Manga Mania Month interlude: Injuries and hideousness distract me

I'm behind on reviews, but my excuse is a skiing injury, which has kind of sidelined me for the moment.  I'll get caught up, but in the meantime, I watched a movie I wanted to talk about.

But first, here's some links and stuff.  In the last week or so, I reviewed Doomwar #1 and Atomic Robo: Revenge of the Vampire Dimension #1 for Comics Bulletin.

I thought this collection of Lum pin-ups by various manga artists that Shaenon Garrity posted was pretty sweet.

As a recent Iphone owner, I've found various apps that are pretty cool, but this one is especially notable: Weekly Astro Boy Magazine.  For 99 cents each week, you can download a couple hundred pages of Tezuka manga, including Astro Boy, Buddha, Phoenix, Dororo, and most recently, the out of print Adolf.  That's something to check out.

Hey, look at the new book Tom Neely put together, collecting his "cover versions" of various Creepy covers.  Those are pretty great, so this makes a really cool package.

Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
2009, directed by John Krasinski

For some people and some works, it's impossible to separate an adaptation from its source material, and that's definitely the case with this film version of David Foster Wallace's book, at least for me.  Whether or not the movie works on its own is probably best answered by somebody else, since for me, all I can do is compare the two; as interesting as the material is, when watching, the interpretation of the book's text is the primary line of thought.  Maybe that's a judgment of the film itself, that it wasn't good enough to stand on its own, but it's probably just a demonstration of the Wallace-obsession of this particular viewer.

Still, this is certainly an odd choice to adapt into a film, in that the book is a short story collection rather than a novel, and the segments that share the title are mostly unconnected, consisting of monologues or dialogues in which the men indicated (who are given the chance to demonstrate whether they deserve the description given) talk, mostly about their relationships with women.  There are other, even less connected, stories in the book, but the film ignores those, sticking to the interviews.  And, since a true adaptation would simply be a series of talking heads, writer/director/actor John Krasinksi (of the American version of The Office) wraps them up in a rudimentary plot, which sees a female graduate student interviewing the various men for her thesis, with several of them also being involved in her personal life.  It's not really a totally necessary addition, but it does bring some structure to the film, especially in the climactic monologue delivered by Krasinski himself, which is given a personal touch by making him her ex-boyfriend.

But still, the heart of the movie is those monologues, and Krasinski takes various approaches to them to spice things up.  Several of them do see the speaker sitting in front of a brick wall and speaking to the camera, including Bobby Cannavale's one-armed skirt-chaser and Ben Shenkman's guy with the proclivity of shouting "Victory for the forces of Democratic freedom!" when he orgasms.  In other cases, Krasinski gets more artful,  presenting one "interview" as a conversation overheard in a coffee shop as Christopher Meloni regales a fellow businessman with a tale of meeting a woman in an airport; as the story unfolds, we see the meeting take place in flashback, with Meloni and his friend showing up in the background and discussing the events.  Another man, played by Josh Charles, gives an apologetic breakup speech to a series of women, and it is presented as a rapid-fire montage, cutting from woman to woman but obviously being the same rehearsed words delivered on different occasions, before finally ending with Charles facing the camera in front of the familiar brick wall, red-eyed and ragged-voiced.  Frankie Faison (Commissioner Burrell on The Wire) delivers one of the only monologues not related to women, as he relates his disgust with his father's lifelong work as a bathroom attendant, and this is intercut with his father's description of the job, the two of them eventually standing in said bathroom and facing each other while alternating back and forth between their speeches. Still other scenes involve the interviewer more directly, including a student who pesters her about the grade she gave him on a paper in which he argued that personal trauma, like being the victim of a rape, isn't necessarily a bad thing.  There are also a couple young men who converse in the background of a few scenes about what modern women really want, often looking directly into the camera and following her around as if they are part of her subconscious.  And then there's Krasinski's final speech, about a woman who he fell in love with (and apparently left the interviewer for), and the way her description of her rape experience moved him; it's emotional enough on its own, but adding their implied personal history to the scene pushes the whole thing into melodrama, and while Krasinski manages to emote quite well, his final lines are too mean and vulgar for him to really sell.

Overall, it ends up working as well as could probably be hoped for, but at best it's probably an advertisement for the book, or at least for people to check out more of Foster Wallace's writing.  He has a penchant for long, discursive, loopingly wordy passages, and while those are captured here somewhat, they are often edited choppily, as if they had to be cut down to fit in an allotted running time, but Krasinski (or his editor) wanted to be sure to indicate that there was more to the "interview" beyond what we're seeing.  It's a bit frustrating, since the way the original text sees the characters edge their way around a subject and gradually make their true feelings clear is virtuosic writing, and much of that is lost when cut down to this state.  As it is, it's a collection of interesting, often fascinating monologues, and a chance for good actors to practice their stagecraft, boiling a character down to the basics and conveying those through body language and vocal intonation, but it still pales in comparison to the original work.  That's probably as good as we're ever going to get though; now let's see somebody try to adapt Infinite Jest!

One Pound Gospel: Punching (and munching) to a conclusion

One Pound Gospel, volume 3 and 4
By Rumiko Takahashi

Even a lesser work by a great like Rumiko Takahashi can be a great read, and this boxing/romantic comedy manga certainly is, demonstrating her wonderful sense of comic timing and skill at defining characters without tiresome exposition or speechifying.  It's highly enjoyable reading, with each new chapter presenting a unique, if somewhat predictable, conflict for our hero and his would-be lady-love to overcome.

That hero, Kosaku Hatanaka, along with those surrounding him, is what really makes the story work; he's a dedicated boxer, but he's undisciplined, a slave to his stomach, always distracted by hunger and struggling to keep his weight within the limits of his class, not to mention preoccupied with thoughts of the object of his unrequited affection.  That would be Sister Angela, a nun who has feelings for him, but can't ever commit to him, for obvious reasons.  There's the central struggle of the series, with Kosaku trying to show his love for the Sister, and her trying to show friendship and support while fending off his (admittedly ridiculous) romantic advances.

While Takahashi doesn't really break new ground here or anything, it's sure fun to see her run through variations on her theme.  Volume 3 sees two shorter stories, one in which Kosaku take on a sort of apprentice, a kid who wants to be a boxer, and he has to prove his dedication to his parents by knocking out the strongest boxer at the gym.  His attempts to accomplish his goal have him always trying to sneak up on Kosaku and sucker-punch him, usually trying to tempt him with food first; it's silly and hilarious, especially when the kid keeps screwing up and punching the coach instead.  In the second short story, Kosaku befriends a fellow boxer from Mexico who has been imported to Japan in hopes of making it as a pro, but he's stymied by the guy's tattoo of the Virgin Mary on his stomach:

See, the abbess at Sister Angela's convent forbids him to punch an image of the Holy Mother, which leads to hilarious complications and such.  There's also other gags, like the guy's nickname, Tako, which is Japanese for octopus, but also refers to his attempts at cooking at his boss's restaurant, which turns out terrible, with only the always-ravenous Kosaku able to finish one of his dishes.  Comedy!

The longer story in volume 3 sees Kosaku befriend a woman who seems to be in the same boat he is, trying to lose weight but always sneaking off to hide and eat.  She is having trouble with her fiance, who wants her to lose weight to fit into her wedding dress, since she is so terribly flabby:

Ah, the Japanese.  If that woman is fat, I'm a nun.  Anyway, she ends up leaving her fiance and moving in with Kosaku, but relationship is completely platonic, since he only has eyes for Sister Angela.  But there are wacky misunderstandings, of course, and the sister keeps getting jealous and questioning her dedication to God if she has feelings for Kosaku.  And wouldn't you know it, but the fiance turns out to be Kosaku's next opponent, so everything comes together for maximum drama and resolution.  Could there a reason for her weight gain, one which glosses over the apparent abusive nature of the couple's relationship?  Who cares, they're only minor characters, so we get to assume they live happily ever after.

The final volume gets to wrap things up, although it does it in a sort of roundabout way.  Another supporting character shows up, Sister Angela's scheming aunt, who wants to marry her off to some rich fellow and get her out of the convent.  And Kosaku might be considering quitting boxing to be a restaurateur.  Or, you know, he might continue with the pugilism and she might decide to get together with him.  That ending is pretty much inevitable, but Takahashi seems to agree, and while she gets the characters in the place they're supposed to go, she doesn't push the theatrics to an unbelievable degree or over-dramatize the emotions.  No, she mostly focuses on the storytelling, and when things get to the right point, she ends the series a page or so later.  Maybe she felt a need to conclude the story, since she worked on it sporadically starting in 1987 but didn't actually conclude it until 2007, but while the stories leading up to the finish are still pretty good, the ending just kind of shows up with little fanfare, as if it was expected.

But while that ending isn't entirely satisfying (which can be a common problem in manga series, so Takahashi isn't alone here), getting there is as enjoyable as ever.  And its predictable nature isn't out of character for the series either; in almost every story, Kosaku manages to happen across a future opponent and get personally involved in some way, with threats of vengeance sworn or promises to demonstrate superiority given.  But it works; as formulaic as it might be, Takahashi has a light enough touch that reading brings a smile to the face, whether from the slapstick comedy, the perplexed, angry, and frustrated facial expressions of Kosaku's coach or Sister Angela, or just the sense of comic timing.  Running gags show up here and there, like Sister Angela continually riding off on the coach's bike when jealously storming away from Kosaku when misinterpreting his relationship with his temporary female roommate, or an opponent always getting worked up at stray comments because he doesn't have a flashy style:

And the art always works to make the characters bounce off each other hilariously; just look at Takahashi's skill with facial expressions, like this angry look the sister shoots Kosaku when he accuses her of jealousy:

All in all, this manga might not be the highlight of Takahashi's career, but it's a solid second-tier title, demonstrating her natural skill at comedy and character work.  It's pretty lighthearted stuff, making for a nicely grounded bit of romance and sports action that never fails to bring a smile to the face.  Not everything can be a classic, but even a minor entry in a bibliography like Takahashi's is worth checking out, and a treat is in store for anybody that does so.

Manga Mania Month: Watch the hands, buster!

Here's another interesting bit of Rumiko Takahashi marginalia: hand gestures.  Specifically, a gesture that a character in One Pound Gospel makes when surprised:

It's more than just the hand gesture, of course; he's doing a full-body jump-scare reaction, but why the specific, "I love you"/Spider-Man-web-shooting hand motion?  He does it at least twice in the third volume:

So it's not just a quirk that Takahashi threw in one time.  I'm strangely fascinated by this; is it some sort of ritualistic warding off of evil spirits?  Some kind of recognizable gesture of the type that are so popular in Japan? An in-joke of Takahashi's that I'm not privy to?  Or just something goofy that doesn't deserve this much thought?  If anybody can illuminate me, I'd be quite happy.  Or I could just go on imagining reasons until my next obsession comes along.

Manga Mania Month: Rumiko Takahashi is a funny lady

Here's a good background gag from the third volume of One Pound Gospel:

(If you don't get it, click to enlarge)

I guess I'm not the only one who compulsively reads signs and scours background details.  That's the kind of tossed-off gag that Takahashi does so well, filling her manga with, and I had to share this one, since it made me laugh.

(If it turns out to be completely the work of the translator, then my applause goes out to them for finding a way to cram more humor into an already really funny comic.)

This week is this week

This is cool: Viz's Shonen Sunday site has posted the first chapter of Rumiko Takahashi's Mermaid Saga. I've never read that series, but that's a pretty good start; I hope they continue to post more.

Another week, another batch of randomness:

New comics this week (Wednesday, 10/21/09):

Azrael #1

Oh god why.

Beasts of Burden #2

If you didn't read the first issue of this, you missed out; it was awesome. Gorgeous art by Jill Thompson, a nice expansion of the stories into something bigger and with higher stakes, enjoyable characters, weird stuff happening, the works. This series is awesome; don't pass it by just because it's all about cute doggies and kitties.

Chew #5

It sounds like the backlash against this series has begun; for a while, everybody was talking about how good it was, and now they're all saying it's overrated. I'm not sure what to think, but I imagine it's a decent bit of comics, with some good art and an enjoyably strange premise. Maybe I'll find out for sure whenever it gets collected. Maybe.

Citizen Rex #4

Gilbert Hernandez! I'll read this eventually. Hope it's good.

Comic Diorama One Shot

Top Shelf has this small collection of stories by cartoonist Grant Reynolds, a bunch of surreal little tales about stuff like mermaids, explorers, and an anthropomorphized planet Pluto. Looks interesting; here's a preview.

Dominic Fortune #3

Howard Chaykin, with more debauchery, one expects. This has been pretty fun so far; we'll see if it keeps it up.

Ex Machina #46

Coming closer to the end. Collection, please.

God Machine Preview Book

Archaia seems to be making a bit of a comeback after their recent financial troubles. This is one of their releases this week, a pamphlet-format preview of an upcoming graphic novel release. It's hard to tell what the hell it's about from the description, which mentions a guy whose girlfriend died, except she might still be alive, and he gets mixed up with a couple of goddesses named Good God and Evil God, and who knows what happens. Weird, but kind of intriguing, maybe? This CBR article has a preview.

Invincible Iron Man #19

It's the end of the "World's Most Wanted" arc, as Norman Osborn catches up with Tony Stark, and Pepper, Maria Hill, and Black Widow attempt to escape from the bad guys. This hasn't been a bad arc, and it should be interesting to see where Matt Fraction goes from here. I'm still not big on Salvador Larocca's art, but whatever.

Robotika For A Few Rubles More #3 & 4 Double-Sized Issue

Here's another long-delayed Archaia book, and I believe it's finishing up the second miniseries in Alex Sheikman's comic about a robot samurai. At least, I think that's what it's about; I've been meaning to check it out, since it looks pretty cool. I'll watch for a collection, I guess. You can see preview pages from all of the issues here.

Sugarshock One Shot

This is a single-issue collection of the story that Joss Whedon and Fabio Moon did for Myspace Dark Horse Presents, and although you can read it for free online, here's your chance to own it if you really have to. It's pretty fun, although it's very Whedon-y, so if you're averse to his style of dialogue, you probably don't want to inflict it upon yourself. But Moon's art is pretty great, so there's that. Enjoy, maybe?

Swordsmith Assassin #3

I haven't been keeping up with this series from Boom!, but I did like the first issue pretty well. I'll read the next ones at some point, and let you know if there's anything worth commenting upon, good or bad. But it's probably safe to say that the next issues follow the same sort of ground, so take that as you will.

Titanium Rain #1 & 2 Double-Sized Relaunch

And one more from Archaia, reprinting the first issue of this miniseries about futuristic global war and adding a second one that hasn't been previously released. I haven't read any of it, but it does look interesting. As always, I'm flush with backhanded recommendations. You can see a preview of issue 1 here.

Underground #2

Hey, here's a definite recommendation though. The first issue of Jeff Parker and Steve Lieber's series about cave action, corrupt businessmen, small-town economics, and fucking park rangers was quite good, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the series. Get it!

Arkham Asylum Living Hell TP New Printing

This miniseries from a few years back by Dan Slott and Ryan Sook was a pretty decent bit of supervillain violence and mayhem, looking at a regular criminal who got sent to Arkham and was terrorized by the likes of the Joker, Mr. Freeze, Killer Croc, etc. Not exactly essential, but if you like your Batman comics to be creepy and nasty, it works pretty well. Probably a good Halloween book, come to think of it.

Arsenic Lullaby Pulp Edition Omega

I've never really been into this series; it mostly seems to be gross and offensive without being all that funny. It's not Johnny Ryan, that's for sure. Of course, I haven't read all that much of it, so if you're in the same situation and must experience this bit of supposed hilarity, here's your chance.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid HC Vol 4

So, this series is popular, right? I wouldn't know; I've never read any of it. Is it even comics? From what I've seen, it's mostly illustrated text. But it always gets nominated for lots of Harveys, if that means anything. Yeah, maybe I'll check it out at some point. But probably not; I've got better things to do than relive my days as a wimpy schoolboy. Now I'm a wimpy adult! Take that, posterity!

Detectives Inc HC

I'm not familiar with this series from the 80s by Don McGregor, Marshall Rogers, and Gene Colan, but it sounds like it was pretty groundbreaking, dealing with real-world social issues like homosexuality and abortion. Now IDW is reprinting it, and it'll cost you $25. Interesting; I might have to try to check this out.

Dread And Superficiality Woody Allen As A Comic Strip HC

It's the comic strip for fans of the Woodman's "early, funny" period, although I don't think he had much to do with it beyond lending his name. Stuart Hample was the writer and artist, and it was published back in the late 70s. Judging from the samples I've seen, it seems to be based on Woody's stand-up comedy. It's not a bad imitation, I suppose, but I don't know if there's a lot of affection for that sort of thing these days, outside of nostalgia. But hey, if What's Up, Tiger Lily is your favorite of his films, you might love it.

Five Fists of Science GN

This graphic novel is one of Matt Fraction's earlier, possibly lesser-known works, and it's awesome, all about Mark Twain and Nicola Tesla teaming up to fight the eldritch horrors of JP Morgan and Thomas Edison, and featuring nice art by Steven Sanders. If you missed out on it when it first came out, don't make the same mistake again.

Frankenstein Mobster Vol 1 TP

I've seen this series around here and there, but I've never read it, so I don't know if it's any good or not. It's got a nice premise though, with this version of Frankenstein's monster being put together from three mob bosses and fighting against himself to control his murderous urges. Maybe I'll check it out sometime. It's by Mark Wheatley, and this edition from IDW will run you 20 bucks. Enjoy Halloweenies.

Fro Origin GN

I don't know about this. I guess this was a reject from Who Wants to Be a Superhero?, which isn't a good sign of quality, if you ask me. I guess it's about a guy who gets a magical, musical afro wig, and now he fights crime by surfing on a guitar or something. Yikes. But hey, maybe it will surprise me and turn out to be the next big thing. Yeah, I can't even say that faux-seriously. If you're interested, here's an interview with the creator and some sample art.

Garth Ennis Battlefields HC Vol 01

Continuing their trend of charging too goddamn much for their collections, Dynamite has this hardcover that includes all three of the war miniseries that Garth Ennis did, Night Witches, Dear Billy, and Tankies. This version is a bit better, costing $30 for what was originally three $12.95 paperbacks. But it's still kind of pricey for nine issues worth of material, isn't it? Still, if you haven't read these, this is probably the easiest and most cost-effective way to do so, and I implore you not to miss out. Ennis is usually at his best when doing war comics, and I thought all of these were excellent, especially the latter two. I might end up posting a review of all of them at some point, but by a friend who borrowed the issues from me. How about that?

Jonah Hex Lead Poisoning TP

You know, I often hear that this series is good, but I have yet to read any of it, even when artists like Darwyn Cooke or J.H. Williams III show up. I should remedy that at some point. Anyway, here's the latest volume. Enjoy, facial scarring fetishists.

Lockjaw & the Pet Avengers HC

Didn't the collected version of this already come out? Well, if not, here it is. I reviewed an issue or two of the series, and it's not bad, but nothing really noteworthy or spectacular either. Cute animals fighting bad guys, and that's about it. I don't know if this contains any extras, along the lines of earlier appearances by the characters, but if not, it's way expensive at $25 for four issues. But if you gotta have your Lockjaw, here's one way to get it.

Miserable Dastards Vol 1 Punching Bags GN

Ripping off Adam Warren (and getting a movie deal to boot), this book is about some henchmen who set out on their own to be real supervillains. Not a bad concept, I suppose. I'll be surprised if it ends up being all that great though. You can see some preview pages at artist Jeremy Dale's blog, if you're curious. (EDIT: As Mr. Dale points out in the comments, this is certainly a strangely negative blurb, and I don't remember why. Cynicism about superhero comics? A bad mood that day? Lack of editing? Who knows. Please take my comments with a grain of salt, and feel free to bitch-slap me in the comments if you think I'm being a douche.)

MMW Inhumans HC Vol. 1

And here's your other source of Lockjaw for the week, also overpriced at the usual rate of $55 for Marvel Masterworks volumes. This one collects some backup stories from Thor, the Jack Kirby-written and illustrated Amazing Adventures, and some other appearances, including a couple issues of Not Brand Ecch. Yeah, I wouldn't mind owning this.

Noir An Anthology Of Crime Comics TP

So, is this the paperback version of the book that already came out a few months ago, or is it the only version, and I'm just misinformed? Whatever the case, it's Dark Horse's anthology of crime comics, with lots of good creators inside, including Becky Cloonan, Fabio Moon, Gabriel Ba, Paul Grist, Brian Azzarello, Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, Rick Geary, Jeff Lemire, Eduardo Barreto, and others. Nice. I'm excited to finally read this one.

Runaways TP Vol 09 Dead Wrong Digest

I'm confused; I guess this is the latest digest collection of the series, to match the others that have previously come out, but it's coming right as Marvel is rereleasing the earlier digests as full size trade paperbacks. They can't seem to make up their minds when it comes to format. Eh, it's a moot point anyway, since this short run on the series by Terry Moore and Humberto Ramos was pretty awful. I recommend not getting it.

Runaways Rock Zombies TP

And here's the second part of Terry Moore's run, which was a bit better, but mostly just because of Takeshi Miyazawa's art. The story was still pretty blah. Um, there you go; I'm not sure what you're supposed to do with that information, but don't blame me if you buy it and don't like it. Not that you should really be counting on me to make your buying decisions for you anyway...

Scalped TP Vol. 5 High Lonesome

Another volume of the acclaimed Vertigo series comes out, and I get further behind. I'll catch up someday, hopefully...

Showcase Presents House of Secrets TP Vol. 2

More black and white reprints of old horror comics. No Swamp Thing here, so it's not necessary to get that bit of history. But the list of creators includes Berni Wrightson, Mike Kaluta, Alex Nino, and Sergio Aragones, so it does sound like something worth checking out. If I had the money and time to afford getting reprints like this, I would probably do so.

Uncle Sam Deluxe HC

Doesn't this one get reprinted all the time? It's Alex Ross's big breakthrough comic, a Vertigo miniseries from the 90s that was all about the title character being a bum, or something like that. I haven't read it. Maybe I should sometime.

Waiting Place GN

Speaking of reprints, here's a collection of the teen drama series by Sean McKeever and Mike Norton, including a new story. I've never read it, but I do like McKeever's work on Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane, so I wouldn't mind checking it out. Someday, someday.

Wolfskin Vol. 01

This Warren Ellis barbarian series was interesting, if kind of inessential. I wouldn't really recommend this collection though, since even the paperback version is $18 for contents that consist of three issues and an annual. If the story was awesome, sure, maybe, but this is only decent, even by Avatar's standards. Look for back issues, says I.

Wolverine Noir Prem HC

I have little interest in Marvel's "noir" books, but this one did seem interesting, if only for C.P. Smith's idiosyncratic artwork. Not that I ever need to read another Wolverine comic, really. And oh yeah, I gotta complain about the expensive hardcover: 20 bucks is too much, buy back issues, wait for paperback, blah blah blah. You know the drill.

Art Of Osamu Tezuka God Of Manga HC

Here's your big coffee table book, with author Helen McCarthy looking at Tezuka's life and art, with lots of images included. I don't know if I can afford the 40 bucks, but I certainly wouldn't mind owning this, since I do love Tezuka unreservedly. Maybe I'll put it on my Christmas wish list for some of my fans to buy me. Wait, I don't have fans? Damn!

Naoki Urasawas 20th Century Boys Vol 5 GN

Ooh, time for more Urasawa intrigue involving conspiracies, cults, bizarre psychic shit, nostalgia, and clunky technology. I love this series, and if I get this volume, I'll be all caught up. That never happens!

Real Vol 6 GN

See, this is what I'm talking about. I haven't even read volume 4 of this series yet. I'll get to it though; I love Takehiko Inoue's story about fucked-up individuals playing wheelchair basketball. Good times.

RIN-NE Vol 1 GN

Coordinated with the Japanese release, it's the latest manga by Rumiko Takahashi. If you haven't read it online, you'll have to do so soon, since they're taking it down once this volume is released. It's pretty enjoyable, about a girl who can see ghosts getting mixed up with a human shinigami (grim reaper) who is always poor. The series seemed to get a lukewarm reception in online manga circles, but that might have been because the first volume or so mostly consisted of setting up the situation and characters. It was kind of low-key and goofy, which I found fine, but some apparently didn't like. If you stick around though, bigger and longer conflicts have started to develop, and Takahashi tells the story impeccably, as always. Give it a chance, people!

Vagabond Vizbig ED GN Vol. 05

Speaking of Takehiko Inoue, here's the latest omnibus volume of his samurai manga, collecting what would have been volumes 13-15 of the series, I think. It's yet another series that I should really get caught up on...

What a Wonderful World GN Vol. 01
What a Wonderful World GN Vol. 02

And here's the "prestige" manga release of the week, with both volumes of this series by Inio Asano coming out together. I haven't read them yet, but I will soon, and I'm really looking forward to them, since I loved Asano's Solanin. This one has several intersecting stories, with at least some of them being about unfocused young adults, I believe, but it's not just a retread of familiar ground. If you like manga for adults that tells serious stories about realistic characters, this is for you. Don't miss it.

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That's everything, I guess. Posting might be light this week, since I'm mostly caught up in my reading. That probably means more Kirby, which is good. I loves me some Fourth World.

Mini manga musings

Before the real stuff, some links:

This interview with Felipe Smith is pretty interesting; for those who don't know, he's a Western cartoonist who is working on a manga in Japan called Peepo Choo.  I kind of liked the volume that I read of his series MBQ (which you can read about here), and he's got a crazy, frenetic, interesting style that I would like to see more of.  Hopefully Peepo Choo will get imported.

This overview of David Mazzuchelli's career is very interesting.

I always like seeing original art and/or sketches.  Here's the title page of a Gilbert Hernandez story in the upcoming Love and Rockets volume.

Joe Infurnari has an annotated version of his Eisner-nominated webcomic Vs. up at Act-I-Vate.

Hey, I'm disappointed that Joseph Larkin didn't respond angrily to my review of The Arcade of Cruelty like he did to Kevin Church.  That would have been amusing.  I guess I'll have to settle for secondhand obnoxiousness.

Here's an interesting look at Osamu Tezuka's adaptation of Crime and Punishment.  Looks like one to look for the next time I'm in a used bookstore in Japan.

Have I mentioned that I'm up on Twitter now?  I've had an account for a while, but I've actually been using it recently, so there's another way to receive my questionable wisdom, even more scattershot than usual.

Oh yeah, I also reviewed Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers #1 over at Comics Bulletin, and I talked about the most recent episodes of Dollhouse and Fringe at The Factual Opinion.

Finally, the real post.  I've gotten behind on a few books, and the longer I wait, the less I seem to be able to come up with a lot to say about them, so I'm going to throw a few of them together into a post of short reviews.  I hope it's readable.

20th Century Boys, volume 1

By Naoki Urasawa

It's hard not to automatically compare this series to Monster, since that's the most-recently-completed of Naoki Urasawa's translated works.  And it's not completely inapt, since Urasawa has some of the same themes going on here, like conspiracy and paranoia.  But he seems to be going for more of a look at memory, as well as a contrast between youthful idealism and adult complacency.  Plus, he's being especially ambitious, setting up a world-spanning conflict and telling stories with a multitude of characters in different time periods; he's as great a storyteller as ever, and while much of this first volume seems to be setting things up, it's a blast to watch him work.

The plot here involves a group of guys who grew up together in late-60s Japan, forming a club and getting up to the usual youthful shenanigans like swiping porn magazines and coming up with grandiose plans involving heroism and secrets.  Thirty years later, Kenji is a regular guy working at his family's convenience store and looking after his sister's baby.  But when strange things start happening that somehow seem related to his experiences as a kid, he begins to investigate, and may soon end up caught up in something much bigger than he ever expected.  For one thing, there's a sort of cult forming, and it seems to be based around his and his friends' club.  The symbol that one of them designed, which looks like an eye set inside of a hand which is set inside another eye, is popping up in places connected with murders and disappearances related to the cult, and the cult's enigmatic leader, who is only known as "my friend", seems to be taking his teachings straight from the experiences we see in flashbacks to Kenji's childhood.  It's freaky and chilling, and who knows where it's going to lead.

It's compelling stuff, and Urasawa really builds to a sense of something creepy going on that's beyond the grasp of the characters, giving the readers just enough of a sense of what's going on to make us feel like we know what the characters should do, but not enough to actually understand what is going on.  It's very effective and exciting, and it really keeps you guessing and wanting to find out what is going to happen next.  But beyond the larger plot, the small incidents work really well too, whether we're watching Kenji and pals be rescued by the outcast Donkey and his running skills in the past, or seeing the adult Kenji try to convince his friends that there's something weird going on while at at wedding before giving up, getting drunk, and singing karaoke.

It's great stuff, full of well-realized characters and memorable incidents (the boys getting excited about the 1969 moon landing is another highlight); I'm really excited to read future volumes (all 21 of them, I think).

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One-Pound Gospel, volume 2

By Rumiko Takahashi

This second volume of Rumiko Takahashi's boxing manga (read my take on the first volume here) indicates why it only lasted four volumes (as opposed to the dozens of installments of her more popular series, like Ranma 1/2 or Inuyasha), as it already seems to get a bit tired here.  Not that it's not entertaining, but for the two multi-chapter stories in this volume, Takahashi seems to have settled into a formula, with boxer Kosaku Hatanaka struggling to meet his weight limits, sneaking food, barely qualifying, crushing on his nun confidant Sister Angela, and winning through a combination of luck and determination, with plenty of goofy slapstick along the way.  It's entertaining, but diminishing returns seem to have set in already; hopefully Takahashi spun some interesting changes into the final two volumes of the series.

Of the two stories here, the first is the more enjoyable one, with Kosaku going up against an old rival named Taro Matsuzuka, who was humiliated by having all his teeth knocked out when he decided not to wear headgear.  There are some pretty funny wrinkles, with Kosaku having to drop a weight class to match Taro, who has do do the opposite and bulk up in order to get to Kosaku's level.  Their eventual match is a highly enjoyable bout, with both fighters struggling to prevail and uttering oaths about honor and dedication.  It's fun stuff, especially when Kosaku reveals his true motivation:

The second story isn't as good, possibly because it gets a bit silly.  Kosaku is still obsessed with Sister Angela, and he's pressuring her to become his girlfriend, which is of course impossible, since she's a nun.  Is this supposed to be plausible because knowledge of Catholicism is limited in Japan?  That seems doubtful; if Kosaku regularly goes to confession, he must know about vows of celibacy, right?  Yet the pressure continues, to ridiculous extents.  And I'm sure that she will eventually relent, with the two ending up as a couple.  We even get some nice hints that she is starting to fall for him; a more mild, believable romance would be preferable, but Takahashi seems to prefer to go over the top.

Maybe I'm just too used to cute shojo romances; or, I might be bitter at the outcome of the match in this chapter, since it is kind of silly, with all parties being happy and content.  It's not perfect, but there are still some enjoyable moments, especially Kosaku butting heads with Angela's Abbess.  Overall, it's still a pretty good volume of a fun series.  If all goes well, Takahashi will turn things around in the second half of the series and deliver some exciting, funny boxing action along with cute romance.  Here's hoping.

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Dogs, volume 0: Prelude

By Shirow Miwa

It's always nice to see seinen manga get translated into English, since so much of the market focuses on shonen and shojo books; material aimed at adults is something we need more of.  Series like this aren't great art or anything, but can be the equivalent of fun action movies that are filled with stylish violence.  This particular series is an interesting case, if only for the volume number; it's like something taken from American superhero comics, which often have a "number 0" issue published as a sort of origin story, often coming out after other issues in the series.  I thought that might be the case here, with mangaka Shirow Miwa putting out a series of origin stories for his characters (who seem to be a team of assassins or something, although they don't actually come together in this volume).  But it turns out this was sort of an introductory volume of the series, published in 2000 and 2001, with a second volume following in 2005.  It's similar to the model of Love and Rockets or The Invisibles, with a series being relaunched, but continuing from where it had previously left off.

Anyway, this volume isn't necessarily all origins, but more of a series of introductory stories for its characters, with each of them getting their own one- or two-chapter bit in which we can get to know them.  First, there's Mihai, a hitman who was tasked with raising the illegitimate son of his gangster boss.  When the son grew up, he turned on both his surrogate father and his real one, murdering Mihai's girlfriend and killing his father to take over the criminal empire.  Now Mihai returns and ends up facing off with his protege and learning what caused him to turn on his loved (and unloved) ones.  

Next, we meet Badou, who seems to be the comic relief of the team.  He's a goofball P.I., although he refers to himself as an "information broker", snapping pictures and "gathering sensitive data" to sell to the highest bidder.  When he ends up stumbling on a local mob boss in the midst of kinky sexual escapades, he becomes a marked man, going on the run through the city and trying to survive the waves of mobsters that are out to kill him.  Just when we think he's in an impossible spot and is going to die, it turns out that he gains impressive gun skills when deprived of nicotine, so (since he had been unsuccessfully searching for a cigarette all chapter) he is able to shoot his way out of trouble.  Amusing?  Yeah, pretty much.

Things get more serious with Naoto, the sole girl of the group.  She fits into the "silent but deadly" action girl trope, the kind of character that Garth Ennis mocks in The Boys.  We see that her parents were murdered when she was a child, the killer leaving her with an X-shaped scar on her chest, perfectly centered for aesthetic notability when she ends up topless (which happens in-story, but we also get to see her naked image, along with the other three male characters, on a fold-out poster in the inside front cover of the book).  After the murder, she was taken in by the killer and raised to be a killer herself, constantly trying to better herself so she can kill him and take revenge.  Except...maybe she was mistaken, and everything she has always believed is wrong.  The truth comes out in a dynamic knife fight, making for some nice action:

And finally, things take a strange turn with the story of Heine, who lives in a sort of underground city of criminals.  The book, which had seemed to take place in a modern city, takes a sci-fi turn here, when Heine discovers a prostitute girl who has small, angelic wings growing from her shoulders.  It turns out that she's the subject of genetic experiments, and thus highly valuable to certain people (i.e. pimps).  Heine ends up rescuing her, with the help of Badou, and we learn that he is also an experimental product, having a Wolverine-style healing factor that allows him to take plenty of bullets without falling.  That's an odd addition to the mix, but it also makes for some pretty stylish, dynamic action.

Overall, it's a pretty enjoyable book, if not a very deep one.  I'm not sure what the eventual status quo will be, since the team (if that's what they are) doesn't even get together here, so who knows what sort of business they will get up to in volume 1 and beyond.  But judging by Miwa's skill at exciting action here, it should make for some crazy action, and hopefully some good reading.  I can't say this is anything world-changing, but I can dig some violent gun- and sword-play that doesn't spare the blood and sex.  I imagine it won't be anything less than satisfying.

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Hmmm, those musings weren't all that mini.  Hey, it's good to get caught up.  Stay tuned for more writin'!

Shojo Beat: Shocking! Vampiric! Revelations!

Elsewhere: I reviewed Kick-Ass #6 at Comics Bulletin.  Oh, Mark Millar, you'll never change, will you?  And I also contributed to Robot 6's weekly What Are You Reading? column.

Link: You can read the entire first half (51 pages) of the third volume of Ed Piskor's Wizzywig at his site.  That's a series I want to check out at some point.

And: I haven't read the whole thing yet, but this translation of a blog post/lecture notes by Even a Monkey Can Draw Manga co-creator Kentaro Takekuma looks pretty interesting; it's about why he feels the manga version of Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaa is "hard to read".  I've only read a little of Nausicaa, but I never managed to finish it, and maybe this will help me figure out why.

This page from MAD by Drew Friedman is hilarious.

The latest installment of Next-Door Neighbor is by Dean Haspiel, and it's very neat.

As of tomorrow (April 22), you should be able to read the first chapter of Rumiko Takahashi's new series, Rin-Ne, at TheRumicWorld.com, in a simultaneous release with the Japanese version.  That's pretty awesome.

I should also mention that Matthew Loux is doing a Salt Water Taffy webcomic, a series of gag strips.  It's pretty fun so far, and should be a good way to tide fans over (see what I did there?) until the next volume comes out.

Okay, get to the review already!

Shojo Beat

May 2009

As you see on the cover, it's the anime issue, which means a small spotlight on a few upcoming series (Honey and Clover, Nana, Gakuen Alice, Romeo x Juliet, and Aria), along with a couple classic series (Marmalade Boy, Sailor Moon, and Ouran High School Host Club; the latter seems a bit recent to be called "classic", but whatever).  There's also page about Tokyo locations featured in Nana, a blurb about an interesting-looking movie called Happily Ever After, and a mention of The Color of Earth.  And, a neat double-sided poster featuring either Nana or Honey and Clover; that one's going right up on my wall (I'll go with H&C, since I already have a Nana poster).

But enough of that; on to the manga:

Rasetsu

By Chika Shiomi

I never read Chika Shiomi's previous series, Yurara, beyond the preview chapter that ran right here in this magazine, but this seems to be something of a follow-up, if not exactly a sequel.  There is one character that continues from the earlier series, but it appears to focus on the title character, a confident, no-nonsense exorcist (who also happens to be pretty stacked).  We see how she works with her fellow employees at a ghost-hunting agency, and it's nice to see her get her job done comptently and strongly.  Most interestingly, we learn her backstory and where she got her powers: they came from a demon that attacked her when she was fifteen, branding her with a rose symbol on her chest and promising to return for her when she turns 20.  The interesting thing about this is the rape imagery that accompanies the flashback to the attack:

But while it's horrific, we see that while it was a traumatic experience, she's not somebody who is defined by it.  She's used it to become stronger, and now she's a take-charge badass ghostbuster.  See, this is what girls' comics are about: female empowerment!  That's what I like to see.  This one looks like a manga to keep an eye on.

Honey Hunt

By Miki Aihara

It's kind of business as usual in this chapter of the series, as Yura continues to whine about her agent revealing her star-begotten nature to the public and gets encouragement from her two love interests.  That sort of thing could get old if it goes on for too long, but while we know that she'll eventually go back to acting, it's kind of fun to see her try to suppress her excitement when she sees the director's plans for the scenes to be shot for their series.  But other than the near-ridiculous niceness and competence of would-be boyfriend Q-ta, there's not much else going on in this chapter.  This series is pretty fun, but hopefully it will get back to some big drama soon.

Crimson Hero

By Mitsuba Takanashi

This chapter should have run closer to Valentine's Day, because it's just about the most lovey-dovey installment of the series that I can remember.  Nobara loves Yushin, and Yushin loves Nobara, and their mutual affection is spreading out to influence the rest of the cast.  Awww:

But that's about all that's really going on this month, although Yushin's rival, a bad boy named Kaz, finally makes his move, first telling Nobara that he has a crush on her and then entrapping her in an unfortunate situation for the chapter's cliffhanger.  We'll see how it plays out next month, but it doesn't really have me on the edge of my chair.  The series appears to be in one of its lulls between moments of exciting athletics; let's get to the next game already!

Sand Chronicles

By Hinako Ashihara

The problem with a flash-forward is that it can defuse dramatic moments when we know the outcome.  That's kind of what happens here; the first chapter of this series saw an adult Ann contemplating her precious hourglass, so when she throws it away this chapter, having sworn to forget Daigo, we know it's not gone for good.  There were only a few possible outcomes: she could obtain another one, either from Fuji or elsewhere (which would be a bit dumb, since the one she tossed was already a replacement for the one her mom bought her), or she could find it again.  Guess which one happened?  But while it ended up being kind of a contrived plot, Ashihara uses it in service for some heartbreaking events.  Not for Ann though; she might be upset about her life, but she's doing pretty good.  No, the real object of pity here is Fuji, who is devoting himself to Ann wonderfully, and she's only using him to feel good while she pines for Daigo.  Damn, that's harsh.  Actually, It's a bit more complex than that, but being of the male persuasion, I can't help but feel sorry for poor Fuji.  He's losing his virginity to the girl he's always loved, and she can't stop thinking about her ex.

Really, it's more of the rich characterization that has defined this series, which is the reason chapters like this can provoke such a strong reaction.  I'm continually impressed with how well Ashihara crafts this series, and I imagine I'll continue to be as it progresses.  Don't let me down, sensei!

Honey and Clover

By Chica Umino

In everybody's favorite series about goofy art school students, not too much happens this month.  Most of the action continues to center on Takemoto's journey of self-discovery, in which he finally finds his true calling: to be a housekeeper!  Or something like that.  He ends up working with a group of construction workers who renovate temples, cooking meals and doing laundry, and it's the most fulfilling thing he's done in a long time.  Was art school all for naught?  Or will he be able to take this experience and find focus as he figures out what he wants to do after graduation?  Only time will tell.  We get some interesting, enjoyable moments in the meantime though, a testament to Umino's skill at quickly crafting memorable characters even when they only make brief appearances.

Back at school, Hagu gets to teach a children's art class, which should provide her with some of her own ideas about what to do after graduation.  And Ayu actually meets Rika, her rival for Mayama's affections.  It gives her some insight into the woman and what Mayama sees in her, and prompts her own reverie into what she will do with her life.  Will she continue as she is, making pottery and working in her family's liquor store, ending up an old maid?  Can she handle that, if that's what it comes to?  Professor Hanamoto confesses that he has pretty much accepted a similar lot in life, and he doesn't seem to be doing too bad.  It's a good, introspective subplot, and one that I look forward to seeing resolved.  My hope: that Mayama will eventually give up his dreams of getting together with Rika, and finally go for the girl that has been sitting under his nose.  But I'm sure that's what Umino wants all her readers to happen, so she'll probably do some interesting things to mess with our expectations.  As always, I can't wait to see.

Vampire Knight

By Matsuri Hino

It'll be hard to talk about this chapter without revealing any spoilers, but I'll attempt to do so, so as to keep from ruining the experience of any fangirls who are waiting for the next volume.  And wow, will they be blown away by the events of this chapter, which do exactly what I thought Matsuri Hino would never do, completely changing up the status quo of the series, and doing so in a way that was quite unexpected.  Last chapter ended with Kaname biting Yuki, presumably turning her into a vampire in order to bring back her memories and prevent her from going insane.  And, well, that's not exactly what happened, but what did occur adds another creepy, crazy layer to the plot, along with a bit of good old incest (that's one sort of indirect spoiler, but I whited it out, so only read it if you're good and ready).  It's rare that something actually happens in this series, and even more so something that gets me excited, but I'll admit that I'm actually pretty interested to see what Hino has coming up.  I can't normally call myself a fan of this series, but if Hino would pace the action a bit better and dole out revelations like this a bit more frequently, I might well end up a convert.  If you're anticipating this reveal, then you're in for a treat.

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Well, this took me long enough to finish, but here it is.  Now I'm all excited for next month, for several reasons.  I don't think I'll ever stop reading this magazine, which is a bit sad.  But hey, target demographics aren't everything, right?

One-Pound Gospel: Cute nuns make an interesting boxing accessory

Holy cow! The Manga Blitz continues!

One-Pound Gospel, volume 1
By Rumiko Takahashi



Surprisingly, I don't think I've read anything by Rumiko Takahashi before this, although I've seen snippets of the anime versions of Ranma 1/2 and Inuyasha, and I have a bunch of the old pamphlet-format issues of Maison Ikkoku sitting around unread. I don't know what's taken me so long, but there's nothing like a good series that I was previously unaware of to kick-start my interest.

And this one, originally published in 1989, is an excellent example, detailing the travails of Kosaku Hatanaka, a cheerful young boxer who is talented but undisciplined, always struggling to control his raging hunger and stay in his weight class. After a string of defeats caused by him having to resort to laxatives to stay in the target weight, his always-exasperated coach is ready to give up on him, but Sister Angela, a nun at the local Catholic church, has taken a liking to him and encourages him to stick to his regimen and succeed.

The grasp of Catholicism seems a bit shaky, since I don't think nuns take confession, and it amuses me that Angela prays so hard for Kosaku to succeed, as if boxing matches are a big priority for God. But their relationship is quite charming, with Kosaku attracted to her inappropriately:





Oh boy, you could see that coming. Kissing a nun is never a good idea (at least, not this early in the series). But she can't help wanting him to succeed, alternately encouraging him and screaming at him from ringside:



She's actually a bit more interesting of a character (at least so far), since he's mostly just one of those always-cheerful manga protagonists who never gives up, while she struggles with the conflict between her faith and her attraction to him. In one of the best scenes of the book, she goes out drinking with some fellow nuns, then drunkenly confronts some guys from a rival gym when she hears them badmouthing Kosaku:



I love scenes like that; comedy is definitely one of Takahashi's strong points, and she uses it to excellent purpose here, with some goofy slapstick and hilarious facial expressions, like the over-the-top frustration of Kosaku's coach:



I also love the way Kosaku's opponents are all so ridiculously intense, a parody of the Japanese male honor that's been around since at least the era of samurai. Takahashi spoofs that type so well, scenes featuring them can't fail to bring a smile to the face:



And to add to the humor, these overly-honorable athletes usually get a humiliating comeuppance, with Kosaku winning through sheer luck or unconventional fighting. It's incredibly entertaining, and Takahashi makes the variations on the theme and growth of character really enjoyable. And while her art is a bit rougher than that of most modern manga, the fights are easy to follow and wonderfully dynamic:



It really seems like you can feel the blows right alongside the characters. It all makes for a really fun book, and a compelling, if fairly simple, story. I look forward to seeing Takahashi continue to develop the characters; Kosaku can't keep skating along on luck and good intentions forever, can he? Knowing Takahashi's grasp of character development, I expect she has plenty of nice developments in store. I can't wait to find out, and this definitely makes me want to search out and read as much of Takahashi's work as I can get my hands on.

This review was based on a complimentary copy provided by the publisher.