Creator: Rei Hiroe
Publishing Information: VIZ Media, paperback, 198 pages, $12.99 (US), $16.99 CAN, £8.99 UK
Ordering Numbers: ISBN: 978-1-4215-2779-6 (ISBN-13)
Black Lagoon is a seinen manga (comics for adult men) from manga-ka Rei Hiroe. A violent action series that uses action lines in the art for atmosphere, Black Lagoon focuses on four mercenaries who prowl the waters off the coast of Southeast Asia in a modified, 80-foot, Elco PT boat (a World War II torpedo boat) dubbed the Black Lagoon.
The Black Lagoon’s skipper and the leader of this quartet is Dutch the Boss, an African-American Vietnam veteran. Benny the Mechanic, an American ex-patriot on the run both from the FBI and the mafia, is the guy who basically operates the boat and handles the Black Lagoon’s complicated high tech electronics. The sole female of the crew is Revy, a foulmouthed gunslinger nicknamed “Two Hand.” Rokuro Okajima was a Japanese “salaryman” who was abandoned by his employers after the crew of the Black Lagoon kidnapped him; now, he is Rock and a member of the crew.
The current storyline, “El Baile de la Muerte,” began in Vol. 6 and takes up the entirety of Black Lagoon, Vol. 8. It revolves around a former Black Lagoon guest star, Roberta, the head matron of a prominent South American family and a former (supernaturally skilled) mercenary. Roberta has returned to Roanapur, Black Lagoon’s setting, seeking revenge for the killing of the head of the Lovelace family. Roanapur’s criminal overlords have marked Roberta for execution for fear that if she reaches and kills her target (a U.S. special operations unit called “Grey Fox”), she will bring the fury of the United States upon Roanapur. Rock and Revy lead a small motley crew, including the new head of the Lovelace family, Garcia (a boy), to find Roberta.
Black Lagoon is like a John Woo movie delivered with hurricane force. Half of every volume is a wild dance of gun play and a ballet of bodies contorting to deliver the kill shot. Rei Hiroe’s art offers a pandemonium of action lines and facial close-ups that probably are as close as printed graphics will every get to replicating the kinetic feel of the action movie.
It’s not as if the characters and their struggles aren’t interesting. The story of Roberta and the Lovelace family is a tragic one that references the political corruption, drug wars, U.S. interventionism, and poverty that seem to keep much of Latin America in third world status. Rock’s misfortunes alone are worthy of a graphic novel. But all that takes a backseat to the invigorating violence. This rip-roaring series is the comic book for the action-loving guy who doesn’t read comics but would try the right one. This is certainly the right one.
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