Review: Matsuri Hino Presents LAST NIGHT - Vampire Knight Illustrations

MATSURI HINO PRESENTS LAST NIGHT: VAMPIRE KNIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

CARTOONIST: Matsuri Hino
TRANSLATION: Tetsuichiro Miyaki
EDITOR: Nancy Thislethwaite
ISBN: 978-1-4215-7605-3; hardback (October 2014); Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
44pp, B&W, $15.99 U.S., $18.99 CAN, £9.99 UK (for graphic novel and art book set)

Vampire Knight is a shojo manga series written and drawn by manga creator, Matsuri Hino.  VIZ Media recently published the final graphic novel collection of the series with the release of Vampire Knight Volume 19, on October 14, 2014.  Vol. 19 was released in a regular edition graphic novel and also a “Limited Edition” with an alternate cover.  The Limited Edition is actually a two-book collection that includes a hardcover mini art book entitled, Matsuri Hino Presents Last Night: Vampire Knight Illustrations.  [The Vampire Knight “Night Class” Manga Box Set 2, to be released November 4, 2014, will also include a copy of Last Night.]

Last Night contains over 40 full-color illustrations drawn and colored by Hino.  Most of these illustrations appeared in LaLa, the Japanese manga magazine in which Vampire Knight was originally serialized.  Many of the series' characters appear in these illustrations, but the characters which are most depicted are, of course, Vampire Knight's (un)holy trinity of and love triangle:  Yuki Cross, Zero Kiryu, and Kaname Kuran.

Is the packaging price of Vampire Knight Limited Edition 19 money well spent?  Well, my generous VIZ Media rep gave me both the single-volume regular edition and Limited Edition set.  The Limited Edition costs $6 more than the regular edition, and Last Night is worth the extra six bucks, especially if you, dear reader, are a fan of Matsuri Hino's illustrations.

Hino's moody, pouting, and contemplative vampires are gorgeous.  Other than their school uniforms, little of the characters' clothing could be “off the rack,” unless the clothes are off a rack found in an acclaimed fashion designer's personal work place.  These are fashion icon vampires.  As we leave the world of Vampire Knight, Last Night is the kind of neato item we might grab before we turn off the lights on our way out.

A-

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


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

Reads: WAYWARD #3

WAYWARD #3
IMAGE COMICS – @ImageComics

STORY: Jim Zub – @jimzub
ART: Steve Cummings – @stekichikun
COLORS: John Rauch and Jim Zub with Tamra Bonvillain – @John_Rauch and @TBonvillain
LETTERS: Marshall Dillon – @MarshallDillon
COVER: Steve Cummings and Ross A. Campbell
VARIANT COVER: Jorge Molina
28pp, Color, $3.50 U.S.

Additional material by Zack Davisson (@ZackDavisson) and Steve Cummings

Writer Jim Zub sent an advanced review PDF copy of the third issue of Wayward to comics media people, and the ComicBookBin was one of the recipients.  I decided to also share the good news about Wayward with you, dear reader.  I really appreciate the chance to read advanced comics, but when the comic book is something as good as Wayward, I almost feel honored to receive it.

Wayward is the intriguing new fantasy comic book series from Zub and penciller Steve Cummings.  Published by Image Comics, Wayward focuses on Rori Lane, a half-Irish/half-Japanese teen girl who is trying to start a new life in Japan, only to find herself connected to the magic and ancient creatures that lurk in the shadows of Tokyo.

As Wayward #3 (“Chapter Three”) opens, Rori can sense a storm is brewing – both naturally and supernaturally.  She still isn't fitting in at school, but she's found a homeboy, of sorts, in Shirai, a teenaged boy who can “eat ghosts.”  Meanwhile, somewhere else in Tokyo, a stranger man senses a “rogue weaver.”  Also, enter Nikaido, and someone whom Rori knows has a secret.

Clearly, Wayward is attracting readers, and I think that is because Jim Zub is slowly introducing readers to a world of magic and intrigue.  Perhaps, it is a really big world, and the only way for Zub to do right by his creation is to work through the characters.  They confront the magic in bits and pieces, rather than having to face an epic, wide-ranging magical conspiracy all at once.  Zub knows that if we buy into the characters first, we will also accept the supernatural that they encounter as they encounter it.

Yes, someone says the word, “magic,” in this chapter, but artist Steve Cummings perfectly blends the magical, the supernatural, and the otherness into a solidly real world of mundane tasks and ordinary living.  Cummings is going to make us invest in this world, by recognizing its relationship to ours.  Cummings' art is kind of teaching our imaginations to feel the difference between an ordinary world in which magic just might be as legitimate a part of the world as anything else.

Yeah, it's not fluke.  Wayward is one of the best new titles of the year.  Plus,  Zack Davisson offers another hugely informative essay on the mythology of Japan in “The Magical Foxes of Japan.”

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


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

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