Review: RADIANT Volume 1

RADIANT, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

MANGAKA: Tony Valente
TRANSLATION: Anne Ishii
LETTERS: Erika Terriquez
EDITOR: Marlene First
ISBN: 978-1-9747-0381-4; paperback (September 2018); Rated “T” for “Teen”
184pp, B&W, $9.99 US, $12.99 CAN, £6.99 UK

Tony Valente is a French comics artist, and he is one of a growing number of foreign-born manga artists whose work is being published in Japan (according to Anime News Network).  VIZ Media is publishing his manga, Radiant, in North America as a series of graphic novels.

Radiant, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 4) introduces Seth.  He is an apprentice Wizard, and is one of the “Infected.”  Under the guidance of his cruel tutor, Alma, Seth is learning how to use magic (called “fantasia”) to stop evil creatures known as “Nemeses” that plague humanity.

However, Seth is special, and it will take a special place to train him so that he can reach his ultimate goal, to find and to destroy the mythical Nemesis nest, called “Radiant.”  So now, he has to start, but The Artemis Institute seems like a helluva place to learn.

[This volume includes bonus manga, “Doc's Lesson,” “The Nemeses!”, “The Wizards,” and “Some Basic Tools.”]

I was surprised to learn (via some Google searches) that the Radiant manga was originally a French manga.  I thought that “Tony Valente” was an odd name for a Japanese manga creator, and I thought that Valente might be one of those foreign artists working in Japan as manga artists.  However, Radiant is good enough to get published in Japan as manga.

Radiant Graphic Novel Volume 1 introduces a narrative that could indeed be a Japanese-born and bred manga, published in the pages of Weekly Shonen Jump or another Japanese shonen manga magazine.  Radiant reminds me of and has the freewheeling spirit of Hiro Mashima's wildly popular manga, Fairy Tail.  Seth is also similar to the plucky and stubborn Uzumaki Naruto, especially the young ninja of the early volumes of Masashi Kishimoto's beloved manga, Naruto.

One thing I did have to get used to about Radiant is that writer-artist Tony Valente packs almost every page with visual and graphical elements.  Sometimes everything is so squeezed into a page or into an individual panel that it is difficult to read the dialogue and also takes considerable effort to interpret the story.  Still, it is worth it.  Radiant has a fascinating, Harry Potter-like quality that makes me want to read more.  I think Radiant has a lot of potential.

8 out of 10

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


The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint syndication rights and fees.

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Fantagraphics Books Announces "Massive" Look at Gay Erotic Manga

MASSIVE: GAY EROTIC MANGA AND THE MEN WHO MAKE IT

Release — October 2014
Format — Softcover, 272 pages
Edited & Translated by: Anne Ishii and Graham Kolbeins
Designed by: Chip Kidd

UNPRECENDENTED INTRODUCTION TO THE WORLD OF GAY MANGA

Featuring works by Jiraiya, Tagame, Ebisubashi, Ichikawa +more. Designed by Chip Kidd.

Fantagraphics Books is thrilled to welcome the team behind The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame (PictureBox) to the family. Massive: Gay Erotic Manga and the Men Who Make It due out October 2014. This is the most recent entry in Fantagraphics’ queer comics lineup, which also features the anthology No Straight Lines, the graphic novels 7 Miles a Second and Bread & Wine, and manga by Moto Hagio and Shimura Takako.

The Massive anthology showcases Japan’s most talented and influential gay manga artists, including Gengoroh Tagame, Jiraiya, Seizoh Ebisubashi, Kazuhide Ichikawa, Gai Mizuki, Takeshi Matsu, Fumi Miyabi, and Kumada Poohsuke. In Massive, many of these artists’ works are featured in English for the first time; this collection offers an intimate, in-depth look at a criminally overlooked component of Japanese queer culture. In addition to comics and illustrations, Massive features photographs of the artists and their workspaces; cultural and historical context; and interviews with the creators about what it’s like to be a gay erotic artist in Japan.

Edited by Anne Ishii and Graham Kolbeins, and designed by Chip Kidd, this unprecedented survey of manga "made by gay men for gay men" is an essential addition to the queer comics canon; it will introduce the genre often referred to as "bara" (a misnomer for gay manga that has taken on new meanings online) to a new, international audience.

Massive was originally scheduled as a PictureBox Spring 2014 release until its publisher, Dan Nadel, announced that he is ceasing operations. Although we’re sad to see PictureBox shutter its doors, everyone involved is delighted to give Massive a new home. "I'm thrilled that Massive, an essential guide to the world of gay manga, is going to see print next year. Anne Ishii, Graham Kolbeins, and Chip Kidd are the best guides imaginable to this fascinating work and the men who make it," says Nadel.

For more information on the production team behind Massive and its artists, please visit gaymanga.tumblr.com and fantagraphics.com/massive.