Brawl: I think Haspiel could take me too

Slow weekend, huh? I should have some stuff up on the soon-to-be-renamed Silver Bullet Comics and MangaLife soon though. But for now:

Brawl #1 (of 3)
By Dean Haspiel and Michel Fiffe



This three-issue series from Image features two serialized stories, one each from creators Dean Haspiel and Michel Fiffe. Both stories were originally serialized on the comics anthology site Act-I-Vate, and they're getting printed here. Act-I-Vate seems like a good forum for indie comics creators to get their work out there where people can read it, any maybe serve as a precursor to an eventual printing. Another Act-I-Vate contributor, Mike Cavallaro, recently published his Parade (With Fireworks), also through Image, so they certainly seem to be getting their work noticed.

Of the two contributors to Brawl, Haspiel is the more famous, having contributed art to books like The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist or The Thing: Night Falls on Yancy Street. But he's probably most recognized for his work with Harvey Pekar, providing the art for the graphic novel The Quitter and each of the four issues of Vertigo's recent American Splendor miniseries. His style is very appealing, providing an animated look to his backgrounds and characters, with a good feeling of motion.

Haspiel's story here, "Immortal", is the first in a promised trilogy featuring the character Billy Dogma (the second part, entitled "Fear, My Dear" is already being serialized online), and it's a riot. Billy and his girlfriend apparently both have super-powers, and their hard-boiled romance keeps getting interrupted by Billy being dragged off to jail. Then their love awakens some sort of monster, and havoc ensues. That would be an entertaining enough story by itself, but Haspiel gives everything a noir sort of feel, drenching them in shadows and having everyone deliver staccato-rhythmed dialogue, with bystanders joining in the narration. It's crazy, and absolutely charming. I love the tough-guy language, with lines like, "They know they can't do jack. So, they slap my writs and hold me for a night...to teach me a lesson I ain't never gonna learn." Or panels like this one:



I also love the artwork, with its heavy shadows and what seems to be charcoal-drawn shading. Haspiel puts in some nice touches, like the heart-shaped holes that result when Billy is thrown through walls (which happens surprisingly regularly), or the equally heart-shaped pieces of rubble that result. I'm loving the story, and while it's over quickly, I can't wait to read future installments.

With such a strong first half, Michel Fiffe has a lot to live up to in his story, "Panorama". He doesn't quite get there, but that's no slight against him. My admittedly lax research hasn't turned up any information about him, so I assume he's not as experienced. He certainly shows some promise here, and future installments of this story might be really good.

Said story involves a young man named Augustus wandering through the back alleys of an unnamed city, getting in a fight with a gang of homeless kids, and beating the shit out of them with his freaky powers, which seem to involve his skin coming alive, stretching off his face, and doing unnatural things to people. It's pretty nasty, and the results lead him to the bathroom of a woman who lives nearby, where he goes to be sick before being confronted once again by the thugs, who seem to have had a negative reaction to his beating. It's all rather grotesque, and I'm not sure where Fiffe is going with the story, but it should be interesting to find out.

The problem here is that it's hard to tell what is going on, although I'm sure we'll find out more in future chapters. But we mostly get a barrage of nasty images that don't make a lot of sense. Unfortunately, Fiffe's characters are pretty stiff, without much life to their expressions; where he excels is the nasty depictions of Augustus' abilities:



He throws a lot of detail into these images, and that's part of what makes things confusing. In this sequence, I can't tell if Augustus is puking, or if skin is stretching from the side of his mouth:



Later panels seem to indicate the former possibility, but it's still kind of vague.

But it's still an interesting story, and maybe more will be made clear in the future. Overall, I really dig the book, with it's cool presentation of stories from indie creators. I hope more stuff like this gets published, whether from Act-I-Vate or elsewhere.
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Bonus! Dean Haspiel beefcake, from the aforementioned American Splendor series:

In which my good taste is confirmed

I doubt many people come here for news, but I wanted to mention that the excellent children's book/comic The Invention of Hugo Cabret has been nominated for a National Book Award (caught it: Tom Spurgeon). I reviewed the book way back in March, before anybody knew I existed, and I loved it, so it's cool to see it get some recognition. Good luck, Brian Selznick!
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Since I'm probably not going to get to any reviews tonight, I'll go ahead and point out my review of Drafted #2 over at SBC. It was better than the first issue, but still not great. At this rate, issue #15 should be awesome.

MPD Psycho: A world like this would make anyone psychotic

Quickly: Over at IndiePulp, I've got a review of Jeremy Tinder's Black Ghost Apple Factory. Also, a repost of my look at Good As Lily. But for now, let's look at some good old Japanese weirdness:

MPD Psycho, volume 1
Written by Eiji Otsuka
Art by Shou-U Tajima



Does anyone outside of Japan come up with material this twisted and fucked-up? Not in comics, certainly. I can't think of any American comic (outside of some fetish porn, maybe) that made me look away in revulsion or inadvertently utter an "ugh!" like this one did. I've seen some others that are pretty nasty, and I'm sure what's been translated into English is only the tip of the iceberg. That country is crazy, man.

Maybe writer Eiji Otsuka just has a twisted mind and a flair for pushing my buttons. He also wrote Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, another series featuring plenty of dismembered naked women. That sort of gory detail, combining the erotic with the grotesque (which comprises an entire genre of manga) really leaves an impression on me.

Of course, all the nasty imagery in the world amounts to nothing if there isn't a story to string it together, so how well does MPD Psycho accomplish that? I would say pretty well, although it takes a while to get started. In the first few chronologically fractured chapters, we are introduced to our protagonist, Yosuke Kobayashi. He is a violent crimes investigator, and seemingly very good at profiling criminals. However, he also suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder (also known as Multiple Personality Disorder, the "MPD" of the title), and at least one of his personalities has a murderous attitude. This affliction leads to him being thrown in jail, and after he gets out, a former police detective recruits him to work in a private crime lab, solving the violent murders that continue to plague the city. Oh, and his previous identity has been suppressed, so now he's going by the name Kazuhiko Amamiya.

It's an interesting setup, and it leads to some pretty arresting stories, with Amamiya and his crew (which includes the woman who bailed him out, and eyepatch-wearing reporter, and an incompetent, comic-relief-providing police detective) getting involved in investigations of disgusting murders and him using his skills to find the culprits. There are also some hints at a conspiracy of some sort, since all the killers are discovered to be clients of an eye bank, and they all have a barcode somehow printed on their left eyeball. And we get some tension about Amamiya; how stable is he, and what happens if (when?) a murderous personality takes over? These questions are left for future volumes to answer, a good reason to keep reading the series.

Shou-U Tajima's artwork does a great job of delivering the gory details of Otsuka's script; every severed limb or arterial spray is rendered in horrific detail:



But he also captures some good nuances of facial details, making obvious the shifts in personality that Kobayashi/Amamiya/? experiences. It's some nice work, although his mind is probably permanently warped after slaving over these gruesome images for so long.

So, it's a good book, if you've got the stomach for it. I'll be ready to see what horrors Otsuka and Tajima can deliver in future volumes. I just hope I don't end up ruining any books with projectile vomit.

Empowered: I'm waiting for more empowerment

Before I get started on this, I wanted to announce that I've been asked to write reviews (and possibly other content) for IndiePulp.com, a site that's based right here in Chicago. I'm pretty stoked about it, since they're some really cool guys, and they've got a lot of exciting ideas and plans for future content. I'll be doing original stuff for them, but they've also asked to repost some of the reviews I've done here, starting with my review of Killing Girl #2, which went up there yesterday. I'll have more up over there soon! But for now:

Empowered, volume 2
By Adam Warren



I really dug the first volume of this manga-style graphic novel series; I thought it was a good look at a character with realistic self-esteem issues and a mature sexual relationship. Plus, good art, cool action, and plenty of funny jokes. It was fascinating to see Adam Warren build a character, supporting cast, and whole universe from what began as a series of bondage-themed pinup drawings. I was pretty excited for future volumes, wanting to see more of this story that he was telling. So now that it's here, does it live up to expectations? Well, yes and no. The second volume delivers more silly jokes, plenty of action, and lots of near-nudity, but seems to limit the character development, choosing to hint at future subplots involving supporting characters rather than focus on the titular heroine and her continued growth.

Part of the problem here might be the length of the stories. The first volume had a barrage of short tales, many only a few pages long. While the ones early in the book served mostly as jokes about Emp being easily defeated and tied up provocatively, they eventually gave way to stories about her taking strength from the encouragement of her boyfriend, Thugboy, and her best friend, Ninjette. Here, we get a few shorter stories about topics like Emp being embarrassed by a video of her looking stupid in a fight, Ninjette playing video games, or Emp going undercover as a sexy librarian to capture a supervillain. There are also some longer stories, including one about Emp making her rival superheroine Sistah Spooky jealous by being "the Aryan ideal of shoulder-candy". And it's nice to see some bits where Emp seems to be gaining experience and using her abilities to actually win some battles.

But the largest section of the book is taken up by a chronological series of stories, starting with one in which Emp is so despondent after being defeated that she contemplates quitting the superhero game. Help comes from an unlikely place when the Caged Demonwolf (a supervillain that she defeated in the first volume who now resides in a containment belt on her coffee table) talks some self-esteem into her, tough-love style. It's a pretty amusing bit, with plenty of his verbose dialogue:



That leads into a story in which Ninjette impersonates Empowered in order to go beat the shit out of the villains that humiliated her, not realizing that this might cause her more danger in the future if bad guys view her as a deadly threat. Then, we get two stories in which the Demonwolf interrogates Ninjette about her personal grooming habits (which become obvious when she wears Emp's costume) and Thugboy about his and Emp's sex life. While this was all amusing, by this point, I was ready to move on and see more superheroics, or at least something involving the main character directly. It's not a terrible series of stories, and it does give a hint that Emp's unreliable powers might sprout from her fragile self-esteem, indicating that with more confidence, she might be able to master her abilities and become a true force to be reckoned with in the future. There's also a hell of a fight scene during the bit when Ninjette decides to go kick some ass:



But I shouldn't make it sound like this was a complete disappointment. In fact, it was really only a minor one; I liked the volume quite a bit, but it fell slightly short of expectations (which were probably too lofty anyway). There's still some excellent stuff here, including hints at future plots coming from Ninjette and Thugboy's troubled pasts. There are also a few really good character moments, like the final story, which features Emp performing a real, satisfying act of heroism. Adam Warren's wacky humor and endless stream of ideas are intact, and his art is mindblowingly good, full of dynamic, exciting action; perfectly-realized expressions; and just plain fun designs. And I'm still happy to see a realistically-portrayed relationship, with scenes like this:



I can't get get enough of Adam Warren's comics; I wish the wait wasn't so long between volumes. Here's hoping the plot/character progression picks up a bit in the next installment. I'll be waiting eagerly to find out.

Bonus! Schrödinger's Catgirl!

Out with the old, in with this week's new

Ah, I couldn't really throw out The Old. I love The Old! Really, The New has a lot to live up to.

External plug time! New reviews up at SBC: I Killed Adolf Hitler (Jason's new, excellent book) and Parade (With Fireworks) #2. The latter is a collaborative review with Martijn Form, which was a lot of fun to do.

New comics this week (Wednesday, 10/10/07):

Runaways #28

The latest issue of Joss Whedon's behind-schedule run on the book. I'm starting to lose interest, Marvel, and I was a big fan of this series. You're losing readers here! Last issue saw some neat time-travel hijinx, so I hope that sort of thing keeps going. I predict that I'll drop the book after issue 30 (I think that's Whedon's last one).

Atomic Robo #1

I think this is the first title from Red 5 Comics, a new publisher that looks to be putting out some interesting stuff. This looks pretty sweet, a "retro-future" story about, well, you can guess by the title. Nice artwork; I will probably buy the first issue if my shop gets it.

Black Summer #3

More violence among murderous, assassination-minded superheroes. I hope it stays good. Or gets better, even!

Brawl #1

Dean Haspiel and Michael Fiffe face off, pitting their Act-I-Vate comics against each other in this "creature romance double feature". It looks to be a really good series, and it's only three issues long, so it should be short and sweet. Here's a preview.

Clockwork Girl #1

Another series with nice-looking art (preview here). This issue is only 99 cents (according to the release list at Midtown Comics), so it should be a good sampler to help me (and others) decide whether it'll be worth reading.

Yearbook Stories 1976-1978

I read a little bit of this in Top Shelf's sampler that they recently put out, and it looks pretty good. It contains two autobiographical stories by Top Shelf's publisher and editor, Chris Staros, with art by Bo Hampton and Rich Tomasso. Only $4.00! Here's the book's page, with an eight-page preview.

Powers vol. 10

I think this collection goes right up through the point when I dropped the book. I might get the next one, but it comes out so irregularly, that might not drop until 2009 or so. It's still a pretty good series (the only Bendis material I'm interested in these days), but I just can't keep the plot in my memory when I'm only getting a chunk of it every five months. Anyway, this one is still worth getting if you're a fan. That's all.

Spider-Man Fantastic Four TPB

Good, old-school superhero comics, and also Mike Wieringo's last work, I think. It's a fun story, so if you enjoy angst-free action; cool, cartoony art; or Jeff Parker's jaunty stories (yeah, check out my alliteration!), read it! Here's my review of the fourth issue.

Absolute Sandman vol. 2

I have many of the issues of the series, but I'm tempted to shell out the bucks for this oversized, super-fancy remastering of the series. It looks pretty awesome. I could get a lot of other comics for $100 though...

Garth Ennis Chronicles of Wormwood TPB

Also a good series, especially if you like sacrilege and Garth Ennis-style gross-out humor. Good times. My review of the final issue of the series can be found here, in the same post as the Spider-Man/Fantastic Four review I already linked to. Redundancy ahoy!

James Sturm’s America HC

Collecting several of Sturm's books: The Revival, Hundreds of Feet Below Daylight, and The Golem's Mighty Swing. I haven't read any of them, but excerpts I've seen look really good, and Sturm is pretty well-regarded. I might have to check it out. Here's the page for the book on publisher Drawn & Quarterly's site, where you can find a preview.

Eating Steve GN

A horror/comedy thing from Slave Labor Graphics, I think. The description sounds interesting: "Jill tried to eat her boyfriend's brain. That's the kind of thing that just kills a relationship, so Jill is left on her own to try to understand what happened. Why was she so overcome with the urge to eat Steve's brain? A move to the countryside means Jill is able to re-assess her life and start anew. It also means that, without the television that was once ever-present in her life, Jill doesn't see the news reports about what seems to be a spreading zombie plague." But it's by J. Marc Schmidt, who did Egg Story, which I heard was good, but I've never read since the simplistic art kind of turned me off. But, hell, it might be worth a look. Here's a preview.

Town Boy TP

Ooh, the new book by Lat! It's a sequel to Kampung Boy, which I really liked. I will have to read it as soon as I can.

Yotsuba Manga Vol 5 TP

This is a series about which I hear nothing but praise. Still, I've never read it. Someday I might get into it, but right now I'm woefully behind the times.

King Of Thorn Vol 2 GN

What? A manga series that I'm actually caught up on?!? Well, that ends as soon as this volume comes out. But I'll probably get it pretty soon, so I can be caught up on something.

Gyo Vol 1 GN 2nd Edition

Last week saw a reissue of Uzumaki, and now here's Gyo. I gotta get these; my shelves long for their creepy weirdness!

Manga Messiah GN

I guess this comes out in the direct market (I've already seen it in bookstores) this week. I don't actually recommend it, but I'll take the opportunity to point to my review (at MangaLife). Yeah, I'm lame that way.
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And I think that's everything for the week! Probably not too much money to spend, unless I get some of those manga volumes. Anyway, more review(s) should be up tonight, along with an announcement of sorts about my continued notoriety. Be there!

Last of the Independents: I sure hope it's not

I.e., I hope it's not the last "independent" comic by Matt Fraction. Anyway:

Last of the Independents
Written by Matt Fraction
Art by Kieron Dwyer



With this graphic novel, which came out a few years ago from AiT/PlanetLar, Matt Fraction proved that he's got more in him than zany science fiction stories (well, I think Casanova proves that already, since while it's crazy, it has a lot of heart, but that's beside the point). Here, he teams with Kieron Dwyer to give us a Sam Peckinpah/Sergio Leone-styled action/crime story (he thanks both of them, along with other role models, in the acknowledgments) about a bank robbery with unintended (and violent) consequences.

The heist is masterminded by Cole, a character cast in the Clint Eastwood or Charles Bronson mold as a middle-aged badass looking to make a big score and settle down. Joining him are his girlfriend Justine (or "Juicy") and Billy, a big man-child who isn't too bright but has a way with mechanical stuff (especially explosives). It seems like a "routine" robbery, but they get more than they bargained for when they find a huge amount of cash in the bank's vault; this was the spoils of a money-laundering job perpetrated by some gangsters who own a Las Vegas casino. Soon enough, scores of mafia goons are descending on Cole's small theme park, which shares a name with the book itself. Lots of action, violence, and gore result, in good crime-movie fashion. It's a satisfying ride, with some incredible action scenes involving horses, shotguns, planes, gasoline, dynamite, and plenty of swearing.

It's really nicely done, with well-drawn characters and nice, sepia-toned art. Fraction includes plenty of little touches, like Cole and Justine's relationship, or Billy's love of words (he insists on calling the place they ditch their car the "rendezvous", even though they're not meeting anybody). The matter-of-fact captions are great, introducing or underlining scenes with simple statements like "Cole and Justine in love" or "Justine thinks about meeting Cole". It's all part of the effective presentation of the gritty atmosphere.

There are some great action scenes too, with Dwyer providing dynamic layouts, like this page from a horse/car chase:



That lower-right panel, of Justine swinging up onto her horse, is wonderful. Dwyer knew the exact moment to capture for the maximum feeling of motion and speed. The whole book is like this, and the non-action scenes are just as dynamic, with faces that convey the characters' personalities as much as the dialogue does:



So it a good book, short and sweet (96 pages for $12.95), nice story, nice art, a look at the development of Matt Fraction's writing; what's not to like? Check it out, if you missed it the first time around.
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Bonus! Tangents and speculation about symbolism and stuff [with SPOILERS]:

One thing that struck me about the book was some of what seemed like symbolism for the comics industry. The book's title, for one thing, seems like it might be referring to its publisher, a well-known independent purveyor of comics. Larry Young has a bit of a reputation as a maverick publisher, so he seems somewhat analogous to Cole. Billy is good at mechanics and explosives, like the mainstream superhero publishers, with their slick production values and violent stories, but he's not too smart. He remarks that his favorite place is the corporate theme park that put Cole's establishment out of business, and he wants to use his share of the money to buy it and have it all for himself. Maybe he's a self-critical analogue of Fraction, who likes words, is good at constructing a story, and wants to work on the big icons of comics. Of course, at the end, Billy dies, and the "corporate" mafia thugs are all defeated, so maybe that's a triumph of the independent over the mainstream. Despite the title, this book and this company are far from the end of independent comics.

Or maybe I'm just reading too much into it. I've been known to do that too.

Thanks to Larry Young for the complimentary copy.

Buddha: A bit less like Jesus this time

Man, I haven't been updating much this week, have I? Less to write about, I guess, although I've managed to finish several things, and I've got plenty more on the "to read" pile, so expect a veritable flood of content. Like this:

(I suppose I should warn that there are some SPOILERS here, since I summarize the story, but hopefully it won't ruin the book for anybody)

Buddha, volume 2: The Four Encounters
By Osamu Tezuka



In this volume, Osamu Tezuka starts to get into the life of his titular character, revealing the first installment to be setup, showing the beginnings of some of the characters and introducing the political landscape to set the stage for the main tale. There's plenty of setup here also, with hints at events to come and characters that will play important roles, but the volume is mostly focused on the early years and young adulthood of Siddhartha, would would become the great religious figure.

He has a long way to go to get to that point though; when we first see him, he's a morose ten-year-old prince, uninterested in the naked dancing girls in his personal playroom and prone to asking tough questions of his teachers. He rails against the class system, not understanding why he is so privileged while others suffer. He also becomes fascinated by death, wondering what happens when living things die. Some of these questions are answered by a wandering holy man, although these answers seem to raise more questions. The holy man also reveals that Siddhartha has psychic powers, giving Tezuka a chance to deploy the trippy visuals he loves so much:



Jump forward in time a few years, and Siddhartha is even more tired of his pointless life. He's not interested in the political trappings of his father's country, and he feels cut off from the real world, sheltered in a palace. So he runs away, hooking up with the vagabond Tatta from the first volume, who is now all grown up, wandering the countryside and fending for himself. He's the one with the powers to possess animals, and he often uses the ability to hunt. They set off on a journey down the river, picking up a third traveler, a young woman named Migaila. Sure enough, she and Siddhartha fall in love, but Siddhartha can't handle the brutality of the outside world. After seeing too many horrible scenes, he returns to the palace.

Siddhartha's father is none too happy about his son's "vacation", and he decides to conspire to keep him tied down by marrying him off to Yashodara, a princess from a nearby kingdom. Siddhartha isn't interested, since he loves someone else, but he can never be with Migaila because they are from different social classes. So he invokes a tradition in which any warrior can challenge him, with the winner getting to marry the princess. Bandaka, the dead-eyed evil guy from the first volume, returns to try, and so does Migaila, in a plan to defeat the prince, reveal herself as a woman, and show the ridiculousness of the contest and the arranged marriage. As you can probably imagine in a story like this, the scheme doesn't go well, serving only to permanently separate Siddhartha and Migaila, give Bandaka a grudge against the kingdom and a lust for power, and ensure that Siddhartha gets married to Yashodara.

This all makes life more miserable for Siddhartha, and he begins to plan to run away and become a monk, fulfilling the destiny that the old holy man predicted for him. But unfortunately, Yashodara gets pregnant, making him feel like he should stay, and he feels obligated to try to lead the people, since they are feeling political and military pressure from the nearby Kosala, a much more powerful kingdom. He ends up spending all his time meditating, which drives his father and all the kingdom's officials crazy. They concoct various schemes to try to get him to stop, but this only solidifies his resolve, making him sure that his rightful place in the world is as a holy man, not a king.

Eventually, he can't stand it any more, and he leaves, escaping his father's attempts to keep him confined. This makes him kind of a deadbeat dad, but I guess those human concerns are beneath someone like him. It is a bit offputting though. That's the end of his story for this volume, and I'm sure we'll get to see his enlightenment and the eventual creation of Buddhism. But that will have to wait for future volumes. This volume sees several other peripheral events occur, including the formation of a lower-caste resistance by Tatta and Migaila and their meeting with Naradatta, the animalistic monk from the first volume; the story of King Prasenajit, the ruler of Kosala, and his attempt to produce an heir; and Bandaka's brief stint as the ruler of Kapilavastu, his rejection by Yashodara, the birth of his son, Devadatta, and his eventual fate. All these threads will surely have real significance in the future; it's amazing to watch Tezuka build this large, expansive cast.

He still keeps the story entertaining though, with plenty of action and intrigue, and lots of slapstick humor. There is quite a bit less breaking of the fourth wall this time around; metafictional jokes seem to be limited to occasional references to modern technology (when a character has a nightmare, somebody tells her she has been watching too many sci-fi and horror movies). In fact, there is a bit less humor in general; instead, the focus seems to be on the drama of the story. But that's okay, it's an amazing tale, and Tezuka delivers it like nobody else could.

His art is as incredible as always, with dynamic page layouts and fluid, cartoony figures that really sell the drama and emotion of their situations. In the first volume, there were lots of scenes of animals, but there are not as many here; instead, the focus seems to be nature, with gorgeous splashes of lush greenery:



Even though the art is black and white, these pages seem colorful and full of life:



And don't forget the beautiful landscapes:



It's an excellent volume of what I'm sure will continue to be a great series. I can't wait to read more of it. In fact, I can't wait to read more of any Tezuka books I can get my hands on. I have yet to read something of his that I don't like.
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Bonus: cameos by Tezuka regulars:



Mustachio!



Big Nose!



And the man himself!
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More tomorrow? I hope so! And I should probably have some stuff up at Silver Bullet Comics soon.

Has he come to save the world...or destroy it?

My latest review is up over at MangaLife, and it's a look at the book above, an attempt by Christian publisher Tyndale to enter the manga market. It was an odd book, so I figured I would share some thoughts that I wasn't able to squeeze into the review. Think of this as the appendix or something:

• The book is an odd combination of Japanese and Western comics. It's not really OEL/global manga, since the creators are Japanese, but the style is more American, with color, lots of captions and exposition, and completely different pacing than most manga. It makes for a different experience.
• Tyndale's press materials tout the book as more authentic than other Christian manga-style books, since it "features art made by some of Japan's most popular manga artists." But they don't actually mention the creators in the press materials or even on the book cover; they're relegated to the inside front cover along with the copyright information.
• As for the creators themselves, I credited script-writer Hidenori Kumai and artist Kozumi Shinozawa in the review, but there are others listed: assistant artist Atsuko Ogawa, art director Chihaya Tsutsumi, supervisor Kenichi Nakagawa, and co-ordinator Toshikazu Iwaoka. Out of all of them, the only one I could find any information about was Shinozawa, who illustrated a shojo series called Gin No Sato.
• Also in the press release: the announcement of Tyndale's manga line, with the next entry after Manga Messiah being Manga Bible, a full New Living Translation of the Bible with three 32-page color manga sections. Over the next few years, they plan to follow with Manga Mutiny (Fall 2008), Manga Metamorphosis (Fall 2009), Manga Malech (Fall 2010), and Manga Messengers (Fall 2011). I love the crazy titles on those (they sure love alliteration), and while they could turn out to be stodgy and boring, I'm hoping for something along the lines of the oft-celebrated (on the comics internet, anyway) Spire Christian Comics. That would be awesome.
  
• I tried to keep my personal views out of the matter, but I should mention that I'm a former Christian who grew up in a pretty fundamental family, and thus I've heard and read these stories many, many times. I was struck by a weird vibe to the material, as if the creators were trying to reconcile any differences or contradictions between the four gospels. Also, they walk kind of a fine line between including some of the odder elements of the story (there's lots of demon possession, for instance) and smoothing them out to make it more acceptable in modern times (dialogue is written in a fairly contemporary style). I don't know if this sort of thing will put off anybody else (whether Christian or not), but it seemed kind of strange to me, in a way that I'm finding hard to articulate.
• The pictures in the review came out strange; I think the guys at MangaLife resize them to a lower resolution, so they don't look very good. So, if anyone wants to see better-quality versions, I've put them up on Flickr.
• And speaking of MangaLife, they asked me to give a letter grade to the book reflecting what the intended audience might thing. I'm not too sure of the value of such a grade (I review judge works by what I thought, not by what I imagine someone else might think), but I acquiesced and said B+. Unfortunately, they put that right at the top of the review, like that was my official score. I'm not too fond of letter grades (or stars, or numerical scores, or whatever), but that doesn't really reflect the review; by my opinion of the work, I gave it a C. So that's the real grade, for anybody who cares besides me.

And I think that's enough blabbering from me about this subject. Check out the review, if you haven't already, and I suppose you could check out the book if you want, but unless you're Christian or really curious about manga in color, it's probably not worth your while.
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By the way, you might have noticed this already, but I've decided to start going by my full name in order to better distinguish myself from Newsarama's Matt Brady. So it's Matthew J. Brady from now on. Ha!