JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Battle Tendency -The Pillar Men Trinity

I read JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Part 2--Battle Tendency, Vol. 2

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

Review: JOJO'S SBIZARRE ADVENTURE: Part 2, Volume 1

JOJO'S BIZARRE ADVENTURE: PART 2 – BATTLE TENDENCY, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

MANGAKA: Hirohiko Araki
TRANSLATION: Evan Galloway
LETTERS: Mark McMurray
ISBN: 978-1-4215-7882-8; hardcover (November 2015); Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
370pp, B&W with some color, $19.99 U.S., $22.99 CAN, £12.99 U.K.

VIZ Media's English-language publication of the legendary Shonen Jump manga series, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, continues.  VIZ Media is publishing the manga as a series of deluxe edition, hardcover, graphic novels with color pages and new cover art.  Created by Hirohiko Araki, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is a multi-generational tale that centers on the heroic Joestar family and their never-ending battle against evil.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure begins with the “Phantom Blood” arc.  Now, the series moves on to the “ Battle Tendency” story arc.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Part 2 – Battle Tendency, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 18) introduces Joseph “JoJo” Joestar, the grandson of the original hero, Jonathan “JoJo” Joestar.  It is 1938, and JoJo arrives in New York City to meet his paternal grandmother, Erina Joestar (Jonathan's widow).  Shortly after his arrival, JoJo rescues Smokey, a young Black man being abused by two policemen.

That is just the first of many fights in which JoJo will find himself.  Somewhere in Central America, JoJo's “uncle,” Robert E.O. Speedwagon, has found Nazis and something called the “Pillar Man.”  Called Santviento, this Pillar Man's revival could mean extinction's arrival for mankind.

The JoJo's Bizarre Adventure manga was first published in 1986 in Weekly Shonen Jump.  This manga has quite a reputation, because even I had heard of it, and I have only been a regular reader of manga this past decade.

After reading the “Phantom Blood” arc, I did not know what to expect of the series as it moved forward.  Would I even care, I asked myself.  JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Part 2 – Battle Tendency, Volume 1 answers that with a resounding “Yes!”  I like Joseph Joestar.  Like his grandfather, Joseph Joestar is a hero, but whereas Jonathan was brave and resolute, Joseph is daring and rowdy.  He is certainly willing to be a hero, but he also likes experiencing the physical sensations of adventure and battle.  So the series is in good hands, and I look forward to more.

B+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


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

Review: JOJO'S BIZARRE ADVENTURE: Part 1 - Phantom Blood Volume 3

JOJO'S BIZARRE ADVENTURE: PART 1 – PHANTOM BLOOD, VOL. 3
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

MANGAKA: Hirohiko Araki
TRANSLATION: Evan Galloway
LETTERS: Mark McMurray
ISBN: 978-1-4215-7881-1; hardcover (August 2015); Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
348pp, B&W with some color, $19.99 U.S., $22.99 CAN, £12.99 U.K.

VIZ Media's presentation of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, the Phantom Blood arc, comes to an end with the third volume.  The legendary Shonen Jump manga series, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, is available in English for the first time.  VIZ Media is publishing the manga as a series of deluxe edition graphic novels with color pages and new cover art.

Created by Hirohiko Araki, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is a multi-generational tale that centers on the heroic Joestar family and their never-ending battle against evil.  JoJo's Bizarre Adventure begins with the “Phantom Blood” arc.  It is the story of two brothers; one who is ambitious, but is also cruel and evil, and the other who is dignified and strives to be a just man.

Dio Brando has used the evil “Stone Mask” to turn people into flesh-eating zombies and also to resurrect great warriors of the past as monstrous fighters.  As JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Part 1 – Phantom Blood, Vol. 3 (Chapters 28 to 44) opens,  Jonathan “JoJo” Joestar takes on two of those reanimated fighters, Tarkus and the Dark Knight Blueford.  JoJo will transform one of them, but the other will prove to be a determined killer who will take the life of one of Jojo's friends.

Then, JoJo and his companions travel to the village of one of their company, the boy named Poco.  Dio is in the village, making it his base of operations, where he has already transformed dozens of villagers into hungry zombies.  Is Poco's sisters one of those creatures?  This is the final battle between JoJo and Dio, but that battle will span continents.

I was vaguely familiar with the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure manga, which was first published in 1986 in Weekly Shonen Jump.  Now, I know why.  This manga cannot help but have a reputation.  The story's contents are the kind that turn into word-of-mouth praise.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Part 1 – Phantom Blood, Volume 3 is the final collection of the Phantom Blood story arc.  For the most part, probably 300 pages of the narrative depict fight scenes.  Creator Hirohiko Araki composes the fights with big, meaty compositions that portray the human body as a stand of pulsating and twisting muscle.  His drawing style looks like the art of American comic book legends, Jack Kirby and Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, and mangaka Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro squeezed into a Frankenstein anatomy for sculptors.

This finale earns the word “blood” and is shocking in so many ways.  For me, the most shocking is the scene where a woman devours her infant. Yeah...  JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is for the adventurous manga reader, and I have to admit that I am ready for more.  Fans of weird shonen manga will want to try the Shonen Jump Advanced series, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Part 1 – Phantom Blood.

A-

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


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

Review: NEON GENESIS EVANGELION Volume 14

NEON GENESIS EVANGELION, VOL. 14
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

STORY/ART: Yoshiyuki Sadamoto
ORIGINAL CONCEPT: khara
TRANSLATION/ENGLISH ADAPTATION: John Werry, Evan Galloway
LETTERS: John Clark
ISBN: 978-1-4215-7835-4; paperback (February 2015); Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
200pp, B&W, $9.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN, £6.99 UK

Neon Genesis Evangelion is a long-running manga series that is tied to the beloved anime series of the same title.  Written and drawn by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, the manga was initially released in 1994 (in Shonen Ace magazine) before the anime debuted (October 1995), but the anime ended 15 years before the manga finally concluded in 2013.  VIZ Media recently published the 14th and final English-language graphic novel collection of Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Neon Genesis Evangelion is the story of humans at war with hostile beings called Angels.  The human side of this conflict is led by the paramilitary organization, NERV.  The Earth is defended by giant mecha called Evangelions (also known as “EVA” and “Evas”) that are piloted by teenagers.  The lead character is Shinji Ikari (who is 14-years-old when the story begins); he is the pilot of EVA “Unit-01.”

Shinji's father, Gendo Ikari, NERV Supreme Commander, initiated the final phase of the Instrumentality Project.  As Neon Genesis Evangelion, Vol. 14 (Chapters 91 to 95 to the Final Chapter) opens, things have not gone according to Gendo's plan.  The Instrumentality Project reaches its apocalyptic conclusion.

Earth is now the “Sea of LCL,” as every human consciousness in the world has become one.  It is a combined entity waiting to be reborn.  In this, the source of life, Shinji and Rei Ayanami meet, and have a meeting of the minds and bodies.  Shinji makes a decision about the future and about what it means to feel love and despair.  Also, Yui and Gendo, Shinji's parents, reunite.

[This volume includes the extra chapter, “Eden in Summer.”]

The Neon Genesis Evangelion manga was my first experience with the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise.  I read Volumes 12 and 13 of the manga, and I liked 12 more than I did 13.  Neon Genesis Evangelion Volume 14 is the final volume of this series.  Like Vol. 13, this final volume reminds me of Stanley Kubrick’s film, 2001: A Space Odyssey.  I would like to think that Yoshiyuki Sadamoto would be the perfect comics creator to adapt 2001 into comics.

Neon Genesis Evangelion Volume 14 is one of the most beautifully drawn final volumes of a manga that I have ever read (and it may be the most).  Without spoiling the story, I must say that I am quite happy with this ending.  Part bittersweet and mostly lyrically beauty, it speaks truth about what what it means to live a life that involves living with other people.  The same hand that can hurt can also love.  I think I want to start anew and read Neon Genesis Evangelion all over again.

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


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

Review: JOJO'S BIZARRE ADVENTURE: Part 1 – Phantom Blood Volume 1

JOJO'S BIZARRE ADVENTURE: PART 1 - PHANTOM BLOOD, VOL. 1

VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia
CARTOONIST: Hirohiko Araki
TRANSLATION: Evan Galloway
LETTERS: Mark McMurray
ISBN: 978-1-4215-7879-8; hardcover (February 2015); Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
260pp, B&W with some color, $19.99 U.S., $22.99 CAN, £12.99 U.K.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is a multi-genre, shonen manga created by Hirohiko Araki.  It first appeared in the Japanese manga anthology magazine, Weekly Shonen Jump, in 1986, but has been in Ultra Jump for the last decade.

VIZ Media is making the legendary manga available in English for the first time as a series of deluxe edition graphic novels with color pages and new cover art.  A multi-generational tale, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure centers on the heroic Joestar family and their never-ending battle against evil.  JoJo's Bizarre Adventure begins with the “Phantom Blood” arc.  It is the story of two brothers; one ambitious, but also cruel and evil, and the other is dignified and strives to be a just man.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Part 1 – Phantom Blood, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 11) opens far in the past, as an ancient ritual reveals the power of a mysterious stone mask.  Centuries later, in Great Britain, a cliff side accident brings together two men, Lord Joestar and Dario Brando.  The former is a grateful gentleman; the other is a thief who, by chance, appears to be a kind and helpful man.

Then, the story leaps forward to 1881.  Lord Joestar adopts Dario's son, Dio Brando, and brings the lad into his home.  However, Dio immediately begins to plot against his new brother, Jonathan Joestar, only son of Lord Joestar.  Although Jonathan makes an effort to bond with his adopted brother, he finds that Dio only causes him grief and pain.  Secretly, Dio plans to usurp Jonathan as heir to the Joestar family.  The return of the ancient stone mask will change both fates and plans.

I had heard of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure manga, which was first published in 1986 in Weekly Shonen Jump, but I cannot remember when.  VIZ Media recently sent me a copy of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Part 1 – Phantom Blood Volume 1 for review, which surprised me because I had assumed that this was going to be a digital release.

As I am unfamiliar with this series, I do not know how it evolves over time as story.  I imagine the visual and graphical style of the art also changes.  Phantom Blood, Vol. 1 is certainly bizarre in terms of the overall graphical storytelling and the visual presentation.  Creator Hirohiko Araki has an awkward, chunky approach to drawing male characters.  Jonathan and Dio grow into behemoths who smash and crash into each other, and into anyone else who wants to fight them.  There is a strangely beautiful quality to this odd, ungainly cartooning of the human figure and head and face.  I found myself eager to see how characters would look from one panel to the next.

The story is a blast to read.  I read it in big chunks, stopping only when I had to do something else.  Honestly, I hated to come to the end this volume.  JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is outlandish, and the fights are wild affairs that seem like comic book parodies of the fights in martial arts movies.  There is also a cliffhanger quality to each chapter that demands that readers come back to see more of this kooky manga that blends horror and fantasy adventure.  In fact, I already want more.  Fans of unusual shonen manga will want to try the Shonen Jump Advanced series, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Part 1 – Phantom Blood.

A-

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


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