Itsuwaribito: It's MY Kaiten Party

I read Itsuwaribito , Vol. 11

I posted a review at the ComicBookBin, which has free smart phone apps and comics and Indiegogo campaign; follow me on Twitter.

I Reads You Review: SAMURAI JACK #5

SAMURAI JACK #5
IDW PUBLISHING with Cartoon Network – @IDWPublishing and @cartoonnetwork

WRITER: Jim Zub – @jimzub
ARTIST: Andy Suriano – @wolfboy74
COLORS: Josh Burcham
LETTERS: Shawn Lee
COVER: Andy Suriano
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (February 2014)

Samurai Jack created by Genndy Tartakovsky

“Samurai Jack and the Threads of Time” Part 5

IDW Publishing’s licensed Samurai Jack comic book series is a comic book adaptation of the Emmy-winning animated television series, Samurai Jack (2001-2004).  The series’ initial storyline, “The Threads of Time,” comes to a close

Written by Jim Zub and drawn by Andy Suriano, Samurai Jack was one of the best new comic book series of 2013.  What started out as a miniseries received the green light to become an ongoing series.  Hooray!

Like the animated series, Samurai Jack the comic book focuses on the samurai known as “Jack.”  Trapped on a dystopian, futuristic Earth, Jack fights an old enemy, the tyrannical, shape-shifting, demonic wizard named Aku.  Jack wanders this future, trying to find a method by which he can travel back in time to the era in which he belongs, Feudal Japan.  There, he can try to keep Aku from creating this troubled future.

Samurai Jack #5 finds Jack near the end of his journey to find the last of the Threads of Time.  Once in possession of all the strands, he can wind them into the Rope of Eons and therefore, rewind himself back to Feudal Japan.  Jack enters Aku’s fortress to find Aku in possession of the final Thread of Time.  Victory is in Jack’s grasp, but so is doom.

I have enjoyed reading the previous issues of Zub and Suriano’s Samurai Jack, and my determination to find and read every issue has been paid off with an excellent conclusion.  This final chapter in the opening story arc is a tour de force performance by Suriano and colorist, Josh Burcham.  Suriano’s art is kinetic, crackles with life, and practically stirs as if animated.  Burcham’s colors make the art pop off the page, bringing the graphics and story to life.  Samurai Jack the comic book is an outstanding pop confection, the kind of comic book that makes me keeping coming back for more.

A

www.jimzub.com
www.IDWPUBLISHING.com
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facebook.com/idwpublishing

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

Manga Review: STROBE EDGE Volume 10

 

STROBE EDGE, VOL. 10
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

CARTOONIST: Io Sakisaka
TRANSLATION: JN Productions
ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Ysabet MacFarlane
LETTERS: John Hunt
ISBN: 978-1-4215-6448-7; paperback (May 2014); Rated “T” for “Teen”
184pp, B&W, $9.99 US, $12.99 CAN, £6.99 UK

Strobe Edge is a shojo manga (comics for teen girls) from Io Sakisaka (the creator of Ao Haru Ride).  VIZ Media sent me a copy of Strobe Edge Volume 2 for review in late 2012, which was my first experience with the series.  Now, with the release of tenth volume, the series’ North American publication comes to an end.  I can say that in terms of graphic style and tone, Strobe Edge never changed.

Strobe Edge focuses on Ninako Kinoshita, a 16-year-old who falls crazy in love with fellow high school student, Ren Ichinose.  Just before summer vacation begins, Ninako first tells Ren how she feels about him, and that begins a complicated romance.  Things get even more complicated, but Ren changes Ninako’s world.

As Strobe Edge, Vol. 10 (Chapters 35-36 – the Final Chapter) begins, Ren wants answers from Ninako.  She’s not ready to give them.  Now, she fears that Ren is out of her life.  Is that what she wants?  That can’t be what she wants.  Takumi Ando, a boy who also loves Ninako, decides that now is the time to make his move.

[This volume includes a side story, “Strobe Edge ˜Manabu Miyoshi˜;” a “Strobe Edge Bonus Chapter;” and a bonus story.]

The North American version of the Strobe Edge manga comes to an end.  It is a typical high school shojo romantic manga, and Strobe Edge Volume 10 offers a typical happy shojo ending.  Creator Io Sakisaka ties up loose ends, but she offers a lot of extras for readers as she ends the story.  I am guessing that I am as satisfied with the resolution as anyone who has followed this series since the beginning.

Strobe Edge takes the easy way out to satisfy readers, but the lead characters go through enough, even in the end, to make readers earn that sweet happy ending.  I think that fans of Shojo Beat high school romance will want to try the Shojo Beat title, Strobe Edge.

B+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

I Reads You Review: SCOOBY-DOO, Where Are You? #44

SCOOBY-DOO, WHERE ARE YOU? #44
DC COMICS – @DCComics

STORY: Matthew K. Manning; Paul Kupperberg
PENCILS: Robert Pope; Roberto Barrios
INKS: Scott McRae; Horacio Ottolini
COLORS: Franco Riesco; Heroic Age
LETTERS: Saida Temofonte; Pat Brosseau
MISC. ART: Vincent Deporter
EDITOR: Kristy Quinn
COVER: Scott Neely with Heroic Age
28pp, Color, $2.99 U.S. (June 2014)

Rated “E” for “Everyone”

I continue my journey through the current Scooby-Doo comic book series with the forty-fourth issue of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?  Why is this happening?  I bought a subscription to Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? via a fundraiser held by my nephew’s school last year, which involved selling magazine subscriptions.

Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? #44 opens with “Island of the Jabberwockies” (written by Matthew K. Manning and drawn by Robert Pope and Scott McRae).  The Mystery Inc. gang is traveling through what is apparently a series of interconnected islands.  The kids are headed to a beach on Fripp Island, but first, must pass through Hunting Island where they almost have an accident and definitely have a weird experience.

At the Fripp Island Hotel, they learn that vacationers are being pestered by deer and scared by the “Jabberwockies.”  Now, Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby-Doo are also being terrorized, but they’re not too scared to investigate.

In “The Phantom of the Opal!” (written by Paul Kupperberg and drawn by Roberto Barrios and Horacio Ottolini), the Mystery Inc. kids are guests on “The Tad Williams Show.”  The arrival of the Phantom of the Opal means that the guests have to become mystery solvers.  When it comes to the identity of the Phantom, the kids have plenty of suspects because the phantom is obviously an embittered living person.

Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? #44 has as a theme conniving showbiz types.  “Island of the Jabberwockies” is a quickie type story, but it is pointed in making its point.  Writer Matthew K. Manning also uses much of the 10 pages of the narrative to showcase the lovable silliness we’ve come to expect of that crazy duo, Shaggy and Scooby.

“The Phantom of the Opal!” is apparently a reprint (from the previous series, Scooby-Doo #153), but it is the better story of the two.  The main reason is because writer Paul Kupperberg squeezes enough subplots and characters inside a short story to create a separate graphic novel (or even miniseries).  The guest characters are fairly well-developed, complete with motivation and conflicts.

Surprisingly, even with only 12 pages, Kupperberg succeeds in making the mystery of the Phantom of the Opal an intriguing one.  I really got into solving the mystery of the Phantom’s identity (and my first choice turned out to be right).  I hope Kupperberg writes new Scooby-Doo comics.

B+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

Toriko: Chowlin Temple!!

I read Toriko, Vol. 21: Showdown at Chowlin Temple

I posted a review at the ComicBookBin, and you can follow me on Twitter and donate, if you wish to my Indiegogo campaign.

May the I Reads You Be With You

It's May 2014.  Spider-Man and X-Men movies, oh my!

Welcome to I Reads You, a ComicBookBin web and sister publication (www.comicbookbin.com).  We write about the things we read:  mostly comic books, comics, and related books.  Sometimes, we’ll write about or link to other topics:  typically books, politics, and entertainment.

All images and text appearing on this publication are copyright © and/or trademark their respective owners.

By the way, Leroy has an Indiegogo campaign for his webcomic, Grumble:

I Reads You Review: BATMAN ETERNAL #1

BATMAN ETERNAL #1
DC COMICS – @DCComics

STORY/SCRIPT: Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV with Ray Fawkes, John Layman, and Tim Seeley
ART: Jason Fabok
COLORS: Brad Anderson
LETTERS: Nick J. Napolitano
COVER: Jason Fabok with Tomeu Morey
VARIANT COVER: Andy Kubert and Jonathan Glapion with Brad Anderson
32pp, Color, $2.99 U.S. (June 2014)

Rated “T” for “Teen”

Batman created by Bob Kane with Bill Finger

Although we are already a few issues in, I just obtained a copy of Batman Eternal #1.  DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. have begun the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the debut of Batman (in Detective Comics #27: cover dated May 1939).  Part of DC Comics’ year-long celebration is the launch of Batman Eternal, a new, year-long, weekly comic book series, which will apparently consist of 60 issues.

Scott Snyder, the writer of the ongoing Batman comic book series, is Batman Eternal’s lead writer with James Tynion IV.  The series’ other writers are Ray Fawkes, Tim Seeley, and John Layman; Layman’s work will appear early in the series, before Kyle Higgins replaces him.  The art at the beginning of Batman Eternal will be provided by Jason Fabok.  Batman Eternal will apparently feature an “immense cast” (according to the “DC Comics All Access” column) and will focus on Batman’s relationship with his allies and with Gotham City (“his city”)

Early in Batman Eternal #1, we meet Jason Bard.  Bard is a young police lieutenant who is transferring to the Gotham City Police Department from Detroit.  He arrives in Gotham, where he gets a welcome from Harvey Bullock.  Meanwhile, Batman and police Commissioner James “Jim” Gordon are on the trail of Professor Pyg.  Then, everything starts to go bad.

I enjoyed reading Batman Eternal #1.  It’s interesting, though not the most interesting Batman comic book of the moment, but it could be.  There is potential here, especially because of the way this first issue begins and ends.  I can say that I am impressed with the art by Jason Fabok.  He has an old-school style, in which he uses his inking to create depth, texture, and feathering – three elements many current comic book artists have given over to the people that color comic book art.

For the time being, I plan to keep following Batman Eternal.

B+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.