Oresama Teacher: The Secret Mission of Shinobu Yui

I read Oresama Teacher , Vol. 17

I posted a review at the ComicBookBin, which is seeking donations.  Follow me on Twitter or at Grumble.

I Reads You Review: AVENGERS & X-MEN: Axis #1

AVENGERS & X-MEN: AXIS #1
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

WRITER: Rick Remender
ART: Adam Kubert
COLORS: Laura Martin and Matt Milla
LETTERS: Chris Eliopoulos
COVER: Jim Cheung with Justin Ponsor
VARIANT COVERS:  Gabriele Dell'otto; Adam Kubert with Edgar Delgado; Mike Mayhew; Mico Suayan; Skottie Young; Chip Zdarsky; and The Young Guns with Mike Deodato with Frank Martin
44pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (December 2014)

Rated “T+”

The Red Supremacy: Chapter 1

About three years ago, I read the first two issues of Avengers vs. X-Men (#0 and #1), and I didn't find anything that made me want to keep reading the much-anticipated and much-talked about event “maxi-series.”  So I don't know why I'm reading the new Avengers/X-Men crossover event miniseries, Avengers & X-Men: Axis.  Maybe, I'm curious?

Avengers & X-Men: Axis #1 (The Red Supremacy: Chapter 1) opens with a brief recap/overview of what has happened since the shocking end of Avengers vs. X-Men, in which the X-Man, Cyclops, killed his mentor and founder of the X-Men, Professor Charles Xavier.  The result was the branding of Cyclops as a criminal and also the founding of the Uncanny Avengers, a unity squad of Avengers and X-Men.  Of course, a new team wouldn't make them better for long.

Fast forward:  Magneto kills Captain America's arch-nemesis, the Red Skull, which leads to his resurrection as “The Red Onslaught.”  Now, there is a wave of psychic energy and hate, initiated by Red Onslaught, because he possesses Prof. X's brain and psychic powers.  This psychic wave, or onslaught, if you will, has the world in turmoil, so the Avengers and X-Men have to come together to stop Red Onslaught.

Wow.  It has been an unknown number of years (but it is many) since I have read an issue of a comic book event series in which superheroes and super-villains engage in a slug fest.  Part of me enjoys seeing so many of the superheroes that I've known most of my life together, even the new versions.  I enjoyed the Scarlet Witch angle of this story, as well as the Scarlet Witch-Rogue subplot.  I think this Red Onslaught character is ridiculous, however.  I did not plan on reading any more of this, even while wondering why I was reading Avengers & X-Men: Axis #1 to begin with.

Then, I saw Sentinels at the end of the first issue, and then, I decided to read more.  I think that is how these superhero crossover events work.  The writers, artists, and editors throw so much into the event (something we can compare to a pot full of ingredients), and the readers are bound to find something to appeal to them.  So there you have it.  I thought I was out, but they dragged me back in.

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

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

Manga Review: ALL YOU NEED IS KILL

ALL YOU NEED IS KILL 2-in-1 Edition (MANGA)
VIZ MEDIA/Haikasoru – @VIZMedia

STORY: Hiroshi Sakurazaka
STORYBOARD: Ryosuke Takeuchi
ORIGINAL ILLUSTRATIONS: yoshitoshi ABe
ART: Takeshi Obata
TRANSLATION: Tetsuichiro Miyaki
LETTERS: Evan Waldinger
ISBN: 978-1-4215-7601-5; paperback, (November 2014); Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
430pp, B&W, $14.99 U.S., $16.99 CAN, £9.99 UK

All You Need is Kill is a Japanese science fiction novel written by author Hiroshi Sakurazaka, and first published in 2004.  Bestselling author John Scalzi (Old Man’s War), called All You Need is Kill “science fiction for the adrenaline junkie.”  The novel is also the source material for the 2014 film, Edge of Tomorrow, starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt.

Back in July 2009, All You Need is Kill was first published in English by Haikasoru, the science fiction imprint of VIZ Media, the largest distributor and licensor of manga and anime in North America.  VIZ Media also produced an original comic book adaptation of Sakurazaka's novel, All You Need is Kill: Official Graphic Novel Adaptation, created by Nick Mamatas (script adaptation of the novel), Lee Ferguson (artist), Fajar Buana (colors), and Zack Turner (letters).

There is a manga adaptation of All You Need is Kill, produced by artist Takeshi Obata with writer Ryosuke Takeuchi (storyboards) and yoshitoshi Abe (original illustrations).  VIZ Media originally premiered the manga in its Weekly Shonen Jump digital manga anthology.  Under its “Shonen Jump Advanced” imprint, VIZ recently published an omnibus print edition (5.5” x 8.25”and 430 pages) of All You Need is Kill the manga, which is black and white with several color pages.

All You Need is Kill opens sometime after Earth has been invaded by the alien Mimics.  In Japan, the United Defense Force (UDF) was created to fight the Mimics, which are difficult to defeat.  In the 17th Company of the UDF, Keiji Kiriya is a “Jacket soldier,” named because of the armor he and other soldier wear, called a “Jacket.”  One morning, Keiji awakens after a strange dream in which he died in battle.  He spends the rest of the day with a sense of deja vu.

Then, the U.S. Special Forces, which is basically the only military that is successful against the Mimics, arrives.  Keiji sees Rita Vrataski, the leader of the U.S. Special Forces, known as “the Valkyrie,” and also as the “Full Metal Bitch.”  Keiji knows that he has seen her... on the battlefield... before he died.  Keiji has been dying in battle, only to be reborn the next morning, to fight and die again and again.  Is the Full Metal Bitch the key to Keiji escaping the cycle or the catalyst to meeting his final death?

Takeshi Obata is one of my favorite manga creators, so I was excited when VIZ Media gave me a copy of the All You Need is Kill manga for review.  It truly deserves to be called a “graphic novel,” not only because of its length of 430 pages, but also because of the epic scope of its narrative.

All You Need is Kill is rousing military science fiction, and it offers the thrill of a frenetic action movie.  It is also the manga adaptation of a light novel reborn as a genuine shonen battle manga, because this feels less like an transfer of mediums and more like something first born as a manga.

Ultimately, what makes the manga All You Need is Kill successful is the attention to character drama and personal details.  Readers will buy the idea that Keiji and Rita are imperiled because the creators of this manga go to the emotional center and into internal conflicts of the characters.  The world seems at risk because the readers see it through characters in which they can believe, so the risk feels real.

Takeshi Obata deserves to be called “great” because his storytelling is always potent, regardless of genre, and he gives texture and life to drawings on paper.  All you need is talented manga creators who can deliver and you get high-quality science fiction manga like All You Need is Kill.

A

www.VIZ.com
www.shonenjump.com

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: CHILLING ADVENTURES OF SABRINA #1

CHILLING ADVENTURES OF SABRINA #1
ARCHIE COMICS

STORY: Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
ART: Robert Hack
LETTERS: Jack Morelli
COVER/VARIANT COVER: Robert Hack
40pp, Color, $3.99 U.S.

“The Crucible” Chapter One: “Something Wicked”

Rated Teen + (Violence and mature content)

I first became a fan of Archie Comics character, Sabrina the Teen-Age Witch, when I was a small child and saw the old Filmation animated series starring Sabrina, which aired under different titles.  I think Sabrina was the first fictional white woman with whom I fell in love, and probably started me on the road to loving fictional white chicks, especially, for a long time, blondes.  For a few years, I was a regular viewer of the ABC (and later, The WB) live-action series, “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch” (1996-2003), which starred Melissa Joan Hart as Sabrina.

It was some years after first discovering Sabrina that I learned that she was an actual comic book character, although I have rarely ever read a Sabrina comic book.  Now, there is a new Sabrina comic book series, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, drawn by Robert Hack, and lettered by Jack Morelli.  It is also a genuine horror comic book.  Say what!

Late in 2013, Archie Comics began publishing a sort of alternate version of its world of Archie Andrews, his friends, and the bucolic town of Riverdale.  Afterlife with Archie found Riverdale and the surrounding area caught in a zombie apocalypse, with many beloved Archie characters transformed into flesh-eating ghouls or becoming the victims of those flesh-eating ghouls.  Created by Aguirre-Sacasa and drawn by Francesco Francavilla, Afterlife with Archie was a hit.

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is not about zombies.  It is a re-imagination of Sabrina the Teen-Age Witch, not as a cartoonish witch like the kind found in the old television series, “Bewitched.”  Sabrina is a witch with an occult, even satanic, origin.

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina #1 (“The Crucible” Chapter One: “Something Wicked”) opens in Westbridge, Massachusetts on October 31, 1951.   It is a year after the birth of Sabrina Spellman, a child born of a “mortal woman” (Diana) and a “diabolical father” (Edward Theodore Spellman).  Diana and Edward's union is a crime against “witch law,” but the marriage yields young Sabrina, a beautiful child with much potential.  The occasion of her first birthday, however, is a time of change and tragedy.

Nearly 13 years later, in September of 1964, Sabrina is a new high school student, living with her spinster aunts, Hilda and Zelda, in the town of Greendale.  Her only friends are her familiar, the talking cat Salem, and her cousin, the boy-warlock, Ambrose.  Sabrina is ready to be a normal high school girl, although she does not realize that even in “normal” Greendale, there is darkness.

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina recalls the kind of hoary and gruesome horror and weird fiction that the late publisher, Warren, did so well in horror comics magazines like Eerie and Creepy.  This comic book has similarities to or at least a creepy vibe reminiscent of 1970s occult films like Carrie, The Omen, Race the Devil, and Rosemary's Baby, among others.  This comic book even reminds me of Rob Zombie's recent half-ridiculous/half-brilliant, Satanic art movie, The Lords of Salem.  I also keep waiting for Hammer Films-era Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee to show up in this new Sabrina.

I like Chilling Adventures of Sabrina because I'm impressed that Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa has the gall to do this to Sabrina the Teenaged Witch and that Archie Comics has the balls to publish it.  However, it is taking me a while to warm to Robert Hack's drawing style, although his storytelling is good.  I am ready for more of this.

[This comic book reprints “Presenting Sabrina the Teen-Age Witch,” which was first published in Archie's Madhouse #22 (October 1962).  The story is written by George Gladir, pencilled by Dan DeCarlo, inked by Rudy Lapick, and lettered by Vincent DeCarlo.]

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina #1 reprints the story in which Sabrina first appeared.  The best part of this story is the art by Sabrina's co-creator, cartoonist Dan DeCarlo, a consummate stylist and one of the best graphic designers ever to work in American comics.  His impeccable compositions, especially in his work of the 1950s and 60s, reflect the skills of a talented draftsman.

One thing that did surprise me was that this debut-version of Sabrina is impish and a bit salacious, not at all as I remember her in the cartoon TV series.  That original Sabrina could still be a comic book star today.

ArchieHorror.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 November 12, 2014

DC COMICS

SEP140294     ARROW SEASON 2.5 #2     $2.99
SEP148023     BATGIRL #35 2ND PTG     $2.99
SEP140253     BATGIRL #36     $2.99
SEP140247     BATMAN #36     $3.99
SEP140250     BATMAN #36 COMBO PACK     $4.99
AUG140337     BATMAN ADVENTURES TP VOL 01     $19.99
SEP140286     BATMAN COMPLETE TV SERIES DVD SET     PI
SEP140284     BATMAN COMPLETE TV SERIES EXC LIM ED BLU-RAY & BOOK SET     $284.99
SEP140285     BATMAN COMPLETE TV SERIES LIM ED BLU-RAY     PI
SEP140287     BATMAN COMPLETE TV SERIES SEASON ONE DVD SET     PI
SEP140244     BATMAN ETERNAL #32     $2.99
JUL140238     BATMAN SUPERMAN HC VOL 02 GAME OVER     $24.99
AUG140333     BATMAN SUPERMAN TP VOL 01 CROSS WORLD (N52)     $14.99
SEP140343     COFFIN HILL #13 (MR)     $2.99
SEP140208     CONSTANTINE #19     $2.99
JUL140270     DREAM STATES THE COLLECTED DREAMING COVERS HC (MR)     $49.99
SEP140204     EARTH 2 WORLDS END #6     $2.99
SEP140345     FBP FEDERAL BUREAU OF PHYSICS #15 (MR)     $2.99
SEP140276     GREEN LANTERN CORPS #36 (GODHEAD)     $2.99
SEP140189     JUSTICE LEAGUE UNITED #6     $3.99
SEP140192     JUSTICE LEAGUE UNITED #6 COMBO PACK     $4.99
SEP140334     KITCHEN #1 (MR)     $2.99
SEP140210     KLARION #2     $2.99
SEP140218     NEW 52 FUTURES END #28 (WEEKLY)     $2.99
SEP140214     NEW SUICIDE SQUAD #4     $2.99
SEP148024     ROBIN RISES OMEGA #1 2ND PTG     $4.99
SEP140333     SCOOBY DOO WHERE ARE YOU #51     $2.99
SEP140301     SMALLVILLE SEASON 11 CHAOS #4     $3.99
SEP140238     WORLDS FINEST #28     $2.99

DC COMICS/DC COLLECTIBLES

MAY140420     DC COMICS COVER GIRLS MERA STATUE     $99.95
APR140311     DC COMICS SUPER VILLAINS HARLEY QUINN BUST     $49.95
MAY140425     WONDER WOMAN ART OF WAR STATUE BY YANICK PAQUETTE     $79.95

Marvel Comics from Diamond Distributors for November 12, 2014

MARVEL COMICS

SEP140810     ALL NEW CAPTAIN AMERICA #1     $3.99
SEP140945     ALL NEW CAPTAIN AMERICA #1 BY ROSS POSTER     $8.99
SEP140896     ALL NEW ULTIMATES #10     $3.99
SEP140774     AVENGERS AND X-MEN AXIS #5     $3.99
AUG140905     AVENGERS EPIC COLLECTION TP EARTHS MIGHTIEST HEROES     $34.99
AUG140926     AVENGERS UNDERCOVER TP VOL 02 GOING NATIVE     $14.99
JUN140729     AVENGERS WORLD TP VOL 02 ASCENSION     $16.99
SEP140781     AXIS HOBGOBLIN #2     $3.99
SEP140854     BUCKY BARNES WINTER SOLDIER #2     $3.99
AUG148451     CAPTAIN AMERICA #25 2ND PTG IMMONEN VAR     $4.99
SEP140792     CAPTAIN AMERICA AND MIGHTY AVENGERS #1 AXIS     $3.99
SEP140881     CAPTAIN MARVEL #9     $3.99
SEP140845     DEATH OF WOLVERINE LOGAN LEGACY #4     $3.99
AUG140909     FANTASTIC FOUR TP VOL 02 ORIGINAL SIN     $15.99
SEP140898     GEORGE ROMEROS EMPIRE OF DEAD ACT TWO #3     $3.99
SEP140868     GUARDIANS 3000 #2     $3.99
SEP140946     GUARDIANS 3000 #2 BY ROSS POSTER     $8.99
SEP140861     HAWKEYE VS DEADPOOL #2     $3.99
SEP140944     IRON MAN 75TH ANNIVERSARY BY ROSS POSTER     $8.99
AUG140927     MARVEL UNIVERSE AVENGERS ASSEMBLE DIGEST TP VOL 03     $9.99
SEP140911     MARVEL UNIVERSE AVENGERS ASSEMBLE SEASON TWO #1     $3.99
AUG148352     MARVEL UNIVERSE AVENGERS ASSEMBLE SEASON TWO #1 STOMP OUT     $3.99
SEP140895     MILES MORALES ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #7     $3.99
SEP140852     NIGHTCRAWLER #8     $3.99
AUG140922     NIGHTCRAWLER TP HOMECOMING VOL 01     $19.99
SEP140784     NOVA #23 AXIS     $3.99
AUG140908     ORIGINAL SIN TP THOR AND LOKI TENTH REALM     $16.99
AUG148452     ROCKET RACCOON #1 4TH PTG SMITH VAR ANMN     $3.99
SEP140887     SAVAGE HULK #6     $3.99
SEP140885     SHE-HULK #10     $2.99
JUL140655     SILVER SURFER #7     $3.99
SEP140830     SPIDER-VERSE #1 SV     $4.99
SEP140942     SPIDER-VERSE OVERSIZED VINYL POSTER     $34.99
SEP140943     SPIDER-WOMAN BY LAND POSTER     $8.99
SEP140798     SUPERIOR IRON MAN #1 AXIS     $3.99
AUG148449     THOR #1 2ND PTG DAUTERMAN VAR     $3.99
SEP140857     THOR #2     $3.99
AUG140924     THOR GOD OF THUNDER TP VOL 03 ACCURSED     $19.99

IDW Publishing from Diamond Distributors for November 12, 2014

IDW PUBLISHING

SEP140493     24 UNDERGROUND TP     $19.99
SEP140488     AMELIA COLE AND THE ENEMY UNLEASHED GN     $19.99
SEP140398     ANGRY BIRDS COMICS #6     $3.99
AUG140428     ANGRY BIRDS COMICS HC VOL 01 WELCOME TO THE FLOCK     $9.99
SEP140487     BIGGER BANG #1     $3.99
DEC130473     BLACK DYNAMITE #4     $3.99
JUN140456     BLUE MOON FROM JOURNALS OF MAMA MAE AND LEELEE HC     $15.99
AUG140467     BORDERLANDS FALL OF FYRESTONE #4     $3.99
AUG140517     DANGER GIRL MAYDAY TP     $17.99
SEP140531     DEAD SQUAD #2     $3.99
SEP140486     DUNGEONS & DRAGONS CUTTER TP     $19.99
SEP140463     GI JOE A REAL AMERICAN HERO #208     $3.99
SEP140466     GI JOE A REAL AMERICAN HERO TP VOL 10     $19.99
AUG140507     HAUNTED HORROR HC VOL 02 COMICS MOTHER WARNED ABOUT     $24.99
AUG140471     HERO COMICS 2014     $3.99
SEP140530     INDESTRUCTIBLE #9     $3.99
SEP140470     JUDGE DREDD CITY LIMITS GN     $29.99
AUG140435     LOCKE & KEY TP SLIPCASE SET HOLIDAY ED     $99.99
SEP140449     MARS ATTACKS FIRST BORN TP     $17.99
SEP140414     MY LITTLE PONY FRIENDS FOREVER #11     $3.99
AUG148325     OCTOBER FACTION #1 2ND PTG     $3.99
SEP140491     OCTOBER FACTION #2     $3.99
SEP140528     POPEYE CLASSICS ONGOING #28     $3.99
SEP140527     ROCKY & BULLWINKLE CLASSICS GN VOL 03 MASTERMIND     $17.99
SEP140471     ROGUE TROOPER CLASSICS #7     $3.99
AUG140469     SILENT HILL DOWNPOUR ANNES STORY #3     $3.99
AUG140478     STAR TREK CITY O/T EDGE OF FOREVER #5     $3.99
AUG140479     STAR TREK CITY O/T EDGE OF FOREVER #5 SUBSCRIPTION VARIANT     $3.99
AUG140476     STAR TREK ONGOING #38     $3.99
SEP140402     SUPER SECRET CRISIS WAR CODENAME KIDS NEXT DOOR #1     $3.99
SEP140403     SUPER SECRET CRISIS WAR CODENAME KIDS NEXT DOOR #1 SUBSCRIPTION     $3.99
SEP140425     TALES O/T TMNT TP VOL 06     $19.99
SEP140423     TMNT NEW ANIMATED ADVENTURES #17     $3.99
JUN140404     TMNT SECRET HISTORY O/T FOOT CLAN WORKPRINT ED HC     $49.99
SEP140389     TRANSFORMERS #35 DAYS OF DECEPTION     $3.99
SEP140440     V-WARS #7     $3.99
SEP140503     WEIRD LOVE #4     $3.99
SEP140452     X-FILES SEASON 10 #18     $3.99