Review: JOJO'S BIZARRE ADVENTURE: Part 4 - Diamond is Unbreakable Volume 1

JOJO'S BIZARRE ADVENTURE: PART 4 – DIAMOND IS UNBREAKABLE, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

MANGAKA: Hirohiko Araki
TRANSLATION: Nathan A. Collins
LETTERS: Mark McMurray
EDITOR: David Brothers
ISBN: 978-1-9747-0652-5; hardcover (May 2019); Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
378pp, B&W with some color, $19.99 U.S., $26.99 CAN, £12.99 U.K.

VIZ Media has been publishing the legendary Shonen Jump manga, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, in English since 2015.  VIZ's edition, the first in English, is comprised of deluxe edition, hardcover, graphic novels with color pages and new cover art and is released under the “Shonen Jump” imprint.  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.

Thus far, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure has been published in four arcs/series:  “Phantom Blood” (Part 1), “Battle Tendency” (Part 2), and “Stardust Crusaders” (Part 3).  The new arc, “Diamond is Unbreakable” (Part 4) is set in 1999.  It continues the focus on members and descendants of the Joestar family and their battle against the “Stand users,” and the power known as “Stand,” which is an entity that is psychically generated by its creator.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Part 4 – Diamond is Unbreakable, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 18) opens in the small Japanese city of Morioh, where there are a surprisingly large number of killings and disappearances.  In April 1999, 28-year-old Jotaro Kujo arrives in town, searching for a young man named Josuke Higashikata, who is the secret love child of his grandfather, Joseph Joestar.

Jotaro meets 16-year-old Josuke and his schoolmate, 15-year-old Koichi Hirose.  During a confrontation, Jotaro is shocked to discover that Josuke possesses a Stand.  Now, the sons of the Joestar family must team-up to investigate the town's proliferation of unusual Stands, including a serial killer and a pair of brothers.

[This volume includes “Author's Comments.”]

It has been a year since I last read a volume of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure manga.  VIZ Media recently sent me a review copy of the first graphic novel in the “Diamond is Unbreakable” series.  Now, I am reminded of how much I like this manga that is a mixture of period action-adventure, horror, and occult-history.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Part 4 – Diamond is Unbreakable Graphic Novel Volume 1 mixes horror and action, frequent elements in the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series.  So far, however, there is none of the period drama and occult-history that also marks this series.  Diamond is Unbreakable offers a lot of battle manga via the Stands, but creator Hirohiko Araki also delves into the characters.  He makes you care what happens to them, even to some of the bad guys.

I think the draw of Diamond is Unbreakable may be the weirdo Stands, but I think that this arc may prove to offer some unique character drama and some delightfully oddball characters.  Vol. 1 makes sure the new series is off to a good start.

A
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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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: 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.