Image Comics from Diamond Distributors for July 15, 2015

IMAGE COMICS

MAY150460     ASTRONAUTS IN TROUBLE #2     $2.99
MAY150509     DRIFTER #6 CVR A KLEIN (MR)     $3.50
MAY150510     DRIFTER #6 CVR B RISSO (MR)     $3.50
APR150535     ELEPHANTMEN #65 (MR)     $3.99
MAY150511     EMPTY #5     $3.99
MAY150512     EMPTY ZONE #2 (MR)     $3.50
MAY150515     INVINCIBLE #121     $2.99
MAY150516     ISLAND #1 (MR)     $7.99
MAY150498     MANTLE #3 (MR)     $3.99
FEB150528     PENNY DORA AND THE WISHING BOX TP VOL 01     $12.99
MAY150519     POSTAL #5 CVR A SEJIC     $3.99
MAY150520     POSTAL #5 CVR B GOODHART     $3.99
MAY150499     RED ONE HC WELCOME TO AMERICA (MR)     $16.99
MAY150522     REVIVAL #31 (MR)     $3.99
MAY150523     REYN #6     $2.99
MAY150524     ROCHE LIMIT CLANDESTINY #3     $3.50
MAY150527     SECRET IDENTITIES #6     $3.50
MAR150598     SKULLKICKERS #33     $3.50
MAY150530     TREES #11 (MR)     $2.99

Comics, Magazines and Books from Diamond Distributors for July 15, 2015

COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS

MAY151668     07 GHOST GN VOL 17     $9.99
MAR151541     6 VOYAGES OF LONE SLOANE GN VOL 01 (MR)     $17.99
MAY151096     ADVENTURE TIME FIONNA & CAKE CARD WARS #1     $3.99
MAY151097     ADVENTURE TIME FIONNA & CAKE CARD WARS #1 SUBSCRIPTIO     $3.99
APR151250     ADVENTURE TIME MARCELINE GONE ADRIFT #1 ECCC EXC     $9.99
MAY151725     ALIENS VS ZOMBIES #1 A CVR CHEN (MR)     $3.99
MAY151726     ALIENS VS ZOMBIES #1 B CVR SPAY (MR)     $3.99
MAY151727     ALIENS VS ZOMBIES #1 C CVR CAFARO (MR)     $3.99
MAY151728     ALIENS VS ZOMBIES #1 D CVR SEIDMAN (MR)     $3.99
APR151298     ALONE GN VOL 03 CLAN OF SHARK     $11.95
MAY151058     AN ENTITY OBSERVES ALL THINGS GN (MR)     $12.00
APR151673     AQUILA #4     $3.99
APR151684     ARPEGGIO OF BLUE STEEL GN VOL 05 (MR)     $12.99
APR151678     BAD DREAMS TP     $12.95
APR151307     BEARDO TP VOL 04 SELF EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH     $19.95
MAY151460     BEHIND STORY GN VOL 01 (MR)     $11.99
APR151186     BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA #13     $3.99
APR151194     BILL & TED MOST TRIUMPHANT RETURN #1 ECCC EXC     $9.99
MAY151135     BILL & TED MOST TRIUMPHANT RETURN #1 WONDERCON EXC     $9.99
MAY151586     BOOK OF DEATH #1 CVR A GILL     $3.99
MAY151587     BOOK OF DEATH #1 CVR B NORD     $3.99
MAY151588     BOOK OF DEATH #1 CVR C CRAIN     $3.99
MAY151589     BOOK OF DEATH #1 CVR D KEVIC-DJURDJEVIC     $3.99
MAY151590     BOOK OF DEATH #1 CVR E BLANK CVR     $3.99
MAY151413     CARPE NOCTEM #3 (MR)     $3.99
MAY151664     CASE CLOSED GN VOL 55     $9.99
MAY151461     CHIRO GN VOL 02 STAR PROJECT     $11.99
APR150988     COMIC FANDOM QUARTERLY #1     $5.95
MAY151462     CORE SCRAMBLE GN VOL 01 (MR)     $11.99
MAY151013     CROSSED BADLANDS #80 (MR)     $3.99
MAY151017     CROSSED BADLANDS #80 ART DECO CVR (MR)     $3.99
MAY151014     CROSSED BADLANDS #80 MEGAFAUNA MAYHAM CVR (MR)     $3.99
MAY151016     CROSSED BADLANDS #80 TORTURE CVR (MR)     $3.99
MAY151015     CROSSED BADLANDS #80 WRAP CVR (MR)     $3.99
MAR150963     CROSSED PLUS 100 #6 (MR)     $3.99
MAR150964     CROSSED PLUS 100 #6 AMERICAN HISTORY X WRAP CVR (MR)     $3.99
MAR150965     CROSSED PLUS 100 #6 CROSSED CULTURE CVR (MR)     $3.99
MAR150967     CROSSED PLUS 100 #6 FUTURE TENSE CVR (MR)     $3.99
MAR150966     CROSSED PLUS 100 #6 NEW WORLD ORDER WRAP BAGGED CVR (MR)     $5.99
APR151300     DAMOCLES GN VOL 02 IMPOSSIBLE RANSOM     $11.95
NOV141349     DAWN VAMPIRELLA #4 RARE LINSNER VIRGIN ED     $50.00
MAY151613     DEAD DROP #3 CVR A ALLEN     $3.99
MAY151614     DEAD DROP #3 CVR B GORHAM     $3.99
AUG141462     DF DEADPOOL #34 CGC GRADED 9.8     $79.99
JUL141201     DF DEATH OF WOLVERINE #1 CGC GRADED 9.8     $89.99
MAY151395     DIVINE GN     $19.99
MAY151625     DIVINITY TP     $9.99
APR151500     DORFLER HC     $22.99
APR151198     ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK #1 ECCC EXC     $9.99
MAY150968     FATHOM BLUE #2 DIRECT MARKET CVR A     $3.99
MAY150969     FATHOM BLUE #2 DIRECT MARKET CVR B     $3.99
MAY151126     FICTION #2     $3.99
MAY151708     GFT ALICE 10TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL #3 A CVR KROME (MR)     $5.99
MAY151709     GFT ALICE 10TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL #3 B CVR VERMA (MR)     $5.99
MAY151710     GFT ALICE 10TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL #3 C CVR PANTALENA (MR)     $5.99
MAY151711     GFT ALICE 10TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL #3 D CVR RICH (MR)     $5.99
MAY151148     GIANT DAYS #5     $3.99
MAY151463     GIVE TO THE HEART GN VOL 04 (MR)     $11.99
MAR150882     GOLD DIGGER #223     $3.99
MAY150875     GRAVEDIGGER #1 MAIN CVR (MR)     $3.99
MAR150895     INTRINSIC GN VOL 02 SINGULARITY ZERO     $14.95
MAY150936     JUGHEAD & ARCHIE COMICS DOUBLE DIGEST #14     $4.99
MAY151470     KAIJUMAX #4     $3.99
JAN151293     KING PRINCE VALIANT #3     $3.99
FEB151288     KING THE PHANTOM #4     $3.99
MAY151187     LADY DEATH LOST SOULS DLX COLL BOX SET (MR)     $199.99
APR151288     LADY DEATH SACRILEGE COMP COLL BOX SET     $129.99
APR151355     LADY RAWHIDE LADY ZORRO #4     $3.99
MAY151482     LETTER 44 #18     $3.99
MAY151086     LONG WALK TO VALHALLA ORIGNIAL GN HC     $24.99
MAY151529     LOVE STAGE GN VOL 02 (MR)     $12.99
MAY151197     LUCKY LUKE TP VOL 53 NITROGLYCERIN     $11.95
MAY151150     LUMBERJANES #16     $3.99
MAY150940     MEGA MAN #51 SPAZ REG CVR     $3.99
MAY150984     MERCURY HEAT #1 ART NOUVEAU CVR (MR)     $3.99
MAY150985     MERCURY HEAT #1 EXCESSIVE FORCE CVR (MR)     $3.99
MAY150982     MERCURY HEAT #1 MAIN CVR (MR)     $3.99
MAY150983     MERCURY HEAT #1 WRAP CVR (MR)     $3.99
MAY151410     MISTRY PI #1     $2.99
MAY151579     MY NEIGHBOR SEKI GN VOL 03     $10.95
MAY151060     NOCTURNALS BLACK PLANET TP     $24.95
MAY151127     OH KILLSTRIKE #3     $3.99
FEB151472     PHANTOM COMP SERIES HC CHARLTON YEARS VOL 04     $60.00
MAY151306     POETRY IS USELESS HC (MR)     $29.95
MAY150851     RACHEL RISING #35     $3.99
MAY151663     RANMA 1/2 2IN1 TP VOL 09     $14.99
MAY151265     REANIMATOR #4 CVR A FRANCAVILLA     $3.99
MAY151220     RED SONJA #1973     $7.99
MAR151544     RING OF ROSES GN     $22.99
MAY151666     RIN-NE GN VOL 18     $9.99
MAY151552     RIVERS OF LONDON #1 (MR)     $3.99
JAN150969     SIDNEY HAMMER ONE SHOT (MR)     $5.99
MAY151071     SIMPSONS COMICS #222     $2.99
MAY151072     SIMPSONS COMICS COLOSSAL COMPENDIUM TP VOL 03     $17.99
MAY151475     SIXTH GUN VALLEY OF DEATH #2     $3.99
MAY151136     SLEEPY HOLLOW ORIGINS #1 WONDERCON EXC     $9.99
MAY150955     SONIC WORLDS UNITE BATTLES #1 REG CVR     $3.99
MAY151112     STEVEN UNIVERSE TP VOL 01     $14.99
MAY151464     SWEET BLOOD GN VOL 02     $11.99
MAY151229     SWORDS OF SORROW VAMPIRELLA JENNIFER BLOOD #3     $3.99
MAY151415     TAILWANDS GN VOL 02 KAYAS JOURNEY BEGINS     $7.99
MAY151189     TAROT WITCH OF THE BLACK ROSE #93 (MR)     $2.95
MAY151670     TIGER & BUNNY GN VOL 07     $9.99
MAY151198     WISHER GN VOL 04 BOWLER HAT & FAERY CANE     $11.95
APR151699     WORLDS GREATEST FIRST LOVE GN VOL 02 (MR)     $12.99

MAGAZINES
APR151670     2000 AD PACK JUN 2015     $21.40
APR151671     2000 AD SUMMER SCI-FI SPECIAL 2015     $6.99
MAY151847     COMIC SHOP NEWS #1465     PI
MAR158176     DOCTOR WHO ADVENTURES MAGAZINE #3     $7.99
AUG141964     FANGORIA #342     $11.99
APR151672     JUDGE DREDD MEGAZINE #361     $12.40
MAY151840     JUXTAPOZ #175 AUG 2015     $6.99
MAY151488     NICKELODEON MAGAZINE #2     $4.99
MAY151869     STAR TREK MAGAZINE #54 NEWSSTAND ED     $9.99
MAY151870     STAR TREK MAGAZINE #54 PX ED     $9.99
MAY151871     STAR WARS INSIDER #157 CELEBRATION DARK SIDE COVER ED     $9.99
MAY151872     STAR WARS INSIDER #157 CELEBRATION LIGHT SIDE COVER ED     $9.99
MAY151864     WALKING DEAD MAGAZINE #13 NEWSSTAND ED (MR)     $9.99
MAY151865     WALKING DEAD MAGAZINE #13 PX ED (MR)     $9.99

BOOKS
MAY151773     BIG BOOK OF DC SUPER FRIENDS GOLDEN BOOK HC     $9.99
MAY151774     DC SUPER HEROES EVEN SUPER HEROES SLEEP BOARD BOOK     $9.99
MAY151775     DC SUPER HEROES MY FIRST BOOK OF SUPER POWERS BOARD BOOK     $9.99
MAY151784     DOCTOR WHO DROSTENS CURSE SC     $9.99
MAY151819     I AM LUCILLE BALL YR HC     $12.99
APR151745     INCREDIBLE HERB TRIMPE HC     $34.95
APR151943     TERMINATOR GENISYS RESETTING THE FUTURE HC     $45.00
APR152708     WARHAMMER 40K THE UNFORGIVEN SC     $14.00
APR152709     WARHAMMER 40K VALEDOR TP     $16.00

Switch: Alive List

I read Switch, Vol. 6

I posted a review at the ComicBookBin.  Follow me on Twitter or at Grumble.  Support me on Patreon.

2015 Eisner Award Winners - Complete List; "Lumberjanes" and "Little Nemo" Big Winners

The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, also simply know as the “Eisner Awards,” are awards annually given for creative achievement in American comic books.  The awards are named for pioneering comic book writer, artist, and publisher, Will Eisner.  Some consider the Eisner Awards to be the preeminent awards that honor American comic books, even referring to the awards as “the Oscars of comic books.”

The Eisner Awards also include the Comic Industry's Hall of Fame.  The Eisner Awards are associated with the annual Comic-Con International convention held in San Diego, California, in July.  The Eisner Awards have been given annually since 1988, with the exception of 1990.

The 2015 Eisner Award winners were announced Friday, July 10, 2015 at a gala ceremony held during San Diego Comic-Con International (2015).

The 2015 Eisner Awards judging panel:
Carr D’Angelo – comics retailer: Earth-2 Comics, Los Angeles
Richard Graham – librarian at University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Sean Howe – author Marvel Comics: The Untold Story
Susan Kirtley – academic/scholar at Portland State University)
Ron McFee – a Comic-Con International volunteer
Maggie Thompson – writer/editor, best known for her work on the Comics Buyers Guide

2015 EISNER AWARDS Winners:

Best Short Story
“When the Darkness Presses,” by Emily Carroll, http://emcarroll.com/comics/darkness/ (link is external)

Best Single Issue (or One-Shot)
Beasts of Burden: Hunters and Gatherers, by Evan Dorkin & Jill Thompson (Dark Horse)

Best Continuing Series
Saga, by Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples (Image)

Best Limited Series
Little Nemo: Return to Slumberland, by Eric Shanower & Gabriel Rodriguez (IDW)

Best New Series
Lumberjanes, by Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, Noelle Stevenson, & Brooke A. Allen (BOOM! Box)

Best Publication for Early Readers (up to age 7)
The Zoo Box, by Ariel Cohn & Aron Nels Steinke (First Second)

Best Publication for Kids (ages 8-12)
El Deafo, by Cece Bell (Amulet/Abrams)

Best Publication for Teens (ages 13-17)
Lumberjanes, by Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, Noelle Stevenson, & Brooke A. Allen (BOOM! Box)

Best Humor Publication
The Complete Cul de Sac, by Richard Thompson (Andrews McMeel)

Best Digital/Web Comic
The Private Eye by Brian Vaughan & Marcos Martin http://panelsyndicate.com/ (link is external)

Best Anthology
Little Nemo: Dream Another Dream, edited by Josh O’Neill, Andrew Carl, & Chris Stevens (Locust Moon)

Best Reality-Based Work
Hip Hop Family Tree, vol. 2, by Ed Piskor (Fantagraphics)

Best Graphic Album—New
This One Summer, by Mariko Tamaki & Jillian Tamaki (First Second)

Best Graphic Album—Reprint
Through the Woods, by Emily Carroll (McElderry Books)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips (at least 20 years old)
Winsor McCay’s Complete Little Nemo, edited by Alexander Braun (TASCHEN)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books (at least 20 Years Old)
Steranko Nick Fury Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Artist’s Edition, edited by Scott Dunbier (IDW)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material
Blacksad: Amarillo, by Juan Díaz Canales & Juanjo Guarnido (Dark Horse)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia
Showa 1939–1943 and Showa 1944–1953: A History of Japan, by Shigeru Mizuki (Drawn & Quarterly)

Best Writer
Gene Luen Yang, Avatar: The Last Airbender (Dark Horse); The Shadow Hero (First Second)

Best Writer/Artist
Raina Telgemeier, Sisters (Graphix/Scholastic)

Best Penciller/Inker
Fiona Staples, Saga (Image)

Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art)
J. H. Williams III, The Sandman: Overture (Vertigo/DC)

Best Cover Artist
Darwyn Cooke, "DC Comics Darwyn Cooke Month Variant Covers" (DC)

Best Coloring
Dave Stewart, Hellboy in Hell, BPRD, Abe Sapien, Baltimore, Lobster Johnson, Witchfinder, Shaolin Cowboy, Aliens: Fire and Stone, DHP (Dark Horse)

Best Lettering
Stan Sakai, Usagi Yojimbo: Senso, Usagi Yojimbo Color Special: The Artist (Dark Horse)

Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism
Comics Alliance, edited by Andy Khouri, Caleb Goellner, Andrew Wheeler, & Joe Hughes, www.comicsalliance.com (link is external)

Best Comics-Related Book
Genius Animated: The Cartoon Art of Alex Toth, vol. 3, by Dean Mullaney & Bruce Canwell (IDW/LOAC)

Best Scholarly/Academic Work
Graphic Details: Jewish Women’s Confessional Comics in Essays and Interviews, edited by Sarah Lightman (McFarland)

Best Publication Design
Little Nemo: Dream Another Dream, designed by Jim Rugg (Locust Moon)


The Eisner Awards judges previously selected two individuals to automatically be inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Awards Hall of Fame for 2015. Those inductees were Marjorie ”Marge” Henderson Buell (creator of Little Lulu) and Bill Woggon (creator of Katy Keene).

The judges also chosen 13 nominees from which voters were to select 4 to be inducted into the Hall of Fame this summer. The 4 selected are John Byrne, Chris Claremont, Denis Kitchen, Frank Miller.

--------------------

Review: TWIN STAR EXORCISTS Volume 1

TWIN STAR EXORCISTS, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

MANGAKA: Yoshiaki Sukeno
TRANSLATION: Tetsuichiro Miyaki
ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Bryant Turnage
LETTERS: Stephen Dutro
EDITOR: Annette Roman
ISBN: 978-1-4215-8174-3; paperback (July 2015); Rated “T” for “Teen”
208pp, B&W, $9.99 US, $12.99 CAN, £6.99 U.K.

Created by Yoshiaki Sukeno, Twin Star Exorcists is a new supernatural action manga series about rivals who may have to become lovers.  VIZ Media is publishing the series in English under its “Shonen Jump” imprint.  The series is currently ongoing in Japan, and VIZ will release Twin Star Exorcists English-language graphic novels twice a year, both in print and in digital editions.

Twin Star Exorcists focuses on a pair of mystical warriors with intertwined destinies.  Rokuro Enmado wants to be anything but an exorcist.  Then, he meets a mysterious girl named Benio Adashino, a 14-year-old who is serious about being an exorcist.

Twin Star Exorcists, Vol. 1 (Entitled Exorcisms; Chapters 1 to 3) opens with an exorcism.  We learn that an evil realm known as “Magano,” is a place where monsters called “Kegare” dwell.  The Kegare come to this world to kill and to kidnap humans, so exorcists must purify them.

Talented exorcist, Rokuro, is currently trying to be a teen idol, a pursuit destined to end in failure.  However, a trauma that Rokuro experienced in the recent past has turned him against being an exorcist.  Then, Benio falls out of the sky...

[This volume contains the bonus story “Benio in Kyoto” and also some “Extra Manga.”]

The Twin Star Exorcists manga is like most action-fantasy manga published under the “Shonen Jump” and “Shonen Jump Advanced” imprints.  It is filled with a complex back story and an internal mythology riddled with terminology, techniques, processes, etc., that is all built around the supernatural.  But it is a good read.

Twin Star Exorcists Volume 1 is hugely engaging.  I think readers will be drawn into its world.  The monsters are awesome and scary, and the stakes for the heroes are high and definitely involve life and death.  Rokuro and Benio's predicament is funny, and is along the lines of that found in the manga, Nisekoi: False Love.  Like Nisekoi, Twin Star Exorcists is funny and edgy, and sometimes the comedy is quite edgy.

Right now, I find the supporting characters to be soft and not well-developed.  Of course, I'm a sucker for the battles, fights, and explosive magic, so I think Twin Star Exorcists has potential.

B+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux (Support Leroy on Patreon.)


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

Review: SILVER #5 - "Night of the Duvaliers"

SILVER #5 – NIGHT OF THE DUVALIERS
DARK PLANET COMICS – @fromdarkplanet

CARTOONIST/CREATOR: Stephan Franck – @Stephan_Franck
COVER: Stephan Franck with Sean Eckols
32pp, B&W, $4.50 U.S. (July 2015)

This week sees the release of the fifth issue of Silver by Dark Planet Comics.  Silver is a black and white, 12-issue comic book miniseries written and drawn by Stephan Franck, a writer and director of animated films.  Silver extends the fictional world of Bram Stoker's 1897 novel, Dracula, into the 1930s.  The series stars con man James “Finn” Finnigan, a thief extraordinaire who plans to steal silver from the living-dead.

Silver opens in New York City, 1931.  The story opens at the Harker Foundation, which was created by the recently deceased Jonathan Harker and his late wife, Wilhelmina “Mina” (Murray) Harker.  While crashing an auction, Finnigan accidentally stumbles into a crypt where he finds an ancient bar of silver.  This begins his quest to pull of the biggest heist of the last ten centuries.  Beginning with his partners, Ed Mullins and Brantley, Finnigan begins to build a team to pull of this heist.  He adds Rosalynd Van Helsing (a.k.a Rosalynd Sledge); the actor, Hamilton “Ham” Morley; the forger, Mister Moineaux; and the boy who sees the future, Tao.

Silver #5 (entitled “Night of the Duvaliers”) opens in April 1931, aboard the Orient Express.  Finn and company managed to get Hamilton invited to a very exclusive vampire event, using Hamilton's skills as an actor and the art of the pickpocket.  As the team catches its collective breath, the story moves into the secret world of the vampires.  It seems that members of the vampire elite are positioning themselves to pick a bride for a king, but Lillian has something to say about that.

Reviews of the Silver comic book series can make a reviewer repetitive.  Every issue, thus far, has been exceptional, and Silver #5 is no exception to that.  This fast moving, old-fashioned tale has the spirit of movies like Raiders of the Lost Ark and the 1999 version of The Mummy, but steeped in the Gothic atmosphere of Bram Stoker's novel, Dracula.

Although Franck works in animation, he is proving to be a master of the art of comic book storytelling.  He is a genuine inheritor of the glorious black and white comic art of Alex Toth, and his work recalls the 1950s horror comics of Steve Ditko.  If you are turned off by vampires, are you also turned off by great comic books?  There may not be a better original vampire comic book in America than Silver, and it is also one of the best comic books currently being published in America.

A+

[Silver #5 contains another “Under the Hood” essay, in which Franck shows the process of creating Silver's first full-bleed, double-page spread.]

http://darkplanetcomics.com/
facebook/darkplanetcomics

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux (Support Leroy on Patreon.)


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

-----------------------------------------------

Review: LBX Volume 6

LBX, VOL. 6
VIZ MEDIA/Perfect Square – @VIZMedia

MANGAKA: Hideaki Fujii
ORIGINAL STORY: Level 5
TRANSLATION: Tetsuichiro Miyaki
ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Aubrey Sitterson
LETTERS: Annaliese Christman
EDITOR: Joel Enos
ISBN: 978-1-4215-7700-5; paperback (July 2015); Rated “A” for “All Ages”
152pp, B&W, $9.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN, £6.99 UK

The video game, LBX (Little Battlers eXperience), is a series of role-playing action games created by Level-5 for the Sony PSP.  Hideaki Fujii created an “all ages” manga based on LBX, which VIZ Media has published in English as a bi-monthly graphic novel series under its “Perfect Square” imprint.

In the world of Fujii's manga, the LBX is the hottest toy in the year 2050.  The LBX (Little Battlers eXperience) is a miniaturized robot made of a new super-strong industrial cardboard.  Van Yamano is a rising LBX player, but he doesn't just play with these battle-robots for fun.  In order to save his father, Professor Yamano, he has to keep the LBX, named “Achilles,” out of the hands of evil at all costs.

As LBX, Vol. 6 (Chapters 23 to 25 to Final Chapter, entitled World Battle) opens, the “Duck Shuttle” arrives at the powerful new military satellite Eden, which orbits the Earth.  Aboard the shuttle are Van and his partner and LBX rival, Hiro Hughes, with Cobra piloting.

Van has LBX Icarus Zero, and Hiro has LBX Icarus Force.  The duo plans to use their LBX to stop a plot by Alfred Gordon, Vice-President of the American Union and also leader of “The Directors,” a terrorist group.  Gordon wants to bring peace to the world by taking control of the world, and he has the powerful and perhaps unstoppable LBX Zeus to enforce his will.  Van, Hiro, and Gordon are in for a big surprise.

[This volume includes bonus comics.]

I am still surprised that I enjoyed the LBX manga, which proved to be quite entertaining.  The series is really directed at elementary-age readers and also fans of the LBX, an actual, real-life media and merchandising franchise.  Alas, LBX Volume 6 is the end of the series... for now at least.  Still, this short, six-volume graphic novel series is perfect for readers who are enjoying or have enjoyed the Yu-Gi-Oh manga.  Those readers may even want to have an LBX toy.

B

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux (Support Leroy on Patreon.)


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.