Review: AN INCURABLE CASE OF LOVE Volume 1

AN INCURABLE CASE OF LOVE, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

MANGAKA: Maki Enjoji
TRANSLATION: JN Productions
LETTERS: Inori Fukuda Trant
EDITOR: Nancy Thislethwaite
ISBN: 978-1-9747-0931-1; paperback (October 2019); Rated “M” for “Mature”
192pp, B&W, $9.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN, £6.99 UK

Koi wa Tsuzuku yo Dokomade mo is a “josei” manga (comics for adult women) from Maki Enjoji, creator of the Happy Marriage?! manga.  “Koi wa Tsuzuku yo Dokomade mo” was serialized in the Japanese magazine, Petit Comic, from February 2016 to January 2019.  VIZ Media is publishing an English-language version of “Koi wa Tsuzuku yo Dokomade mo” in a graphic novel series, entitled An Incurable Case of Love.

An Incurable Case of Love, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 5) introduces Nanase Sakura.  Five years ago, she witnessed a handsome and charming doctor save a stranger’s life.  Inspired by this mystery physician, Nanase trains to become a nurse.  On her first day as a new nurse, Nanase meets the doctor again.

However, Dr. Kairi Tendo turns out to be nothing like the man she imagined or remembered him to be.  He is so harsh and blunt, especially with her, that Nanase nicknames him “Dark Lord.”  But, of course, there is more to him than she realizes.

The An Incurable Case of Love manga is not a typical “Shojo Beat” romance manga.  For one thing, it has a “mature” rating and is a “josei” manga, and secondly, the romantic lead characters are both adults with serious adult responsibilities.

An Incurable Case of Love Graphic Novel Volume 1 is also the first time that I have read a manga set largely in a hospital and focusing on a nurse and a doctor.  I have enjoyed romantic manga starring people who worked in the food industry, in the banking industry, and in the entertainment industry.  I have enjoyed love stories featuring aliens, magical girls, and vampires, to name a few supernatural types.  But no medical personnel, as far as I can remember.

An Incurable Case of Love also focuses on two characters badly at odds with one another.  Nurse Nanase and Dr. Tendo clash so much that them getting together might take some willing suspension of disbelief.  The hospital setting also presents sick and dying patients... yikes!  JN Productions translation ably mixes the drama and the couple's sparring, and Inori Fukuda Trant's lettering captures the frequent shifts in mood.  So this first volume is an interesting read.

I am curious about An Incurable Case of Love; this first volume is not great, but it does have potential.  I think this series is certainly worth two reads; by then, I'll have an idea how strong this series is going to be.

7 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2019 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

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Review: DCEASED #1

DCEASED No. 1 (OF 6)
DC COMICS – @DCComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Tom Taylor
PENCILS: Trevor Hairsine; James Harren
INKS: Stefano Gaudiano; James Harren
COLORS: Rain Beredo
LETTERS: Saida Temofonte
EDITOR: Ben Abernathy
COVER: Greg Capullo with FCO Plascencia
32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S./ U.S. (July 2019)

Rated “T+” for “Teen Plus”

“Going Viral”

DCeased is a new six-issue comic book series from DC Comics.  It chronicles the heroes of the DC Universe and their desperate struggle to end a techno-virus that is turning the people of earth into engines of destruction.  The first issue of the series is written by Tom Taylor.  It is drawn by Trevor Hairsine, (pencils), James Harren (pencils/inks); and Stefano Gaudiano (inks).  Colorist Rain Beredo; letterer Saida Temofonte; and editor Ben Abernathy complete the creative team.

DCeased #1 (“Going Viral”) opens with the Justice League ending their latest battle against evil New God, Darkseid, and his legion of Parademons.  The League:  Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Black Lightning, Aquaman, Hawkgirl, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, and Nightwing have had enough of Darkseid's invasions of Earth, and Batman warns him against returning again.  Darkseid's parting words, uttered as he retreats, are ominous enough that they should be accompanied by an equally ominous musical arrangement.

It seems that during the battle, the Parademons have taken possession of Justice League member, Cyborg, for their boss.  Now, Darkseid and his master torturer, DeSaad, have a plan to merge the half of the anti-life equation in their possession with the half inside Cyborg.  And their plot requires the participation of the New Gods' avatar of Death, Black Racer.  But the best laid schemes o' DC mice and New Gods...  Darkseid is about to unleash something that is beyond monstrous.

I was cynical about DCeased.  I am no longer a fan of event comic book miniseries that feature large cast of superheroes and/or supervillains.  I started to hear whispers and grumblings, however, that DCeased was a good read, and guess what boys and girls?  It really is.

Unlike many first issues that tease so much that they barely introduce the plot or even all the main characters, DCeased #1 gets right to the point.  Writer Tom Taylor serves up the main course, handing out the meat for the beast.  I don't know if this entire miniseries will be good, but damn, we have quite the first issue – with a killer-ass last page, too, boo!  And it all reads well under letterer Saida Temofonte's fear-inducing fonts of the living dead.

I really like artist James Harren's eight-page New Gods' segment, which is pivotal to the story.  Colorist Rain Beredo covers Harren's illustrations with garish, acid-dropped, nightmarish colors.  Together, Taylor, Harren, and Beredo create comic book ickiness.  Meanwhile, Trevor Hairsine and Stefano Gaudiano focus on drawing the apocalypse with glee.

So, yeah, DCeased #1 is a real-deal good comic book, the anti-life antidote for the cynical comic book purchaser.  So let's hope this series stays good.

9 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2019 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: JOURNEY TO STAR WARS: The Rise of Skywalker - Allegiance #1

JOURNEY TO STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER – ALLEGIANCE No. 1
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

[This review was originally posted on Patreon. And visit the "Star Wars Central" review page here.]

STORY: Ethan Sacks
ART: Luke Ross
COLORS: Lee Loughridge
LETTERS: VC's Clayton Cowles
EDITOR: Mark Paniccia
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Akira Yoshida a.k.a. C.B. Cebulski
COVER: Marco Checchetto
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Brian Stelfreeze; Will Sliney with Guru-eFX
36pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (December 2019)

Rated T

Journey to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – Allegiance Part I - “An Old Hope”

Journey to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – Allegiance is four-issue Star Wars comic book series from Marvel Comics.  Published weekly this month (October 2019), Allegiance takes place before the events depicted in the upcoming film, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.  Journey to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – Allegiance is written by Ethan Sacks; drawn by Luke Ross; colored by Lee Loughridge; and lettered by Clayton Cowles.

Journey to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – Allegiance #1 (“An Old Hope”) opens in the aftermath of the film, Star Wars: The Last Jedi.  The Resistance is in tatters, and its adversary, the First Order, and its Supreme Leader, Kylo Ren, will stop at nothing to crush what is left.  General Leia Organa, the head of the Resistance, leads the last of the rebels, which includes Rey (Jedi-in-training), Finn, Poe Dameron, Rose Tico, Chewbacca the Wookie, and the droids:  C-3PO, R2-D2, and BB-8.

The story opens on the Mid Rim ice planet, Tah'Nuhna, which the First Order's General Hux uses as a warning to any other worlds that may be considering offering any kind of assistance to the Resistance.  General Organa decides that it is time for her to be proactive with a new mission, for which she takes Rey, Rose, and Tico with her.  On the refueling station, “The Wayward Comet,” Finn, Poe, and BB-8 hope to meet a contact who will point them to a weapons cache that the Resistance can use.  However, they are unaware that they are being watched.  Meanwhile, Leia and her delegation approach “an old hope” with lots of hope and some trepidation...

I wish I could say that Journey to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – Allegiance #1 temporarily sates my appetite for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, but it doesn't.  Hell, it doesn't even whet my appetite for the film.

Journey to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – Allegiance #1 is not a bad comic book; it simply reads like filler material.  It also seems like a movie tie-in that is mostly a cynical money grab.  I will say that writer Ethan Sacks has presented a scenario that does have potential; so there is... hope.  Perhaps, this issue is mostly set-up, and future issues will read more like a complete story and less like... just-another-Star-Wars-thing.

I must note that the art team of Luke Ross (pencils) and Lee Loughridge (colors) turns in some really pretty art.  Clayton Cowles' lettering is sharp, and the back matter is a nice addition to this first issue.

Will my mixed feelings about Journey to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – Allegiance #1 stop me from reading the second issue?  No.  Like a true Star Wars sucker, I will probably get all four issues!

[This comic book includes a script-to-art-to-colors look at the process of scripting, drawing, and coloring five pages of Journey to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – Allegiance #1.  There is also a look at Marco Checchetto's cover art for all four issues of Journey to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – Allegiance.]

6 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2019 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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