Showing posts with label Hokusei Katsushika. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hokusei Katsushika. Show all posts

Friday, September 22, 2017

Review: MASTER KEATON: The Perfect Edition, Volume 12

MASTER KEATON: THE PERFECT EDITION, VOL. 12
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

CARTOONIST: Naoki Urasawa
STORY: Hokusei Katsushika, Takashi Nagasaki, and Naoki Urasawa
TRANSLATION/ENGLISH ADAPTATION: John Werry
LETTERS: Steve Dutro
EDITOR: Amy Yu
ISBN: 978-1-4215-8380-8; paperback (September 2017); Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
322pp, B&W with some color, $19.99 U.S., $22.99 CAN, £12.99 U.K.

VIZ Media has completed its initiative to publish Master Keaton in English for the first time.  This is one of the early works from award-winning mangaka, Naoki Urasawa.  Master Keaton was first published beginning in the late 1980s and was created and drawn by Urasawa, who co-produced the story with Hokusei Katsushika and frequent collaborator, Takashi Nagasaki.

The English-language version of Master Keaton is a 12-volume, graphic novel series, published in a deluxe format called the “Perfect Edition.”  Each volume includes a few pages of full-color material to go along with the black and white comics.  VIZ Media began publishing Master Keaton quarterly under the VIZ Signature imprint in December 2014.

The hero of Master Keaton is Taichi Hiraga Keaton, the 30-something son of a Japanese zoologist and an English noblewoman and mathematician.  Although Keaton is an archaeology professor, he does not have a job at a university.  Thus, most of the series' action focuses on Keaton's job as a part-time insurance investigator.  Known for his successful and unorthodox methods of investigation, Keaton's abilities are based on his Oxford education in archaeology and also on his time as a member of the British elite special forces, the S.A.S. (Special Air Service).  Keaton uses his knowledge and combat training to uncover buried secrets, to thwart would-be villains, to pursue the truth, and sometimes just to lend a helping hand.

Master Keaton: The Perfect Edition, Vol. 12 (12 chapters) opens with the story, “The Scholar's Day.”  Keaton is on the verge of finally getting a job at a university, but he discovers that his superiors are quite disappointing.  Then, Keaton learns of the recent death of his mentor, Professor Urey W. Scott.  It was through Prof. Scott that Keaton came to believe European civilization was born on the plains around the Danube river.  Scott may have left something behind for Keaton, but the professor's daughter, Maggie Scott, is not impressed with Keaton.

Later, Keaton heads to Romania to investigate a car theft and smuggling ring.  The case seems like providence to Keaton, as Prof. Scot's final work may have discovered in Romania the proof for he and Keaton's Danube theories.  However, Keaton becomes involved in a conspiracy that ties into Romania tumultuous recent history, and his quest to help an orphaned boy may cost Keaton his own life at the place that could provide the answers he seeks.  On the lighter side, Keaton's daughter, Yuriko, makes plans to attend Oxford, like her father, and is laser-focused on her future... until a young man with bad luck captures her interest.

The Master Keaton manga has come to an end with the publication of the twelfth graphic novel in its English-language publication.  And as it was for the end of 20th Century Boys and Pluto, I am having a difficult time accepting that the series has ended.  Dammit, I want more!

Master Keaton: The Perfect Edition Volume 12 offers some of the best of what has become familiar in this series.  We get international intrigue filled with murder, secret police, vicious killers, people in need of a hero, and buried treasure.  There is some nice family comedy featuring Keaton's daughter and his father, Taihei Hiraga, and some surprisingly entertaining workplace drama featuring a longtime colleague, and old friend/rival, and a newcomer.  As sad as I am about the ending, at least I know that Keaton is leaving us behind to do what he has wanted to do for a long time.

Hopefully, Master Keaton will remain in print for a long time to come, but it is also available on various platforms for readers who prefer to read digital manga.


A+
10 out of 10

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


The text is copyright © 2017 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Thursday, January 8, 2015

Review: MASTER KEATON Volume 1

MASTER KEATON, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

CARTOONIST: Naoki Urasawa
STORY: Hokusei Katsushika and Takashi Nagasaki
TRANSLATION/ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Pookie Rolf
LETTERS: Steve Dutro
ISBN: 978-1-4215-7589-6; paperback (December 2014); Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
322pp, B&W with some color, $19.99 U.S., $22.99 CAN, £12.99 U.K.

Master Keaton is a seinen manga of various genres (mystery, suspense, family drama-comedy, etc.) from award-winning mangaka (creator) Naoki Urasawa.  First published in 1988, Master Keaton was created and drawn by Urasawa, who co-produced the story with Hokusei Katsushika and Takashi Nagasaki.  The series had never been released in English until recently.

Now, VIZ Media is publishing Master Keaton as a 12-volume manga in a deluxe graphic novel format, with each volume including a few pages of full-color material to go along with the black and white comics.  VIZ Media's first volume of Master Keaton was published this past December (2014), and future volumes will be published quarterly under the company’s VIZ Signature imprint and will be rated “‘T+’ for Older Teens.”  Each volume of Master Keaton will carry an MSRP of $19.99 in the United States, $22.99 in Canada, and £12.99 in the United Kingdom.

Master Keaton focuses on 30-something Taichi Hiraga Keaton.  The son of a Japanese zoologist and English noblewoman and mathematician, Keaton is an archeology professor at Kotozawa University.  Most of the series' action focuses on Keaton's other job.  He is a part-time insurance investigator known for his successful and unorthodox methods of investigation.  His abilities are based on the fact that he is Oxford-educated in archeology and that he is also a former member of the British elite special forces, the SAS (Special Air Service).  Master Keaton uses his knowledge and combat training to uncover buried secrets, thwart would-be villains, pursue the truth, and sometimes lend a helping hand.

Master Keaton, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 12) opens with the death of Leon Pappas near the village of Isidoros, on the Dodecanese Islands in Greece.  Pappas had an insurance policy worth one million pounds with Lloyd's of London.  In Essex, England, Lord David Marques, the policy's underwriter, is suspicious both of the circumstances of Pappas' death and of his insurance policy's beneficiary, Ochs Fine Art Ltd.

Enter Mister Keaton, part-time insurance investigator.  Lord Marques wants him to investigate everything dubious surrounding Pappas, his death, and his connection to a mysterious art dealer.  Pappas was an amateur archeologist and that angle piques Keaton's interest, so he accepts the assignment and heads to the Dodecanese Islands.  But danger and the threat of death await him.

Anyone who reads my reviews on a regular basis knows that I am a huge admirer of Naoki Urasawa, some might even say raving fan boy.  He is one of my favorite mangaka, and I think that he has been one of the best and most intriguing comics creators over the last four decades.

I like Master Keaton.  It is not as obsessively connected, in terms of plot, characters, and settings as such Urasawa classics as 20th Century Boys and Monster.  Keaton does have a revolving set of characters, such as his father, his daughter, and his agent.  His SAS training frequently plays a part in the stories, as does his positions as an academic and an archeologist.

The stories in Master Keaton are episodic.  In Master Keaton Volume 1, almost every chapter offers either a new case which Keaton must tackle or a glimpse at Keaton's personal life.  There is one story that runs over two chapters (about a joint Japanese-British archeological dig in a Uyghur region of China).  Vol. 1 ends with a three-chapter story of a former SAS officer coming to the end of a complicated and dangerous plot for revenge.

I enjoyed just about every story in Vol. 1, but I have to admit that I was shocked by the episodic nature of this series.  I was disappointed when the tale of Leon Pappas, which opens this graphic novel, was wrapped up in one chapter.  Once I adjusted to how Urasawa and his writers present the adventures of Mister Keaton, I found myself fascinated by this thoroughly fascinating character.  I would say that Master Keaton is another Urasawa series that is a must-read.

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


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