#28DaysofBlack Review: ME AND THE DEVIL BLUES Book One

ME AND THE DEVIL BLUES: THE UNREAL LIFE OF ROBERT JOHNSON, BOOK ONE
DEL REY MANGA

CARTOONIST: Akira Hiramoto
TRANSLATION & ADAPTATION: David Ury
LETTERING: North Market Street Graphics
ISBN: 978-0-345-49926-4; paperback; (July 29, 2008); Rated “T Ages 16+”
544pp, B&W, $19.95 U.S.

Me and the Devil Blues is a seinen manga written and drawn by Akira Hiramoto.  It is a fictional biography of legendary blues musician and singer-songwriter, Robert Johnson.  It was first published in Japan in Kodansha's manga magazine, Monthly Afternoon, from 2003 to 2008, before going on hiatus.  When Hiramoto resumed the series in 2015, it moved to Young Magazine the 3rd Magazine.  Del Rey Manga published an English-language edition of the first four book collections of the series in two two-volumes-in-one paperback graphic novels.

[Since the publication of this book, Del Rey Manga ceased operations in 2010.]

Me and the Devil Blues mixes myths and legends and mythological and legendary figures.  Likely because of the stories told by fellow blues legend, Son House, the story of Robert Johnson says that he made a deal with the devil to become an expert blues guitarist and singer, with the cost being his soul.

Me and the Devil Blues: The Unreal Life of Robert Johnson, Book One begins in 1929.  It is set deep in the impoverished Mississippi Delta where a nigga’s life ain’t worth crap and lynching is a community event much like a church social.  This is where we meet Hiramoto’s stand-in for Robert Johnson, RJ, a poor farmer who just doesn’t want to spend his life hoeing a field.  Despite the protestations of his pregnant wife, the former Virginia Travis, her family, and his friends, RJ wants to learn to play the blues.

Fate brings him into contact with the popular traveling bluesman, Son House, and his partner, Willie Brown.  House insists that understanding and playing the blues is about more than a guitar technique, but RJ ain’t hearing it.  As far as RJ is concerned, all he needs is someone to show him how to make his fingers work guitar magic, so his stubbornness leads him to a fateful night at an abandoned church.  [This tale co-stars Clyde Barrow.]

THE LOWDOWN:  There’s some powerful mojo in Me and the Devil Blues manga.  Akira Hiramoto’s manga sparkles with wild magic and sets the imagination afire.  What drives this superb manga is not just the excellent contents of the word balloons (OK, dialogue), but the stunning visuals, which Hiramoto composes using a variety of styles, techniques, and media.

Me and the Devil Blues: The Unreal Life of Robert Johnson, Book One is the story of an individual African-American.  However, it tells the story of the struggles of Jim Crow-era black people in a way that has rarely been told in such passionate and astonishing pictures outside of cinema and fine art.  I would say this manga belongs with the few great comics about black people like Ho Che Anderson’s King, Kyle Baker’s Nat Turner, and Sue Coe’s X, which like Me and the Devil Blues are works by cartoonists or writer/artists.

Imagining a Japanese man drawing such beautiful and beautifully-human African-Americans in a story that captures the Black American experience with such authenticity seems unreal.  It’s not that Hiramoto presents black people as a noble, oppressed people.  It’s simply that he made me believe that these cartoons, these comic book characters really lived.  They haunt me, yet I want to share the trials and tribulations of RJ and his people, as seen in this special work.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  People who read great comics will want to read Del Rey Manga's Me and the Devil Blues.

A+
10 out of 10

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


The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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#IReadsYou Review: HELL'S PARADISE: Jigokuraku Volume 3

HELL'S PARADISE: JIGOKURAKU, VOL. 3
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

MANGAKA: Juji Kaku
TRANSLATION: Caleb Cook
LETTERS: Mark McMurray
EDITOR: David Brothers
ISBN: 978-1-9747-1322-6; paperback (July 2020); Rated “M” for “Mature”
216pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $17.99 CAN, £9.99 U.K.

Jigokuraku is a manga series written and illustrated by Yuji Kaku.  It has been serialized weekly for free on the Shōnen Jump+ application (app) and website since January 22, 2018.  VIZ Media is publishing an English-language edition of the manga as a paperback graphic novel series, entitled Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku, under its “VIZ Signature” imprint.

Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku is set in Japan during the “Edo period” (specifically between 1773 and 1841 for this story).  The ninja, “Gabimaru the Hollow,” is sentenced to death, but no method of execution can kill him due to his superhuman body.  Lord Tokugawa Nariyoshi, the 11th Shogun, offers Gabimaru and other monstrous killers sentenced to death a chance at a pardon.  They will travel to a strange island, known as “Shinsenkyo,” where they must find “the elixir of life,” which will make the shogun immortal.  The executioner, Yamada Asaemon Sagiri, and others of her clan will accompany these criminals to an island where “Heaven” and “Hell” are said to be practically the same thing.

As Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku, Vol. 3 (Chapters 17 to 26) opens, Gabimaru and Sagiri are joined by Yuzuriha of Keishu, (a “kunoichi” or female ninja), and her executioner, Yamada Asaemon Senta (a highly-learned swordsman and Sagiri's clansman).  They have just encountered what looks like a small human girl, but they also meet her guardian (of sorts).  He is “Hoko” the tree man, and he names the girl as “Mei.”

From him, Gabimaru and company learn that Shinsenkyo, which he calls “Kotaku,” is divided into three regions.  It is the center region, known as, “Horai,” where they will find the elixir of life, which the island's denizens call “Tan.”  Hoko also warns them of sinister beings roaming the island, the immortal “Lord Tenzen,” that do not allow anyone to leave the island.

However, Gabimaru believes that he does not have time to waste, and sets off on his own to the center of the island.  He is unaware of the fate of the other convicts and their executioners who have already met the Lord Tenzen with disastrous results.

[This volume includes miscellaneous art, bonus comics, and “Translation Notes.”]

THE LOWDOWN:  I have described the Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku manga as an Edo-period, samurai drama that is also firmly entrenched in the horror genre.  I think its English title, “Hell's Paradise,” aptly fits the series' repugnant-attractive elements, a mix of beautiful and imaginative beings and creatures that are really monsters.

Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku Graphic Novel Volume 3 is the first volume in which the lead characters get answers to their questions.  I thought that Vol. 2 was one best second volumes of a manga tankobon/graphic novel that I had ever read, just as Vol. 1 was one of the best first volumes.  Creator Yuji Kaku does not miss a beat as he reveals more of about the island and about its mysterious inhabitants.  If you have already started reading Hell's Paradise, don't stop now, dear readers.  If you have not started reading, you don't have far to go back to get in on the ground floor of this utterly fantastic dark fantasy manga.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:   Fans of “VIZ Signature” titles will want Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku.

A
9.5 out of 10

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


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#IReadsYou Review: HELL'S PARADISE: Jigokuraku Volume 2

 

HELL'S PARADISE: JIGOKURAKU, VOL. 2
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

MANGAKA: Juji Kaku
TRANSLATION: Caleb Cook
LETTERS: Mark McMurray
EDITOR: David Brothers
ISBN: 978-1-9747-1321-9; paperback (May 2020); Rated “M” for “Mature”
216pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $17.99 CAN, £8.99 U.K.

Jigokuraku is a manga series written and illustrated by Yuji Kaku.  It has been serialized weekly for free on the Shōnen Jump+ application (app) and website since January 22, 2018.  VIZ Media is publishing an English-language edition of the manga as a paperback graphic novel series, entitled Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku, under its “VIZ Signature” imprint.

Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku is set in Japan during the “Edo period” (specifically between 1773 and 1841 for this story).  The ninja, “Gabimaru the Hollow,” is sentenced to death, but no method of execution can kill him due to his superhuman body.  Lord Tokugawa Nariyoshi, the 11th Shogun, offers Gabimaru and other monstrous killers sentenced to death a chance at a pardon.  They must travel to a strange island, known as “Shinsenkyo,” where they must find “the elixir of life,” which will make the shogun immortal.  The executioner, Yamada Asaemon Sagiri, and others of her clan will accompany these criminals to an island where “Heaven” and “Hell” are said to be practically the same thing.

As Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku, Vol. 2 (Chapters 7 to 16) opens, Gabimaru, his fellow convicts, and their escorts face murderous creatures that are either gods or monsters.  Stone, animal, insect, and human, these creatures seem to be an impossible blend of all or some of those things.  Meanwhile, we learn the back stories of a number of characters, including Yuzuriha of Keishu, a kunoichi (female ninja); the Aza Brother Bandits, Chobe and Toma; and the mountain tribeswoman, Nurugai, who joins Lord Tenza in a bid to escape the island.

Plus, Gabimaru and Sagiri start to understand each another, just as Sagiri's fellow clansman, Genji, insists she leave the island because she is a woman.  This debates occurs as the convict, Rokurota the Giant of Bizen, approaches them with murder on his mind.

[This volume includes miscellaneous art and “Translation Notes.”]

THE LOWDOWN:  The Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku manga is an Edo-period, samurai drama that is also firmly entrenched in the horror genre.  It's English title, “Hell's Paradise,” aptly fits the series' repugnant-attractive elements, as this story is like a dark fairy tale turning darker with each page.

Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku Graphic Novel Volume 2 is one of the best second volumes of a manga tankobon/graphic novel that I have ever read, just as Vol. 1 was one of the best first volumes.  Creator Yuji Kaku's ethereal, illustrative style perfectly visualizes this series' gruesome, nightmarish tableau and tapestries.  From the start, Kaku enthralls the readers with the mysteries of the island of Shinsenkyo; now, he multiplies the mysteries in this second volume.

Caleb Cook's translation conveys Kaku's move to focus on the characters' personalities, desires, and back stories with the same focus in which Cook's work conveyed the demented nature of many of the characters in the first volume.  Letterer Mark McMurray slashes and smashes us with the gory glory of Hell's Paradise using pitch perfect lettering.  Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku is a paradise for fans of manga that blend samurai, ninja, and horror.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:   Fans of “VIZ Signature” titles will want Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku.

A
9 out of 10

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


https://www.viz.com/
https://twitter.com/VIZMedia
https://www.instagram.com/vizmedia/
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https://www.snapchat.com/add/vizmedia


The text is copyright © 2020 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

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#IReadsYou Review: HELL'S PARADISE: Jigokuraku Volume 1

HELL'S PARADISE: JIGOKURAKU, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

MANGAKA: Juji Kaku
TRANSLATION: Caleb Cook
LETTERS: Mark McMurray
EDITOR: David Brothers
ISBN: 978-1-9747-1320-2; paperback (March 2020); Rated “M” for “Mature”
216pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $17.99 CAN, £8.99 U.K.

Jigokuraku is a manga series written and illustrated by Yuji Kaku.  It has been serialized weekly for free on the Shōnen Jump+ application (app) and website since January 22, 2018.  As of December 2019, Japanese publisher, Shueisha, has collected the series in eight tankobon (graphic novel) volumes.  VIZ Media is publishing an English-language edition of the manga as a graphic novel series, entitled Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku, under its “VIZ Signature” imprint.

Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 6) opens in Japan during the “Edo period” (1603 to 1868, specifically between 1773 and 1841 for this story).  The ninja, “Gabimaru the Hollow,” is one of the most vicious assassins to come out of the ninja village of Iwagakure.  However, an act of betrayal results in Gabimaru being captured during a mission and handed a death sentence, but no method of execution can kill him due to his superhuman body.

Besides, Gabimaru claims that he does not care if he is facing death because he no longer cares to live.  The executioner, Yamada Asaemon Sagiri, believes that she has discovered that Gabimaru actually feels otherwise.  Lord Tokugawa Nariyoshi, the 11th Shogun, offers Gabimaru and other monstrous killers sentenced to death a chance at a pardon.  They must travel to a strange island, known as “Shinsenkyo,” where they must find “the elixir of life,” which will make the shogun immortal.  Sagiri and others of her clan will accompany these criminals, but on this island, “Heaven” and “Hell” are said to be practically the same thing!

[This volume includes bonus art and “Translation Notes.”]

The Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku manga is an Edo-period, samurai horror-drama.  It's English title, “Hell's Paradise,” aptly fits the series' horror elements.

Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku Graphic Novel Volume 1 is one of the best first volumes of a manga tankobon/graphic novel that I have ever read.  The ethereal, illustrative manner in which Yuji Kaku depicts Gabimaru and Sagiri's internal struggles with the relentless killing in which they engage is a series of gruesome, nightmarish tapestries.  It is like taking some of the most shocking art from the legendary EC Comics' horror titles and multiplying it by the power of 10.  Kaku also enthralls the readers with the mysteries of the island of Shinsenkyo, of which he does give us a nasty taste in Vol. 1.

Caleb Cook's translation captures the demented nature of many of the characters that this volume introduces.  At the same time, Cook feeds us tendrils of story to capture our imagination and to draw us ever deeper into the world of Jigokuraku.  Meanwhile, rather than do the tendril-thing, letterer Mark McMurray slashes and smashes us with the glory of bloodletting that Hell's Paradise offers its unwary visitors... And that is a very good thing.

9 out of 10

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


The text is copyright © 2020 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and  syndication rights and fees.


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#IReadsYou Review: NO LONGER HUMAN

NO LONGER HUMAN
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

CARTONIST: Junji Ito
ORIGINAL NOVEL: Osamu Dazai's “Ningen Shikkaku” as translated into English by Donald Keene
TRANSLATION & ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Jocelyn Allen
LETTERS: James Dashiell
EDITOR: Masumi Washington
ISBN: 978-1-4215-9846-8; hardcover (December 2019); Rated “M” for “Mature”
616pp, B&W, $34.99 U.S., $46.00 CAN, £25.00 UK

Junji Ito is a Japanese horror mangaka (comic book writer-artist) who has created both long-form horror manga series and manga short stories.  Ito's best known long-form manga include Tomie, Uzumaki, and Gyo.  Tomie was adapted into a live-action film series (beginning in 1998), and Uzumaki was adapted into a live-action film (2000).

VIZ Media has published several hardcover collections of Junji Ito's manga short stories over the last five years:  Fragments of Horror (June 2015), Shiver: Junji Ito Selected Stories (December 2017), Frankenstein: Junji Ito Story Collection (October 2018), and Smashed: Junji Ito Story Collection (April 2019).

One of Ito's recent works is a manga adaptation of Ningen Shikkaku, the 1948 Japanese novel from author, Osamu Dazai (as translated by Donald Keene).  Considered one of the foremost fiction writers of 20th-century Japan, Dazai took his own life shortly after the last part of Ningen Shikkaku was published.  Ningen Shikkaku, one of Japan's all-time best-selling novels, was first published in serial form.

Junji Ito's Ningen Shikkaku was collected in three tankobon (graphic novel) volumes.  VIZ Media's latest Junji Ito publication is No Longer Human, a collection of Ningen Shikkaku Volumes 1-3 in one hardcover mini-omnibus (5 1/2 × 7 7/8 trim size).

No Longer Human focuses on Yozo Oba.  As a boy, he realizes that he is afraid of people.  He alleviates his fear by being a joker and class clown who dances, sings, tells jokes, and makes funny faces.  As an adult, Yozo is plagued by a maddening anxiety because there is a terrible disconnect between his own concept of happiness and what he sees as the joy of the rest of the world.

Yozo Oba plays the clown in his dissolute life, holding up a mask for those around him as he spirals ever downward.  He is a liar and becomes a womanizer.  He is a drunk and eventually becomes a drug addict.  Seemingly locked arm-in-arm with death, Yozo comes to believe that he must rid himself of the “10 misfortunes” that have always been packed inside of him, but can even doing that save him from the hell that is his life?

I have never read Osamu Dazai's Ningen Shikkaku, which apparently literally translates as “Disqualified From Being Human” and which some people consider to be an autobiographical novel.  In fact, I had heard of neither author nor novel until I did some research after I received a review copy of No Longer Human from my VIZ Media rep.

I will be honest with you, dear reader, that I have never disliked any of Junji Ito's work that I have read.  There have been some manga that I thought were just okay or good, but I have yet to come across Junji Ito manga that I consider a failure or a misfire.  I still have not found failure as of just having finished No Longer Human, which I enjoyed immensely.

Mesmerizing and hauntingly beautiful, No Longer Human is poignant, tragic, and delicate, but is also grotesque, wrenching, and cruel.  It is as if Ito uses his prodigious talents to torment us with a magnificent and gorgeous graphical storytelling presentation that is actually presenting all that is weak, pathetic, selfish, narcissistic, greedy, banal, and evil in humans.

I guess that No Longer Human could be described as psychological horror.  Because Ito has listed the American author of horror and dark fantasy short stories, H.P. Lovecraft, as one of his influences, I think No Longer Human tells a story of existential horror and terror.  Much of Lovecraft's work deals with existential terror and threats both existential in nature and supernatural in origin.  No Longer Human offers images that are connected to existential horror and terror, and while there are supernatural elements in the narrative, the story is itself not supernatural.

Jocelyn Allen's translation and English adaptation of Ito's text are quite a feat.  This is not the first time that Allen has adapted Junji Ito to English, capturing the unnerving calmness and relentless march of horror that defines Ito's work.  James Dashiell's lettering is steady and tranquil, as if he is creating a matter-of-fact declaration of a man living a damned life.

I want to make note of the fact that Ito opens No Longer Human with what can be interpreted as a depiction of the double-suicide of Osamu Dazai and a female acquaintance.  Printed in color, the passage has a dreamlike, pastoral quality that haunts this manga until its final chapter.  That chapter is a total freak show of its own.

10 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 syndication rights and fees.

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#IReadsYou Review: BLACK LAGOON Volume 11

BLACK LAGOON, VOL. 11
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

CARTOONIST: Rei Hiroe
ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Joe Yamazaki
LETTERS: John Hunt, Primary Graphix
EDITOR: Mike Montesa
ISBN: 978-1-9747-1119-2; paperback (January 2020); Rated “M” for “Mature”
224pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $17.99 CAN, £8.99 U.K.

While on a business trip in Southeast Asia, Japanese “salaryman,” Rokuro Okajima, is kidnapped by a band of smugglers.  Abandoned by his company, Rokuro takes on the name, “Rock,” and joins his abductors.  They are Vietnam vet, Dutch the Boss; Benny the Mechanic, who handles the boat’s complicated high tech electronics, and Revy Two Hand, the ultra-lethal, gunslinger.  With Rock, this now-quartet is the baddest band of mercenaries on the high seas of Southeast Asia, sailing aboard the vessel, “the Black Lagoon,” a modified, World War II torpedo boat.  Through Dutch’s company, “Lagoon Traders,” this quartet operates a maritime courier service out of Roanapur, Thailand, a dangerous city that is rotten with military, ex-military, gangsters, drug dealers, and more of the worse people in the world.

As Black Lagoon, Vol. 11 (Chapter 77: “The Wired Red Wild Card”) opens, Rock and Revy are trying to help Feng Yifei, a former spy for the Chinese Liberation Army.  Feng's failures have led to her being disavowed by the government she once served, and now she is being hunted by the Chinese government's hired killers.

Rock and Revy have accompanied Feng to an Internet cafe where she tries to burn data that will help buy her protection (hopefully) from some organization that will want the information she has.  However, a Chinese operative has hired a group of “mixed-race” brothers to assassinate Feng, and they have caught up with her at the cafe.  The ensuing shootout will leave Revy and one of the brothers in police custody, forcing the former salaryman into action.  Now, Rock has to come up with a plan that will both save Revy and appease whoever wants to save Feng from the People's Republic of China.

The Black Lagoon manga was a burning hot property and was eventually adapted into an anime series.  However, after the ninth volume of the graphic novel (tankobon) series was published in North America in 2010, the tenth volume did not appear until 2015.  Creator Rei Hiroe insisted, in an “afterword” published in Vol. 10, that the series had not been on hiatus between the ninth and tenth volumes... no matter what anyone else said.

Black Lagoon Graphic Novel Volume 11 is arriving in North America nearly five years after the arrival of Vol. 10.  I am a big fan of this series, but I had to read one hundred pages into Vol. 11 before I found myself back in the groove of its narrative.  Of course, it was a big shootout scene that reminded me of why I like this high-flying, balls-to-wall, bullet-blasting, adult-action manga.

So my final analysis is that Black Lagoon remains the same.  There are character dynamics, deal-making, and interpersonal relationships involving various kinds of obligation.  But the best of Black Lagoon is still its explosive action, and that is still here.  Hopefully, we will not have to wait another five years for Vol. 12...

B+
7 out of 10

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


The text is copyright © 2020 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

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Manga Review: NO GUNS LIFE: Volume 1

NO GUNS LIFE, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

MANGAKA: Tasuku Karasuma
TRANSLATION: Joe Yamazaki
ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Stan!
LETTERS: Evan Waldinger
EDITOR: Mike Montessa
ISBN: 978-1-9747-1045-4; paperback (September 2019); Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
248pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $17.99 CAN, £8.99 U.K.

No Guns Life is a seinen manga (comics for adult men) series by Tasuku Karasuma.  It has been serialized in the Japanese manga magazine, Ultra Jump, since August 2014.  VIZ Media is publishing the manga in English as a series of graphic novels under its “VIZ Signature” imprint.

No Guns Life, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 6) is set in an indeterminate future, after the end of a “Great War.”  One group of fighters in that war was known as the “Extended.”  The Extended are cyborg soldiers whose bodies were transformed via “physical function extension,” also known as “Extended surgery.”

After the war, the Extended were discharged.  One of them is Juzo Inui, a man whose body was transformed, and his head was replaced with a giant gun.  He has no memory of his previous life or knowledge of who specifically replaced his head or why.  Inui now scratches out a living in the dark streets of the city as a “Resolver,” one who resolves issues or takes on cases involving the Extended.  Now, Inui finds himself protecting, Tetsuro Arahabaki, a child with very powerful connections, but also possessing technology that has made him the biggest target in the city.

The No Guns Life manga is intriguing simply because of its title.  The striking cover art of the first volume – featuring Juzo Inui's gun head – is enough to encourage a reader to try, at least, the first volume.

No Guns Life Graphic Novel Volume 1, however, does not live up to the intensity that Inui's physical appearance suggests.  The six chapters contained in Vol. 1 depict violence, but not enough to earn the book a “mature” rating; it is rated for “older teens.”  There is, of course, nothing wrong with a teen-friendly rating, but, once again, that character design...  The truth of the matter is that Inui and Tetsuro are intriguing and probably have wonderful back stories, but in this first volume, creator Tasuku Karasuma focuses mainly on introducing concepts, characters, and conflicts.

If I had to compare No Guns Life, Vol. 1 to an American comic book, I would say that it has passing similarities to Marvel's The Punisher and to DC Comics' Deathstroke.  The difference is that Frank Castle/The Punisher and Slade Wilson/Deathstroke wield big guns, but neither has a big gun for a head.  Although if they did, that would make for some cool one-off stories.  Meanwhile, I really think the best of No Guns Life is yet to come.

7 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 syndication rights and fees.

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Review: GANGSTA: Cursed Volume 5

GANGSTA: CURSED, VOL. 5
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

STORY: Kohske
ART: Syuhei Kamo
TRANSLATION/ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Christine Dashiell
LETTERS: Eric Erbes
EDITOR: Leyla Aker
ISBN: 978-1-9747-0156-8; paperback (June 2019); Rated “M” for “Mature”
192pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $17.99 CAN, £8.99 U.K.

Gangsta: Cursed is a seinen manga (comics for adult men) from writer Kohske and artist Syuhei Kamo.  It is a prequel to Kohske's crime manga, Gangsta, and was originally published in the Japanese manga magazine, Quarterly Comic Go Go Bunch, from 2014 to 2018.  VIZ Media published the manga in English as a five-volume series of graphic novels entitled Gangsta: Cursed, under its “VIZ Signature” imprint.  VIZ's series recently came to an end.

Gangsta: Cursed is largely set in the crime-ridden city of Ergastulum.  The story explores the dark and violent past of key characters from Gangsta, with a focus on Marco Adriano a.k.a. “Spas.”  “Hunters” find and kill “Twilights,” humans who have powers and abilities that normal humans do not.  Spas belongs to the most notorious group of Hunters, the quintet known as “The Second Destroyers,” but he is loosing his sense of “justice.”

Gangsta: Cursed, Vol. 5 (Chapters 14 to 18) opens in the aftermath of Spas killing Maverick, fellow Hunter and his mentor.  Spas has come to believe that Twilights are not monsters, but that he, as a prolific killer of Twilights, is the monster.  Now, Spas must confront the rest of “The Second Destroyers” (a.k.a. the “Second Destroyers Group”):  Beretta, Minimi, and especially Striker.  This rift in Spas and Striker's moral stances will scar them forever.

Plus, Don Luca Cristiano and Galahad gather the remaining Twilights as the recent violence against their community subsides.  Don Luca and his wife, Shelly, welcome their first child into the world, but it is another child that the Don welcomes into his larger family that will generate consternation.

[This volume includes bonus manga, “0.5” and four-panel comics.]

I had told you, dear readers, that I was initially skeptical of the Gangsta: Cursed manga.  After reading the first volume of Cursed, I was impressed.  The series certainly offered a lot of kinetic action scenes and plenty of ultra-violence.  Gangsta: Cursed is written the original series' creator-writer-artist, Kohske, and is drawn by Syuhei Kamo.

Gangsta: Cursed Graphic Novel Volume 5 is the final volume of this series.  It is like the rest of the series, but it is the best volume by far.  Perhaps, because this volume is the concluding one, it has clarity of purpose – depicting the costs that the main players pay for their actions.  Kohske and Kamo balance the displays of savagery with the theme of redemption.  Can redemption come to someone who has committed as much savagery as Spas?  This questions permeates every panel of this graphical narrative.

So the impressive fight scenes and explosive actions scenes repeat in Vol. 5.  However, the final volume, with its explorations of forgiveness and revenge, makes the entire series worth reading.

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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Review: GANGSTA: Cursed Volume 1

GANGSTA: CURSED, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

STORY: Kohske
ART: Syuhei Kamo
TRANSLATION/ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Christine Dashiell
LETTERS: Eric Erbes
ISBN: 978-1-4215-9054-7; paperback (December 2016); Rated “M” for “Mature”
192pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $14.99 CAN, £8.99 U.K.

The edgy crime manga, Gangta, has a prequel.  It is entitled Gangsta: Cursed, and it explores the dark and violent past of key characters from Gangsta.  Cursed is written by the creator-writer-artist of Gangsta, Kohske, and is drawn by Syuhei Kamo.

Gangsta: Cursed, Vol. 1 (Chapters 0 to 3) introduces Marco Adriano, when he was young.  Before he was a loyal and beloved member of the Cristiano Family, Marco was “Spas.”  He belonged to the Destroyers Second Group, a five-member squad that hunts and brutally kills “Twilights,” humans born with power and abilities that normal humans do not have.  Marco kills and kills, slaughtering and cutting Twilights as if they were meat, but then, he is confronted by a horrifying truth.

If I understand correctly, the Gangsta: Cursed manga is a spin-off series from the original Gangsta that focuses on the origins and back stories of several of the main characters of the main series.  I like that because the flashbacks are some of the best story lines in Gangsta.  [I'm a sucka for flashbacks in manga, in general.]  Artist Syuhei Kamo does an uncanny impersonation of Kohske's drawing style, so that is so more continuity in this new series' favor.

In terms of the violence, Gangsta: Cursed Graphic Novel Volume 1, the opening salvo, looks and plays out like a regular volume of Gangsta, but with a slight difference.  I don't remember any one volume of Gangsta depicting as much carnage as Gangsta: Cursed Volume 1 does, and the original can be pretty graphic when depicting mayhem.  When I first heard about this manga spin-off prequel, I didn't think that we needed more Gangsta, but the gory horror fan in me does indeed want more Gangsta: Cursed.  I recommend it to Gangsta fans who want to swim in more blood.

B+
7 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 for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: DEAD DEAD DEMON'S DEDEDEDE DESTRUCTION Volume 1

DEAD DEAD DEMON'S DEDEDEDE DESTRUCTION, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

MANGAKA: Inio Asano
TRANSLATION: John Werry
LETTERS: Annaliese Christman
EDITOR: Pancha Diaz
ISBN: 978-1-4215-9935-9; paperback (April 2018); Rated “M” for “Mature”
196pp, B&W, $14.99 U.S., $19.99 CAN, £9.99 U.K.

Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction is seinen manga (comics for adults) from creator (mangaka), Inio Asano (Goodnight Punpun).  Beginning in April 2014, the manga is being serialized in the seinen manga magazines, Big Comic Spirits (Shogakukan).  VIZ Media is publishing the manga in English in North America as a graphic novel series under its “VIZ Signature” imprint in both print and digital formats.

Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction is about the life mundane and an alien invasion.  On August 31st – also known as 8/31 – three years ago, an alien mothership arrived on Earth and parked itself above Tokyo.  Now, the impending doom is starting to feel like an ordinary thing.  Kadode Koyama and her best friend, Ontan Nakagawa, track the aliens movement with enthusiasm and study for college entrance exams with less enthusiasm.

Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 8) introduces two high school students who are longtime friends.  Kadode has a mad crush on their teacher, Mr. Watarase, and Ontan is really tired of the rest of humanity.

Meanwhile, conventional weapons have not done anything to defeat the aliens.  The Japanese Self-Defense Force (SDF) now has a new weapon, a green weapon, that will not contaminate the city the way another weapons have.  Kadode and Ontan monitor the situation closely on social media, but they still have their own teen melodramas upon which to focus.

[This volume includes an “extra” chapter.]

The Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction manga is a strange one.  This is, however, the work of Inio Asano, and his strange is usually a very good strange.

Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction Graphic Novel Volume 1 is more about the comedy-drama of Kadode and Ontan than it is an alien invasion genre drama.  This manga is like Independence Day mixed with a tame, teen girl spin on the film, Superbad.  It is odd and offbeat, but I really want to read more Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction.  You never know where Asano will take his narratives, but you will realize (eventually) that you are really, really glad that you are following the highways and byways of his storytelling.

Fans of the manga of Inio Asano will want to read the VIZ Signature title, Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction.

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 and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: FIRE PUNCH Volume 1

FIRE PUNCH, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

MANGAKA: Tatsuki Fujimoto
TRANSLATION: Christine Dashiell
LETTERS: Snir Aharon
EDITOR: Jennifer LeBlanc
ISBN: 978-1-4215-9717-1; paperback (January 2018); Rated “M” for “Mature”
208pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $17.99 CAN, £8.99 UK

Fire Punch is a science fiction and action manga from creator Tatsuki Fujimoto.  The series began publication in the Japanese manga magazine, Shonen Jump+, in April 2016.  [The series' original Japanese publication has apparently ended in January.]  VIZ Media recently started Fire Punch's English-language publication in a series of graphic novels under its VIZ Signature imprint.

Fire Punch introduces Agni and Luna are siblings.  Like “the Ice Witch,” they are among “The Blessed,” people born with abilities to perform miracles.  Not all of “The Blessed” are friendly.  Some are murderers, like the man who destroys Agni and Luna's village.

Fire Punch, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 8) opens on a world of ice and cold.  It wasn't always that way, until “the Ice Witch” made it so.  Agni walks this world, an instrument of revenge – a walking thing of fire and regeneration.  In the city of Behemdorg, he will find his target.

The Fire Punch manga opens with surprises.  It is a tough-minded, dystopian thriller that goes in unexpected directions.

Fire Punch Graphic Novel Volume 1 introduces a world that is icy and snow-covered, but this unrelenting whiteness is not “as pure as the driven snow.”  Creator Tatsuki Fujimoto offers four chapters that are edgy and a narrative that is so mercurial that it challenges the author's breakdown of this story into chapters.  Initially, Fire Punch feels likes a juvenile fantasy, but it takes a violent turn and becomes a cold-blooded thriller.

I think that the characters will dominant this narrative, which is now dominated by this series' muscular settings and tough environments.  These characters are dangerous, and Fujimoto delights in making everything about them unexpected.  When it comes to surprises, this story continually delivers a Fire Punch to the gut.  Seriously, Fire Punch is dark, invigorating, and startling and it makes an early bid as one of the best comics of 2018.

A
9 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 for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: TOKYO GHOUL: re Volume 1

TOKYO GHOUL: RE, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

MANGAKA: Sui Ishida
TRANSLATION: Joe Yamazaki
LETTERING: Vanessa Satone
EDITOR: Pancha Diaz
ISBN: 978-1-4215-9496-5; paperback (October 2017); Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
224pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $17.99 CAN, £8.99 UK

Tokyo Ghoul: re is the sequel to the manga, Tokyo Ghoul; both are the creation of writer-artist, Sui Ishida, and both were originally published in the Japanese manga magazine, Weekly Young Jump.  Both series take place in a world where there are Ghouls.  They look like humans and live among us, but Ghouls crave human flesh.  The Commission of Counter Ghouls (CCG) is the only organization in the world fighting and exterminating Ghouls and investigating Ghoul-related crimes.

Tokyo Ghoul: re, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 9) introduces the CCG's “Quinx Squad.”  This is 22-year-old Haise Sasaki's squad; he is a Rank 1 investigator.  Kuki Urie, 19, is the squad leader, and, jealous of Sasaki, he wants to do better than him.  Toru Mutsuki, a 19 young woman, is close to Sasaki.  Ginshi Shirazu, 19, is the oddball.  When they join the hunt for the wily Ghoul, known as “the Torso,” Quinx Squad does not realize that the case will reveal something shocking about one of its members.

I described reading the Tokyo Ghoul manga as like entering an actual world of mystery.  Tokyo Ghoul: re shifts into a more familiar world; you might say that it is something like a police procedural.

Tokyo Ghoul: re Volume 1 focuses on the CCG.  The Ghoul investigators do not interest me as much as the Ghouls themselves do.  I find the early chapters of this opening graphic novel to be dry, even a bit dull.  By the second half of this volume, the narrative gets a big bump when Sui Ishida puts his characters on the Ghoul hunt.  Honestly, Tokyo Ghoul: re will be at its best the more Ghouls are on the pages being Ghoul-ish.  I do not think the investigators will be as interesting... unless there are some shocking developments...

A-
7.5 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 blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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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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Review: GOODNIGHT PUNPUN Volume 7

GOODNIGHT PUNPUN, VOL. 7
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

MANGAKA: Inio Asano
TRANSLATION: JN Productions
LETTERS: Annaliese Christman
EDITOR: Pancha Diaz
ISBN: 978-1-4215-8626-7; paperback (September 2017); Rated “M” for “Mature”
272pp, B&W, $14.99 U.S., $19.99 CAN, £9.99 U.K.

The English-language publication of the manga Goodnight Punpun comes to an end with the publication of the seventh volume.  The creation of Inio Asano, Goodnight Punpun is a coming-of-age story that focuses on Punpun Onodera and chronicles his life from middle school through his adolescent and into his twenties with its trials and tribulations.  VIZ Media is publishing Goodnight Punpun as a seven-volume graphic novel series.  Each volume (except the final one) is an over-sized manga paperback containing two individual volumes (called “parts).

Goodbye Punpun, Vol. 7 contains Part 13 (Chapters 135 to 146 to Final Chapter) and opens with the final conflagration of the cult leader, charlatan, sorcerer, Toshiki Hoshikawa, a.k.a. “Pegasus,” and his obedient followers.  Meanwhile, Punpun and his “girlfriend,” Aiko Tanaka remain on the run, more or less, in the wake of Punpun killing Aiko's mother.  The star-crossed couple is moving towards a doomed ending... at least for one of them.

Some volumes of the Goodnight Punpun manga have left me feeling down with stories of death and despair (Vols. 3 and 4) and others have thrilled me with bold and scathing examinations of callow youth (Vol. 6).

Goodnight Punpun Volume 7 closes out the series as if the characters were entering a state of death.  Considering the ambitions and dreams these characters had when they were younger, well, maybe they are dead... in a manner of speak, of course.  There have been a few manga that I enjoyed that did not end in a spectacular fashion; they just sort of ended.  I am not disappointed in the ending of Goodnight Punpun; in fact, I don't want the series to end.  The ending is a new beginning, or maybe I am missing the point.  What begins is really no story at all, but if there is a story, it's certainly not like the one that came before it.

A
9 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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Terra Formars: Joseph C. Newton - Superstar

I read Terra Formars, Vol. 10

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

Dorohedoro: Central Department Store

I read Dorohedoro, Vol. 17

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

Terra Formars: Bullet Ant

I read Terra Formars, Vol. 9

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

Dorohedoro: Cross Time

I read Dorohedoro, Vol. 16

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

Terra Formars: Rendezvous

I read Terra Formars, Vol. 7

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

Dogs: Bullets & Carnage - Einsturzen's Histories

I read Dogs, Vol. 10

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