ready to read it again – thanks to Monster: The Perfect Edition.
A
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux
The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.
Friday, July 25, 2014
I Reads You Review: HERCULES: The Knives of Kush
RADICAL COMICS
WRITER: Steve Moore
ARTIST: Chris Bolson with Manuel Silva and Leonardo Silva
COLORS: Doug Sirois with Cliff Cramp and Steve Firchow
LETTERS: Todd Klein
MISC. ART: Jim Steranko, Clint Langley, Arthur Suydam, Marko Djurdjevic, Daryl Mandryk, J.P. Targete, Jean-Sebastien Rossbach
COVER: Clint Langley
ISBN: 978-1-935417-03-3; paperback (May 2010)
152pp, Color, $14.95 U.S., $16.50 CAN
Radical Comics, a division of Radical Publishing, Inc., presented a radical interpretation of Hercules in 2008. Radical’s Hercules debuted in the 2008 miniseries, Hercules: The Thracian Wars, which was written by late British writer, Steve Moore. Moore created this new Hercules and legendary comic book artist, Jim Steranko, designed him.
Moore made Radical’s Hercules grittier, while focusing more on his human side than on his heritage as the son of the supreme god, Zeus. Moore set Hercules’ life in the Bronze Age and gave him a band of friends. Together, Hercules and his band left Greece and sought mercenary work in other lands. Thus, Moore set Hercules first mercenary activities in Thrace. Radical’s Hercules is now a Paramount Pictures/MGM’s film starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and directed by Brett Ratner.
The second Hercules miniseries was the five-issue, Hercules: The Knives of Kush, which was released in 2009. The Knives of Kush finds Hercules and his mercenary band caught in the middle of Egypt’s civil war. In 2010, Radical collected Hercules: The Knives of Kush in a trade paperback, and the company’s marketing director sent me a copy for review, which I promptly forgot about.
However, the impending release of the movie made me dig up my copy of The Knives of Kush. I decided to reread the story, as I had previously only read the fourth and fifth issue of the miniseries, and post a review of the trade.
Hercules: The Knives of Kush opens with Hercules and his band of mercenaries: Autolycus, Iolaus, Meleager, and Atalanta (the only female of the group) aboard the Greek boat, the “Sea Nymph.” After a brief skirmish with pirates, Hercules and company end up in Egypt. They eventually offer their services to Pharaoh Seti II who is fighting a civil war against his half-brother, Amenmessu (real life historical figures that lived in the 13th and 12th centuries BC).
Amenmessu is aided by Khadis, Lord of Lighting and a sorcerer whose powers may be the reason Amenmessu seems to be winning the war with Seti. Hercules suspects that there is more to Amenmessu’s success than Khadis and believes that traitors hide among Seti’s circle of wives, advisors, retainers, etc. Hercules is appointed as a royal bodyguard, but he believes that to learn the truth he must penetrate the sinister cult known as “The Knives of Kush.” This, however, will bring Hercules face to face with an enemy like no other – a mysterious figure who may wield the power of the gods.
I doubt that I am the only reviewer who thinks that Steve Moore has converted the demigod of Greek myth, Hercules (Heracles), into something that resembles the sword and sorcery character, Conan the Cimmerian (also known as Conan the Barbarian). This is not a criticism; Moore apparently put a lot of effort into researching Greek myth and history for Hercules. Besides, I like this Hercules. I did not read The Thracian Wars, and Moore states in the foreword to this trade paperback that readers do not need to know of Hercules’ adventures in Thrace before reading of his adventures in Egypt.
I think that Hercules: The Knives of Kush slightly resembles some of the Conan comic books that Marvel Comics published in the 1970s and 80s. In fact, The Knives of Kush has a good premise and plot, but the problem is the execution. It is as if Moore wanted this miniseries to be any number of things or was not sure what it should be.
On one hand, Hercules’ struggles against Amenmessu’s rebellion involve courtly conflict and palace intrigue. Moore basically has Hercules, an action character, stumbling around Seti’s Memphis, vainly trying to discover spies. On the other hand, since Amenmessu is leading an armed rebellion, there is eventually going to have to be a big battle between Seti’s forces, to which Hercules belongs, and Amenmessu. Instead of building up to the battles, the spy hunt seems like story padding. Also, at five issues in length, The Knives of Kush is at least one issue too long.
In fact, for all the fear that Amenmessu and his ally, Khadis and the cult known as The Knives of Kush, are supposed to engender, their confrontation with Hercules and company is anti-climatic. Their demises are pitiful, leaving this story with the sense that there was no great villain and with the disappointment that Hercules’ head-bashing comes in fits and starts.
The art produced by Chris Bolson and Doug Sirois is quite good, but the rest of it falls off. If there is ever more of Radical’s Hercules, I hope Bolson and Sirois are the artists, and I hope for a story that has more head-bashing and disemboweling than it does character drama. I want the next Hercules to be more like the last two issues of Hercules: The Knives of Kush than the first three. Who really cares about Hercules’ daddy issues?
B-
[This trade paperback includes an interview of Steve Moore conducted by Andre Lamar.]
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux
The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.
Thursday, July 24, 2014
Review: BATTLE ROYALE Angels’ Border
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia
STORY: Koushun Takami with N-Cake
ARTISTS: Mioko Ohnishi and Youhei Oguma
TRANSLATION: Nathan Collins
LETTERS: Annaliese Christman
ISBN: 978-1-4215-7168-3; paperback (June 2014); Rated “T” for “Older Teen”
274pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $14.99 CAN, £8.99 U.K.
Battle Royale Angels’ Border is a stand-alone, one-shot manga set in the world of Battle Royale. First published in 1999, Battle Royale is a Japanese horror and science fiction novel written by Koushun Takami. In 2000, the novel became a manga that Takami produced with artist Masayuki Taguchi, who drew the manga. A controversial film adaptation directed by Kinji Fukasaku was also released in 2000.
The book is set in the near-future in the Republic of Greater East Asia, a country that is like modern-day Japan, but has an authoritarian government. The most graphic symbol of Greater East Asia’s controlling government is something called “the Program.” Each year, an entire class of ninth grade students is kidnapped and dropped on an island. There, the students are forced to kill each other until there is one survivor – the winner of the Program. The original novel follows the 42 students (11 girls and 11 boys) of Shiroiwa Junior High – Ninth Grade Class B after they are chosen for the Program.
Battle Royale Angels’ Border expands upon the original novel. Angels’ Border reveals for the first time the full story and grisly demise of the Shiroiwa Junior High girls who hid in the lighthouse. Their subplot was featured in the original Battle Royale book and live-action film.
Battle Royale Angels’ Border features two episodes (or stories). Episode I (drawn by Mioko Ohnishi) opens at the lighthouse. The students from Shiroiwa Junior High scattered from the classroom where they received their orders and rules about the killing game that is the Program. Yukie Utsumi and five of her friends: Haruka Tanizawa, Yuka Nakagawa, Satomi Noda, Yuko Sakaki, Chisato Matsui lock themselves in the lighthouse. There, they cling to a desperate hope of survival. The girls all trust each other, but they also know that only one can survive this killing game.
Meanwhile, Haruka struggles with her love for her friend, Yukie Utsumi, simultaneously wanting to touch Yukie, but skittish when Yukie touches her in friendship. Haruka wants desperately for her and Yukie to survive, but complications and the arrival of others make one of the six girls very dangerous to the others.
Episode II (drawn by Youhei Oguma) focuses on two students from Shiroiwa Junior High – Ninth Grade Class B. The story is set in November, six months before the kids from Class B are kidnapped into the Program. Chisato, one of the girls who makes it to the lighthouse, is taking the train home when she has a confrontation with another passenger. Suddenly, classmate Shinji Mimura comes to her rescue. This popular boy and basketball star, practically sweeps Chisato off her feet, turning a train ride into something that might be called a date.
Honestly, I don’t have a lot to say about Battle Royale Angels’ Border. I have not yet read Koushun Takami’s original novel, but I have seen the film adaptation, and I have read the first three volumes of the manga adaptation of the novel. Both the film and manga contain depictions of extreme or graphic violence, including the depiction of a rape in the manga.
Battle Royale Angels’ Border is for teen readers, perhaps older teens; one reason being that the depiction of violence is not explicit. Although it is teen appropriate, Angels’ Border is neither shojo nor shonen manga. I think Angels’ Border’s two stories are essentially young adult (YA) stories set in the adult fiction/mature audience world of Battle Royale. These stories blend teen love, unrequited love, LGBTQ love, but this is manga that is about young love and not so much about teen romance.
I do not know what fans of the Battle Royale novel, films, or manga will get out of these two interesting side stories. I think teen readers will like them. Think of Battle Royale Angels’ Border as Battle Royale toned down to the level of The Hunger Games…
B+
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux
The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.
Review: BATTLE ROYALE Ultimate Edition Volume 1
TOKYOPOP
WRITERS: Koushun Takami and Masayuki Taguchi
ARTIST: Masayuki Taguchi
TRANSLATION: Tomo Iwo with Emily Shoji
ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Keith Giffen
ISBN: 978-1-4278-0753-3; hardcover (October 2007); Action; Rated “M” for “Mature-Ages 18+”
632pp, B&W, $24.99 U.S.
The Battle Royale media franchise began life as the novel, Battle Royale. It was written by Konshun Takami and published in Japan in 1999 by publisher, Ohta Shuppan. Some audiences know Battle Royale for the controversial 2000 Japanese film adaptation that has gained cult status in the United States.
Japanese comics creator (mangaka) Masayuki Taguchi adapted the novel into manga. TOKYOPOP published the Battle Royale manga in English as 15 graphic novels from 2003 to 2006. In late 2007, TOKYOPOP began collecting those graphic novels into five omnibus editions, with each omnibus reprinting three graphic novel volumes of the Battle Royale manga in one hardcover book.
In the TOKYOPOP adaptation of the original magna, Battle Royale is set in an alternate timeline in which Japan is a police state. There, the government sanctions a television game or reality show called “The Program.” This show pits school students against one another in a kill or be killed scenario. And only one student can survive and win!
Battle Royale Ultimate Edition, Vol. 1 (reprinting Battle Royale Vols. 1-3) introduces readers to Class B-9th Grade at Shiroiwa Junior High School. These 42 students (21 boys and 21 girls) are gassed during a bus trip. They awake to find themselves marooned on an island and forced to kill one another until only one survives – the winner. They are goaded and warned of the extreme rules of “The Program” by its ruthless and mysterious game master, Yonemi Kamon. Collars rigged with explosives around their necks will keep the students honest.
Weapons are handed out and each student is sent out into the island alone; before long many students are turning against each other and committing the most brutal acts of murder. Amidst the carnage, however, established friendships and love relationships take hold, while new bonds are forged. Out of the chaos, seven figures take center stage. The righteous Shuuya Nanahara and the gentle and caring Noriko Nakagawa join a hardened veteran of a previous stint on “The Program,” Shogo Kawada. Hacker Shinji Mimura takes the battle against the captors to cyberspace. Some seek an alliance with the kind-hearted kung fu master Hiroki Sugimura, while the troubled bad girl, Mitsuko Souma, and the cold, merciless Kazuo Kiriyama kill at will.
I saw the Battle Royale film before I ever read the manga, and though the film’s violence is alternately bracing and cathartic and sickening and troubling, it’s not the most disturbing film I’ve ever seen (De Palma’s Scarface, Ken Russell’s The Devils, and Larry Clark’s Kids, among others). Still, the Battle Royale movie didn’t prepare me for how shockingly and brutally violent the Battle Royale manga is.
Film critics often attack horror movies for not having good characters; their reasoning is that if the viewers care about the characters, then, the horror of their violent murders will affect the viewers that much more. In his adaptation of Battle Royale, manga-ka Masayuki Taguchi is exceptionally good at getting you to take these characters into your minds (if not hearts), and then making you suffer their often gruesome fates. The idea of placing humans in situations outside of civil society and civilization and watching them turn to murderers is not new, even when the characters are all children. But there’s nothing quite like the horror of the teen-on-teen murder (and occasional explicit sex and sexual assault) of Battle Royale.
Battle Royale Ultimate Edition Volume 1 is like a comic book version of a DVD. It contains essays and new and previously unseen art. This book has a weapons dossier written by Eliot R. Brown, who wrote the specifications for weapons, armor, and equipment that appeared in titles published by Marvel Comics. Readers will like this added material as nice extras to go with the excellent manga.
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Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux
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