Final Psyren: Connected World

I read Psyren, Vol. 16

I posted a review at the ComicBookBin, which has free smart phone apps and comics.

The Bin is also asking for donations, while I have an Indiegogo campaign.  Follow me on Twitter.

Graphic Novel Review ALL YOU NEED IS KILL (OGN)

ALL YOU NEED IS KILL GN
VIZ MEDIA/Haikasoru – @VIZMedia; @haikasoru

STORY: Hiroshi Sakurazaka
SCRIPT ADAPTATION: Nick Mamatas
ART: Lee Ferguson
COLORS: Fajar Buana
LETTERS: Zack Turner
EDITOR: Joel Enos
ISBN: 978-1-4215-6081-6; paperback, (May 2014)
96pp, Color, $14.99 U.S., $17.99 CAN

There is a new Tom Cruise movie arriving in theatres in the coming weeks.  This movie is entitled Edge of Tomorrow, and it is based on the novel, All You Need is Kill. Bestselling author John Scalzi (author of Old Man’s War), called All You Need is Kill “science fiction for the adrenaline junkie.” 

First published in 2004, All You Need is Kill is a Japanese science fiction novel written by author Hiroshi Sakurazaka.  Back in July 2009, All You Need is Kill and The Lord of the Sands of Time (by author Issui Ogawa) were the first two novels published by Haikasoru, a science fiction imprint of North American manga publisher, VIZ Media.

In the past few years, VIZ Media has been producing original graphic novels based on various media properties (Hello Kitty, Ben 10 – for example).  Now, its Haikasoru imprint is publishing an original English-language graphic novel of Hiroshi Sakurazaka’s All You Need is Kill.

All You Need is Kill: Official Graphic Novel Adaptation is created by Nick Mamatas (script adaptation of the novel), Lee Ferguson (artist), Fajar Buana (colors), and Zack Turner (letters).  The story focuses on Keiji Kiriya, a Japanese soldier of the 301st division of the United Defense Forces (UDF).  Kiriya is just one of many recruits shoved into a suit of battle armor, which is called a “Jacket,” and then, sent out to kill the alien invaders called “Mimics.”

Keiji dies on the battlefield, only to be reborn each morning to fight and die again and again.  However, he is not only starting to remember the previous iterations of his fight, but he is also learning more about the enemy and how to fight them.  After one particular rebirth, Keiji gets a message from a mysterious ally, Rita Vrataski – the American female soldier known only as the Full Metal Bitch.  And she may have a way to stop the Mimics.

Of course, All You Need is Kill is a fantastic title for a book, for a manga, and even for a movie.  Yes, producers of the Tom Cruise movie, All You Need is Kill is an even better title than Edge of Tomorrow, which is itself a cool title.

What about the quality of this original graphic novel?  It is a fantastic read.  When VIZ Media first sent me a copy for review, I did not expect much from it, after giving the book a cursory glance.  What surprised me the most is that the graphic novel is not like any other comic book on the market and shelves today.  And it is not Groundhog Day meets Starship Troopers.  If I had to compare it to anything I would compare it to Stanley Kubrick’s 1987 film, Full Metal Jacket.

Like Full Metal Jacket, All You Need is Kill the graphic novel tackles the absurdity of the war machine – from training soldiers and equipping them to sending them into battle.  At the same time, writer Nick Mamatas finds space in cutting the original text to present Keiji’s training method for survival as something that is plausible.  Basically Mamatas has adapted the novel into a graphic novel that does not seem like a collection of plot points and a narrative stream of the original novel’s best action scenes.  It is a complete comic book story with a good plot and well-developed characters and settings.

Artist Lee Ferguson draws the story in a spare style that establishes mood, captures the sense of desperation, highlights the absurdities, and clearly tells the story.  Fajar Buana’s colors depict the bloody horror of war, and some of the coloring also captures that otherworldly sense which classic science fiction has.

After enjoying this truly fine science fiction original graphic novel, I really want to read the original prose novel.  Readers looking for imaginative alien invasion science fiction will realize All You Need is Kill.

A

www.haikasoru.com

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


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

I Reads Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to everyone. Happy Mother's Day, Mama.

Vampire Knight: Origin Metal Jacket

I read Vampire Knight, Vol. 18

I posted a review at the ComicBookBin, and you can follow me on Twitter or even contribute to my Indiegogo campaign.

I Reads You Review: DEAD BOY DETECTIVES #1

DEAD BOY DETECTIVES #1
DC COMICS/Vertigo – @DCComics  @vertigo_comics

STORY: Toby Litt and Mark Buckingham
SCRIPT: Toby Litt
PENCILS: Mark Buckingham
INKS: Gary Erskine
COLORS: Lee Loughridge
LETTERS: Todd Klein
EDITOR: Shelly Bond
COVER: Mark Buckingham
VARIANT COVER: Cliff Chiang
32pp, Color, $2.99 U.S. (February 2014)

Rated “T” for Teen

“Schoolboy Terrors” The New Girl, Part 1 of 4

Dead Boy Detectives created by Neil Gaiman and artists Matt Wagner and Malcolm Jones III

In preparation for Vertigo Comics’ new ongoing series, Dead Boy Detectives, I read The Sandman Presents: The Deadboy Detectives.  This 2001 miniseries was written by Ed Brubaker and drawn by Bryan Talbot (pencils) and Steve Leialoha (inks), with colors by Daniel Vozzo.  I loved it because this miniseries is the kind of comic book that is the reason I keep reading comic books.

I am not as enamored with the new series, Dead Boy Detectives, which launched a few months ago.  A production of the creative team of Toby Litt and Mark Buckingham, the first issue of Dead Boy Detectives is not quite tepid, but it certainly lacks the sparkling wit and dazzling imagination of The Sandman Presents: The Deadboy Detectives #1.

For those that don’t know, “The Dead Boy Detectives” are Edwin Paine and Charles Rowland.  The two characters first appeared in The Sandman #25 (cover dated: April, 1991) and were created by writer Neil Gaiman and artists Matt Wagner and Malcolm Jones III.  Paine was murdered at his British boarding school, Saint Hilarion’s, in 1916, and spent 75 years in Hell.  He escaped in 1991 and returned to Hilarion’s, where he met Rowland (during the events depicted in The Sandman story arc, Seasons of Mist).  Rowland died during this time, but refused to accompany Death, preferring the prospect of future adventures with Paine.  The two ghosts spent a decade haunting places, preparing to become “first-rate detectives.”

As Dead Boy Detectives #1 begins, Edwin and Charles are observing the spectacle that is British performance artist, Maddy Surname.  With her rock star husband, Seth Von Hoverkraft, Maddy plans to steal Vincent Van Gogh’s painting, “Sunflowers,” from the British National Gallery.  They will replace Van Gogh’s masterpiece with another painting that Maddy will steal before the Van Gogh theft.  Maddy and Seth’s daughter, Crystal Palace, seems an unwilling participant in the performance.

However, some others decide that they also want play in this game, and it has a great affect on Crystal Palace.  Now, Crystal makes a decision that will have the Dead Boy Detectives shadowing her to a familiar place.

With Brubaker’s layered story and radiant characters and Bryan Talbot and Steve Leialoha’s textured and detailed art, The Sandman Presents: The Deadboy Detectives was a dazzling fantasy, graphic novella.  Toby Litt and Mark Buckingham offer something with potential, but, at this point, it seems like little more than a story with its style lifted from Daniel Clowes’ Ghost World.

I must say that I do like the art by Buckingham (pencils), Gary Erskine (inks), and Lee Loughridge (colors).  Beyond that, I guess I’ll just have to keep reading.

B

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


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

Grumble 2 Indiegogo Campaign - One Month In

A month to go. Praying...

Hunter x Hunter: Crushing Defeat

I read Hunter x Hunter, Vol. 32


I posted a review at the ComicBookBin, and you can follow me on Twitter and/or contribute to my Indiegogo campaign.