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This star means that the title or site is recommended especially for younger teens
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Updated March 2005
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¿Dreams, love, and hopeÞî are what this pet shop sells. So says Count D, the mysterious owner of a outwardly unassuming but inwardly labyrinthine pet shop in Los Angeles° Chinatown. The pet shop and its pets are connected to an inordinate number of unsolved murders and mysteries, and hotheaded Detective Leon Orcot is convinced that Count D is providing something a little more dangerous, and probably illegal, to his clients than pets. The problem is he never seems to be able to pin down any sort of evidence, and as his life gets more and more intertwined with the shop and its owner, Orcot finds it more and more difficult to separate dreams from reality. The pets from the shop are certainly powerful for their owners, but each should remember that getting what you deserve and getting what you want can be two very different things. read more... The Series reviews by robin |
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Batman has always had an edge of melodrama, but Brian Azzarello has really taken that to heart. Batman spends the better part of this book wandering around Gotham solving the kidnapping and death of the young sister of a gangster while comparing himself to God. It°s not that I don°t think that Batman thinks of himself as godlike, particularly when it comes to Gotham°s night. However, I find it heavy handed to have an actual written inner monologue confirming that fact. It°s a case where I think ¿show don°t tellî would have been better employed. The artwork also didn°t do much for me in this volume. The colors are gorgeous, but the people all look like they°ve been hit with the ugly stick and then distorted. I°m a fan of Batman, but this isn°t a volume I°m recommending. review by petra |
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Normally I would be hard pressed to say anything bad about something written by Brian Michael Bendis, but apparently I°ve just found the exception that proves the rule. This is not to say that Ultimate Fantastic Four was bad, it just lacked spark. In Marvel°s continuing line of Ultimate Universe stories this volume establishes the background of the Fantastic Four. The four main characters è Richard Reed, Susan Reed (nee Storm), Johnny Storm, and Ben Grim è are introduced. Richard and Ben are mismatched high school friends, the brain and the jock. When Richard is tapped by the government to work for the specialized technology development group he escapes to New York where he meets Sue and her brother Johnny, and his mentor Professor Storm, Sue°s father. Richard°s ongoing experiments with accessing alternate dimensions ends up going horribly wrong and alters the ´fantastic four° giving them superhuman powers è Richard is elastic man, Susan can turn herself invisible, Johnny is the human torch, and Ben (visiting his old friend by chance) is turned into stone. This is as good an introduction to the Fantastic Four canon as any, but I can°t say that I°m desperate for the next volume. The art has Kubert°s usual elegant style and gorgeous color palate. review by petra |
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While this series continues to focus on Subaru°s caseload, clues are starting to mount pointing to that fact that Seishiro has a hidden and undoubtedly threatening agenda in his relations with the Sumeragi family. In this volume, CLAMP hints at the X/1999 future as Subaru gets entangled with a group of teenage girls meddling in dark magic. Each is convinced that they are the powerful chosen ones, ¿destined to be part of the end of the worldî (as the characters, including Subaru and Seishiro, in X/1999 in fact will be). These girls, bullied and neglected in their lives, escape using 900 numbers, the equivalent of chat rooms over the phone lines. They are discovered by the fact that they°ve been unleashing spells in calling phone numbers that end in 1999. Subaru is determined to find them and stop them before, due to attempting magic they don°t understand, they unwittingly release demons on themselves è the balance must be maintained, and these amateurs have no idea the payment required for the spells they cast. read more... reviews by robin The Series |
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Anyone here a closet fan of Quantum Leap? Raise your hands. I admit, I loved that show beyond all reason, and would frequently catch reruns whenever possible. Who didn°t wonder what it would be like to travel to another place and time and influence the course of history? Well, CLAMP has decided to take on an ambitious and exhilarating project for any fans of their work that jives with Quantum Leap°s simple premise leading to a myriad of stories. These master manga creators have decided to take all of their worlds, speculate on how they might°ve gone differently, and let loose their imaginations in creating just as many alternatives as they can come up with. The framework for Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles takes its cues from CLAMP°s early series, Cardcaptor Sakura. As with every page in Tsubasa, though, everything°s a bit skewed. Here is Sakura, Syaoran, and their fellows, but Sakura is a noble princess and Syaoran a common but brilliant son of an archaeologist. As the series progresses, many familiar faces will reappear, from every CLAMP series, except that this time around they°ll beÞdifferent. In the end, Tsubasa is an exciting way to explore the ¿what ifÞî scenarios so many readers like to ponder about their favorite series while still following a new storyline with new characters. read more... reviews by robin The Complete Series |
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Simultaneously released with Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles, XXXholic is nonetheless a very different series. While the folks in Tsubasa are jetting from dimension to dimension searching a princesses° lost memories, XXXholic focuses in on a few characters staying very much in the same place. The drama comes from the characters and their, shall I say, dubious profession. XXXholic, not at all pornographic despite the title, follows the professional trade of Yuko, a space-time witch whose general purpose in life is to trade in wishes. She provides all manner of magical gifts and objects to those in needÞfor a price. read more... The Complete Series reviews by robin |
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While I find the trend of American publishers attempting to capitalize on the booming manga market by trimming books down to ¿mangaî size and artists mimicking the manga style frequently offputting, a few people get it right. Artist Jennifer Quick and writers Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir are some of those creators. Once in a Blue Moon presents a very classic fantasy plot: a girl, Aeslin Finn, grew up listening to her parents° stories of a magical kingdom, Avalon, defended by the beautiful dragon knight and her beloved prince of the land. Her father°s death brings a sudden end to this fantasy life as her mother determines the time for fairy tales is over. Aeslin grows up with happy memories of her childhood stories until the day she is given the sequel volume to those adventures è she°s pulled literally into the world of the book and discovers not only that the whole world of Avalon is real, but also that she is the destined next Dragon Knight. Adding to the confusion, it turns out this particular destiny seems to run in the family. An ordinary girl thrown into a fantsic world is a common tale around the world, and her newfound companions, from a troublemaker playwright to a rebellious but good-hearted bandit, are not particularly new. Nonetheless, Once in a Blue Moon promises a fun ride through a magical world akin to any number of girl-centric fantasies popular in the prose world. Unique touches are included in how the story flips back and forth between the two worlds, giving both our world and Avalon°s equal weight in the story, and the plot promises to get more complex in future volumes. The art is done in manga style, though the format is more traditionally western, and the character design and world-creation all meld together into an interesting world. review by robin |
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One of my favorite animated films growing up was the Disney experiment Fantasia è now acknowledged a classic, though at the time of release it was famously shunned by audiences too used to fluffy talking animals and melodious princesses. For me, the idea of pairing great music with the free reign of animators° imaginations seems a match made in heaven. In the exhilarating, ordinary, magical, and charming stories of the Flight anthology, the authors are inspired by a similar idea è get a bunch of comics creators together and give them an idea to play with: flight. And that°s it è no grand requirements, no expectations, just whatever flight means to them, from traveling home to glimpsing a pegasus. Therein lies its genius è by allowing the authors this freedom, imaginations soar and readers can gather glimpses of others° dreamscapes, no matter how momentary the visit. As with any anthology, some segments are more succesful than others, but overall this collection allows its artists and creators to shine. Lead idea man Kazu Kibuishi°s ¿Maiden Voyageî featuring his character Copper takes a straightforward but engaging route tracking the building of a plane by two optimistic friends who may or may not have the skills to make metal fly. ¿I wishÞî by Vera Brusgol gives a teen girl the gift of wings and reflects on the ordinary and extraordinary combining with little fanfare and a lot of yearning. ¿Paper Stringî by Jen Wang, created from traditional comic art combined with collage, tells of two strangers in the same class who discover unexpected common ground through their love of kites. ¿Deep Blueî by Phil Craven takes you into the imagination of a penguin longing to get away from his overcrowded iceberg. It is especially gratifying to see the work of so many upcoming artists, average age twenty-four, fill these pages è no giant comics names overshadow the collection, and in the end that°s for the best. They all stand on their own merits, and from the view, we can all anticipate a future of excellent work to come. review by robin |
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Have you ever imagined what it would be like to live on an alien world? Have you ever dreamed you were somewhere else, in a place where all the plants, people, and animals looked different? What if one day you found yourself trapped there? Noriko°s dad is a science fiction writer so her friends, who are all too familiar with her overactive imagination, hardly give a second thought to the odd dreams she keeps mentioning. Noriko herself is certainly not prepared to wake up in an isolated wood filled with flesh-eating slugs. The appearance of a beautiful swordsman who doesn°t speak a word of English (or Japanese for that matter) is hardly reassuring! Meanwhile, Izark Kia Tarj is scouring the forest of his homeland to capture the ¿Awakening,î a being that has been foretold to unleash a terrible evil into his world. When the Awakening turns out to be a frightened middle-school girl from another dimension, Izark finds himself saddled with the task of protecting Noriko from warring factions who want to use the Awakening for political gain. As Noriko struggles to get her bearings and learn an unfamiliar language, a chase begins through woods and caverns that tests Izark°s fighting skills to the limit. Fans of Hayao Miyazaki°s Nausica¯ cycle will find another tale of war, politics, and strange creatures from a different universe, while those who prefer real-life drama will enjoy watching Noriko°s attempts to make sense of her new life away from friends, family, and all that is familiar. reviews by alison |
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In elementary school Megumi Amatsuka was a young hoodlum whose only ambition was to become ¿the manliest man on earth.î When he ran afoul of a sorcerer and relied on his martial arts skills to get him out of a sticky situation, Megumi°s future was changed forever and he was transformed intoÞ Megumi Amatsuka, a ¿woman among women.î Six years later, Megumi°s the hottest girl in her new high school but still can°t resign herself to her new gender, preferring to solve problems with her fists rather than admit she°s going to be a girl forever. Enter Genzo Soga, a teenage gangster who rules the school with an iron fist, doling out beatings to the boys and broken hearts to the girls in equal measure. Soga sees Megumi as just another pretty face until she decks him with a punch. Under the sardonic eye of her best friend Miki, Megumi tries to fend off Genzo°s advances while constantly chafing at the restrictions and complexities of social life from a woman°s point of view. From behind a black eye Soga starts to rethink his bad boy image as well, wondering what lengths a guy has to go to to win the heart if this feisty ¿angel.î Silly title aside, Cheeky Angel is a good read for its snappy dialogue, its enchanting fight scenes, and most of all for Nishimori°s astute take on high school gender relations. How does a boy communicate? With kicks and punches. How does a girl get her point across? Always with words. Of course it°s never that simple. As Megumi discovers, trying to learn girliness like a second language will leave you with more questions than answers about girls and about boys. reviews by alison |
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If you enjoyed Mars, or like the traditional girl-hero, boy in the wings, fun high school drama, go read Othello. Go go go, because this is heaps of fun! Othello (no relation to anything by Shakespeare so far) centers around Yaya, a girl with some rotten friends who°s way too much of a pushover. Yaya knows it, but she°s also lonely and the idea of leaving the only friends she has behind really scares her. What to do?! New Year°s day of the year 2000, Yaya receives a letter from the past: specifically, a letter that the seven-year-old Yaya once wrote to herself. In the letter Yaya reminds her older self of the dreams she had and the games she played with her mother before she died. Yaya and her mother would talk about her dream of being a pop-singer and Yaya would imagine that, with the aid of a magical makeup compact, she could transform into a magical, pop-singer heroine called Nana. Years later, as Yaya reads her letter and looks at the makeup compact that came with it, she feels more than a bit lost. Yaya gave up her dreams of becoming a singer and no longer knows exactly where she°s going. Soon after this, Yaya is pushed to the limit by her ¿friends.î She forms an alternate personality and begins transforming into Nana, who is everything Yaya isn°t. She°s tough, she sticks up for herself, and most importantly, she enacts justice when Yaya is wronged. The only catch is that Yaya doesn°t know this is happening! Othello: Volume One ends with Yaya still in the dark, but wondering a bit about these memory gaps she°s been having. It also ends with a rather adorable musician/classmate showing an interest in Yaya and two very confused and dangerously annoyed ¿friends.î I have no idea what°ll happen next, but I can venture a few guesses. Either way, I°m definitely looking forward to finding Volume Two. review by katie |
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The Ring is, at its heart, a traditional ghost story. Yes, it has been modernized somewhat è there literally is a ghost in the machine, in this case a television set è but it is traditional in that it relies on things like atmosphere, mood, and setting to create suspense. Much of what passes for horror nowadays is about as scary as a rerun of Quincy; if you°ve got a strong stomach and a liking for power tools, you°re set. Traditional horror relies on tickling the more primal parts of our brains, where the basic fears dwell è darkness, loneliness, the unknown. The plot: rumors spread through Japan of a cursed video; if you watch it, you will die exactly one week later. Reiko Asakawa, a reporter, hears the stories and is curious. She tracks down the video, watches it, and immediately wishes she hasn°t. Hoping to solve the video°s riddle, Reiko makes a copy and shows it to her ex-husband (at his suggestion, not hers), and he agrees to help her. But the clock is ticking... Teens who like horror will pick up The Ring; it is different enough from the American version of the movie to sustain interest. Also, there is a second volume (not reviewed here), so readers can learn what happens after the movie ends. Recommended. review by George |
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Raven is back . . .maybe. Or maybe it°s something else that°s wearing Raven°s shape. Or maybe . . . any way you cut it, it°s probably not good news. Raven is supposed to be dead, several times over, and the last time was supposed to be the final time; her body was destroyed thus freeing her spirit. But, perhaps not. Geoff Johns does a very good job of summarizing Raven°s origin and downfall for the new Teen Titans and the new reader alike. Once again Johns manages to describe the tension between the new, young, Teen Titans who only know Raven as a negative and destructive force, and the older original Teen Titans who knew her first as their friend and were witness to her struggle against forces that were looking to use her because of her heritage. This volume also includes what is possibly one of the single funniest exchanges about hiding new batmobiles in batarang budgets (which is larger than you might think). The art work here has the same vibrant colors and dynamic movement of the first volume. review by petra |
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Only the Ringer Finger Knows, based on a prose novel, is one of the best titles for introducing the romantic subgenre of shonen-ai/yaoi (boy's love) in any library. The story follows Wataru Fujii, an ordinary junior struggling through high school and passing the time tracking the trend of students using rings as cues: couples wear matched rings on their left ring finger, singles wear rings on their right middle finger. Senior Yuichi Kazuki, admired throughout the school as handsome, kind and popular, is the object of every girl°s affection. Every time a girl screws up the courage to ask him out, however, he politely declines. Wataru can°t care less until he runs into Kazuki and the two boys discover they wear matching rings. Wataru is flabbergasted but relatively unfazed until Kazuki snipes contemptuously at him and rushes out of the room. Irritated but curious as to how someone so universally acknowledged as kind could be so rude, Wataru attempts to figure out where he took a wrong step. To complicate things, Wataru°s sister appears to succumb to Kazuki°s charms and sends Wataru on a romantic errand to Kazuki, starting a sequence of more confusing confrontations. In many ways this romance falls into the traditional pattern of two characters who can°t do anything but provoke each other until they realize the reason they°re so prickly is not repulsion, but attraction. These characters act like teenagers, full of awkwardness and confused by their own hormones, and the rocky road to love is understandable once all of the pieces fall into place and confessions are made. In terms of content, some steamy sexual tension and a few good kisses are all you get, but it°s just the right amount for the story. The art here is above par and the focus on slender hands and fingers both set off the rings as key plot points and gestures, ratcheting up the tension in a single touch. You understand why Wataru shivers. review by robin |
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What makes a doll different from a beautiful human girl? Maybe not as much as you thinkÞ Somewhere in a big city, behind an unprepossessing storefront, a mysterious man sells ¿plant dolls,î living organisms that look just enough like real little girls to cause no end of trouble. Once they are ¿awakenedî by a patron they take a fancy to, the dolls subsist happily on a diet of milk, cookies, and unconditional love. A plant doll may seem like a new start for a lonely widower, a sister for a lonely orphan, or a gambler°s good-luck charm, but if you want one of these delicate creatures to smile at you, you may have to pay with more than money. Most of the short stories in this volume center around the doll shop and it°s owner, but the last two are pure ghost stories reminiscent of Charlotte Br¶nte and Edgar Allen Poe. As astute readers may have already noticed, Dolls is eerily similar to Matsuri Akino°s Petshop of Horrors series, minus the crime fighting subplots. For fans of Count D and his menagerie of beasties, Dolls makes for darker and equally interesting reading. reviews by alison |
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Robert Kirkman°s excellent series just keeps getting better with this next installment, though in this volume the story takes a dark, gory turn that guarantees this title a place in the teen collection. Mark Grayson continues to grow up a superhero°s son è trading a social life (and a good night°s sleep) for saving the world, again, a bit too often for his taste. Happily, he°s inherited his father°s super speed and impeccable timing, so he°s learning to balance it all. The tongue-in-cheek references continue in this title, most notably in the thinly veiled superhero team that just happen to resemble as certain Justice League we all know. The light moments of humor also keep the story framed in a teenage state of mind è the sequence of Mark catching up on his sleep over the weekend is priceless. Cory Walker°s art continues to hit just the right note of superhero bulk softened by few shadows and quirky lines perfectly capturing expressions. In this volume, however, the story arc takes a surprising turn è a string of gruesome murders of high-ranking superheroes show the world to be a fragile and out of control place. In Mark°s daily life, violence starts overshadowing the buzz of being a superhero. On top of that, Mark°s father is far from blameless in the violence, though only the reader is privy to this knowledge. The tension between the picture of a man who seemed to be the perfect dad and the world°s hero suddenly revealed to be a callous brute who°s behaving worse than an archvillain is startling. This twist shows that despite this world°s bright palette, the darkness is not far beneath the surface. The finish of this collection is not really an end è just a cliffhanger that turns the world upside down and intimates more upheaval to come. Although readers may be surprised by the shadows covering this volume, the telling is by no means clunky or sensational è Kirkman is telling a traditional story with a flair for understanding how to keep the ordinary in extraordinary experiences, whether it be fighting alien conquerors or confronting dangerous family secrets. review by robin |
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The Katellan year is 12544: the year the human race was destroyed by an intergalactic warlord and Earth°s time ceased to have any meaning. Abathor thought he had eradicated every trace of life from Earth, but Dr. Forcilla of the race of Makers knows differently. The Makers, scientists and scholars from a distant planet, draw hope from an ancient prophecy: one day humans will reappear to take revenge on Abathor and rid the universe of his reign of terror. Working from scraps of human genetic material rescued from Earth, patching missing DNA with the Makers° own genes, Forcilla at last sees his dream come true in Halle, who he hopes will be the cornerstone of a new race of humans. 20 years later, Halle is ready to strike out on her own. Breaking away from the Makers, she sets out in a stolen ship (with an interesting passenger) to find the mythical planet Zendra, rumored to be the last remaining human outpost in the galaxy. Both more and less than human, Halle struggles to learn the range of her powers and to understand who and what she really is, always conscious of Abathor°s growing influence, threatening everything she has learned to hold dear. Montiel°s drawings are, in my opinion, more focused on exploding equipment and female anatomy than is necessary for a story that is as much about identity and growing up as it is about battles and intergalactic dominion, but this probably won°t bother most readers. The story as a whole would benefit from less stilted dialogue and drawings with more accurate reference to the facts of human anatomy (admittedly almost a myth in Halle°s age) but its interesting concept will keep readers engaged until the end. reviews by alison |
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Sometime in the early years of the 20th century inventor Sinclair Strong and his wife Susan land on the island of Attabar Teru. The Strongs have come to the island to bring up their son Tomas as the perfect human in accordance with Sinclair°s peculiar scientific vision. Raised in a high-gravity chamber on a special diet of Attabar Teru roots and herbs, Tom grows up muscular, intelligent, and resilient. A tragedy early in the story propels young Tom away from his island home and friends into the outside world, accompanied by his robotic butler Pneuman and his sidekick King Solomon è a talking ape of extraordinary intelligence. Tom quickly makes a name for himself as a superhero in the big cities of 1920s America where new technology gleams, and skyscrapers stretch ever higher. Our hero returns to Attabar Teru as a man grown to marry his childhood friend Dhalua and to raise their daughter Tesla. Now the Strongs fight crime and supervillains as a family, dividing their time between Millennium City and the beaches of Attabar Teru. Unfortunately For Tom, old enemies are no farther away than the click of a time-machine°s button or the quick fingers of a computer hackerÞ and a superhero°s work is never done. reviews by alison |
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The second Tom Strong book doesn°t follow Book 1 chronologically but instead explores various plot threads that are only hinted at in the previous volume. In one episode a young Dhalua waits on Attabar Teru dreaming of Tom until she is visited by a very different kind of vision. A few decades later Tesla is fighting battles on her own and putting her parents° equipment and teaching to good use first to save her own life and later to re-arrange a city that has been tilted 90 degrees to the right by the daughter of one of Tom°s old nemeses. Tom and Tesla spend one issue romping through time and across a variety of parallel universes in pursuit of the evil Dr. Saveen, and Tom°s middle-school fanclub (Strongmen of America) get a hilarious extended cameo in a story of schoolteachers gone wrong. reviews by alison |
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Courtney Crumrin and the Night Things was the witty, creepy, and strangely sweet story of a young misfit transplanted into a world of magic. In Coven of Mystics, Naifeh really brings his grumpy heroine to life. Magic provides Courtney with an escape from the mundane world she hates, and she's not shy about meddling with danger or trying out spells on unsuspecting classmates. She soon meets her match, however, in the form of Miss Crisp. The stern teacher not only makes Courtney do some homework herself, she also opens her eyes to the perils of turning one's back on the world. Readers will be totally engrossed in Courtney's world, where the woods are full of creatures both gentle and nightmarish. Coven of Mystics is full of delights: a midnight meeting where the town's cats choose their new leader, the Council of Elders and their eerie Hall of Wonders, and a beautiful witch suffering from a terrible curse. This final mystery draws both Courtney and Uncle Aloysius out of their isolation when the gentle Skarrow, a night thing and Courtney's first real friend, is wrongly accused of harming the mistress he loved. While she's reckless, moody, and sometimes bratty, Naifeh has also endowed Courtney with a keen mind and a strong sense of justice. In other words, he's made her into a real teen. His beautiful, atmospheric artwork provides a good helping of creepiness to go with his emotionally complex story. Oni Press has rated the series for ages 7 and up, but I consider it an important series for teens; younger children may find the horror too disturbing, and the book's messages will certainly have more meaning for readers 12 and up. review by jen |
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Ted Naifeh's excellent series continues to grow and deepen in Courtney Crumrin and the Twilight Kingdom. When the story opens, Courtney is still experiencing fallout from the dramatic events of Coven of Mystics. Uncle Aloysius has withdrawn even further from the community, and Courtney's magical activities have drawn some unwanted attention. On top of all that, Courtney finds herself attending Saturday school with the children of other witches and warlocks to learn coven history from Miss Crisp. As might be expected, Courtney finds it no easier to fit in here than anywhere else. Worse, she sees a little too much of herself in the class's arrogant and charismatic social leader. Yet Courtney can't just turn her backs on these classmates; when they fail to heed her warnings and turn one of their number into a demon by mistake, Courtney must lead them into the forbidden Twilight Kingdom to reverse the spell. Can she protect them from the forest's dangers? Naifeh's tale grows more powerful with each volume, and Twilight Kingdom has moments of pure heartbreak. It also has moments of happiness, as Courtney finally begins to make peace with the human beings in her life. review by jen |
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Pity the lovelorn teenager! His older brother has married the girl Kazuya Hasukawa has a crush on, dooming him to a lonely life of angst and schoolwork at prestigious Ryokuto Academy. Rather than being allowed to mope in peace over the loss of his first love, Hasukawa is catapulted into the midst of a motley collection of tricksters and ne°er-do-wells who inhabit his new dorm: Greenwood, home of the weirdoes. Like Robin Hood°s merry men, Hasukawa°s hall mates attempt to cheer him upÞ by any means necessary. And so begins another brilliant career in an all-boys school, punctuated by practical jokes, gender-bending roommate hijinks, a haunting, and plenty of homework. Nasu°s sense of humor ranges from the wacky to the completely bizarre, from Valentine°s Day with a bevy of middle-school groupies to a runaway rock star. Hasukawa°s brooding, his roommate Shun°s flighty overtures of friendship, and all the repercussions of a little too much teasing make me feel like I°ve traveled back in time to a high school somewhere between Hogwarts and my own. Here is Greenwood will appeal to fans of comedy and pretty-boys alike as its crew of characters blunder towards adulthood. reviews by alison |
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No Man°s Land has ended, but Gotham isn°t back to her normal self yet. The gangs have moved back into town, and there is an increasingly acrimonious divide between those who stayed in Gotham during NML (old gothamites), and those who left Gotham and then returned (deezees). Told by Greg Rucka, which is a pretty solid recommendation for any book, and accompanied by gorgeous two-toned artwork this is an interesting look at what happens next. The end of No Man°s Land is a triumphant reopening of Gotham to the world, but Batman: Evolution shows that by no means does that mean that all of Gotham°s problems have been solved. review by petra |
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Commissioner Gordon has been shot. The GPD suspect Catwoman, but the Batfamily have their doubts since guns aren°t really her style. Nightwing, Robin, Batgirl and Oracle are all trying to track down Catwoman to ask her what she saw and trying to get to the bottom of who shot Commissioner Gordon. Commissioner Gordon°s shooting has a profound impact on those around him. Oracle is terrified she is going to lose her father. The Gotham PD is out for blood, whether it means breaking a few rules or not. Of all of them, however, it is Batman who is the most lost. Even Alfred°s acidic and unhappy commentary on Batman°s choices don°t seem to be able to push him to action. It°s an interesting and well written story line that is unfortunately not backed up by the artwork which runs the gamut from making everyone look vaguely hung-over to making them all look like puppets. review by petra |
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Gotham has always been Batman°s city; his to protect and his to serve. But, where does that leave Gotham°s police department? Gotham Central is a look at what it means to be a police officer in a city where you only have until nightfall to solve a crime because after the sun goes down it°s Batman°s city and Batman°s collar. Gotham Central puts you inside the GCPD with a Law & Order/Homicide: Life on the Streets feel to it. This title works as both a police procedural, full of partners° camaraderie and jockeying for rank, and as a glimpse into a world dominated by a power no cop can come close to è and archvillains that no regular guy can really survive. Petra wasn°t thrilled with this title through no fault of its own è she°s just not a fan of cop dramas. Robin, on the other hand, is known to watch Law and Order for hours and counts Homicide as one of her favorites shows, and she loved Gotham Central. Both agree Michael Lark°s artwork evokes a noirish feel to Gotham City that compliments the storyline. review by petra |
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Our heroine is Miki, a loud, incredibly strong girl who works for her mother in the family noodle shop. Unfortunately, Miki has a tendency to get massively distracted while on the job. Deliveries go undelivered and customers are bullied out of the shop or scared away by Miki°s displays of temper. And believe me, she has a temper. As someone strong enough to throw grown men, Miki is a force to be reckoned with. All in all, she is not doing the best job working for her mother and getting the noodles to the customers. Overall, the idea behind Noodle Fighter Miki is incredibly fun. Miki is loud, brash, mildly crazy, and quite amusing. However, the story itself moves at a breakneck speed from scene to scene with little to no time spent on setting up a story line or even developing an individual scene. In the first manga alone there are eleven separate stories. Most mangas I°ve encountered have between two and four! After trying to read and understand four or five stories, I was pretty exhausted. I found the stories far too short and, as a result, very confusing. If the writer had taken more time with them, Miki could have been quite enjoyable, but the writer didn°t and ultimately, one large headache later, I recommend that you pass. reviews by katie |
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Revolutionary Girl Utena (both the manga and anime) focuses on Utena, a strong, dynamic heroine who's vowed to become a prince; charging into battle and rescuing those in need. The Utena story centers around her adventures at her new and very mysterious school where students are fighting secret duels over a "prize," a girl named Anthy. The Utena story takes many of the familiar manga tropes-è powerful girls, secret power struggles, and complicated romance-- to a rather dark and mysterious place. It can also be very confusing, because the reader (or viewer) never quite gets a complete picture of what is going on or why. This particular manga is a one-shot based on the Utena movie (cleverly named Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Movie). The movie, aimed at a slightly older audience, is separate from both the original anime and manga. The movie is also rather strange. Stranger, in fact, than the anime and that°s saying a lot. A lot. (WIKIPEDIA has a rather comprehensive Utena entry which may be helpful to those looking for more background.) In my experience people seem to either enjoy Utena°s strangeness or be driven batty by it. Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Adolescence of Utena is a great manga if you°re looking for the text that finally encapsulates the movie, anime, and everything into one package. It gives a much clearer depiction of what happened, why it happened, and where the characters are going afterwards. As someone who°s dabbled in the Utena universe for a long time, these explanations were things I°ve been hoping to receive from the Utena universe for ages. However, I°m not sure this manga will be that satisfying for folks new to the Utena world. The manga goes through many of the canon°s major plot points very rapidly and doesn't put a lot of time or detail into explanations. Also, key character details, revealed over time in the original texts, are thrown in quickly and then left behind. This doesn°t seem like a very effective way to bring someone new into the Utena insanity. This version of Utena°s story also contains some heavy subject matters and dark sexual themes, though nothing too graphic. Ultimately, this manga seems to be something intended for existing fans and not a new audience. Perhaps it would give new readers a nice, broad overview that would make the anime and movie less confusing -- or perhaps it wouldn°t. However, if you are an existing fan and, like me, you°ve dealt with the confusion for ages, I encourage you to check this manga out. reviews by katie |
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At this point, happily, every reviewer in the world seems to have discovered the frank, optimistic, and critical voice of Marjane Satrapi. Persepolis: A Story of a Childhood has become a known title in the book world and is being used, like Maus before it, to show that these graphic novels aren°t just funny books. Although not quite as cohesive as the first volume, this second memoir of Satrapi°s life is no less poignant, hilarious, and galvanizing. When we last saw her, Marjane was on her way to Vienna to discover a life beyond Iran°s ever more constraining society. In Vienna she discovers all manner of hijinks to get involved in, from boys to weed, but she can only blot out her family and her troubled homeland for so long. In many ways, the author°s young adulthood is not unlike any other adventuresome teen°s progress, and Satrapi presents her adolescence with the same wit and critical eye that she used to delve into her childhood. Here she is more lost, more unsure of herself as youthful certainty gets slowly eroded by reality. Despite the appeal of remaining oblivious in the relative safety of Europe, she eventually chooses to return to Iran. Her life there is full of everyday struggles to maintain her independence while trying to navigate her way toward love and marriage. Most of all, she trys to find a way to understand her countrymen°s juggling of history, national pride, religious piety and hypocrisies both large and small. In the end, she knows she must recall her own voice before she can criticize others è thankfully for all of us reading her tale, she did just that. Her art is just as crisp and suits the topic so well that it°s hard to imagine anyone else melding word and image so organically. review by robin |
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I must admit, by the end of this series I am less enamored of its wackiness and more overwhelmed by its creepiness. I still root for the lovers to finally admit their feelings, and the series inane hilarity has its moments, but the final volume°s scattered storylines and slapdash finish left me less than satisfied. Mitsuo°s family decides to move away from the city, and so, determined to stay with Hasunuma, Mikuni, and Echi, Mitsuo starts working at the only job he can find: a (female) maid. Of course, he ends up working for the bewildering Sanjaya brothers from volume three. Once Ichiro, Sanjaya brother number two the bumbling Mikuni stalker, lets loose a Mikuni look-alike doll animated with Mitsuo°s desires, everyone°s feelings are expressed whether they want them to be or not. As a result, Mitsuo finally catches the clue bus about his own feelings for Hasunuma, but can he admit it? Of course not. reviews by robin The Complete Series |
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Sigh. I like Birds of Prey. I like the female-centric story lines and the DC Universe°s women coming together to make a formidable crime solving/fighting team. It°s just that I find it hard to believe that women who are as smart and as kick-ass as Black Canary and Huntress really think that the most practical things to run around and fight crime in involve fishnets and leather bikinis. The series is written by a woman and supposedly appeals to a women due to its content, but the art remains drawn for a distinctly male audience. At their fiercest and grittiest Black Canary, Huntress and Oracle retain an overwhelming doe-eyed sexuality. These are not women who live or fight realistically, and that is not something that is likely to appeal to a female audience, at least not until Batman and Nightwing are stripping down to their skivvies and draping themselves across beds in order to fight the bad guy. Now that°s a book I°d read. Leaving aside my qualms about the sexualization of the female superhero (more so here than in previous volumes of Birds of Prey) this was a pretty good story. It deals nicely with the ongoing trust issues between Oracle and Black Canary. It brings up elements from Black Canary°s past and makes her face her feelings of helplessness as a result of having lost her sonic cry, and because she is a woman. I felt a little like DC was pulling their punches with this volume, but that I think is a function of age appropriateness and not lack of understanding of topic matter on their part. I°m curious to see where the series is going with their look at what it means to be a woman and to be a superhero and how images of helplessness and strength are conflicting in that situation. review by petra |
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Following Oliver Queen°s miraculous return to life (detailed in Green Arrow: Quiver) Kevin Smith returns to writing Green Arrow. In this volume both Green Arrow and Oliver Queen are trying to pick up the pieces of their life and finding it not quite as they had left it. For Green Arrow the villains have become more aggressive and better armed. Meanwhile Oliver Queen is dealing with a grown up side-kick (formerly Speedy now Arsenal), a son he never knew he had (Green Arrow II/Conner Hawke), a lover (Black Canary) he would like to reconcile with, and a street urchin he rescued who wants to be his new Speedy (Mia). Kevin Smith writes with his usual deft and funny touch about the ways in which Green Arrow succeeds and fails and occasionally just doesn°t get it at all. Phil Hester draws with an elegant economy. He captures both the physicality of a superhero, particularly one without superpowers, as well as the emotion of the man behind the mask. read more... review by petra The Series |
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Hopeless Savage maintains its excellent, entertaining reputation in the third volume in the series. Each trade paperback storyline focuses on one of the Hopeless-Savage children, though their family is never exactly absent from their lives. In Too Much Hopeless Savages, we zero in on Arsenal, eldest daughter and martial arts prize-winner. Arsenal has always been able to kick butt, but she°s never quite been able to figure out how to protect her own heart, and as she heads abroad to China for a competition, a myriad of problems interrupt well-laid plans. Arsenal°s fellow travelers include Arsenal°s longtime boyfriend Claude, Arsenal°s brother Twitch and his own faithful boyfriend, Claude°s brother Henry. (I'll wait while you map out the family relationships) Though all are looking forward to a bit of a break from insanity back home, where their own grandmother has pitched a protest for decency outside the Hopeless-Savage house, upon landing a shady character plants a mysterious package in Arsenal°s bag. Intelligence officers and thugs alike are suddenly trailing the Hopeless Savage contingent all over the city. On top of that, the quartet visit the Lee brothers° famous fortuneteller grandmother, hoping for blessings and good fortune but instead winding up with predictions of desertion and disaster. Add to all that a potential pregnancy, knife-wielding martial arts competitors, and the rest of the Hopeless-Savages clan°s surprise arrival in town, and you°ve got an action-packed, giggle-inducing comic that always shows it°s tender side. Intelligence stake-outs, bar fights in tuxedos, and romantic entanglements è was there ever really any doubt the Hopeless-Savages could handle it? Christine Norrie°s wonderfully expressive art is back in this volume, with inserts and a final chapter by Ross Campbell è I°m still biased to Norrie°s interpretation of the characters, but as usual Oni artists are a good lot. I can°t wait to see where the series will go from here. review by robin |
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Every teenager knows that their parents are evil. After all, it°s your parents who prevent you from joining that socialist collective, and force you to play with their friends° kids, and just do not understand the importance of black nail polish. But, what if your parents really were evil, in a secret society, uber-villain, sacrificing young girls kind of way? Alex, Carolina, Nico, Chase, Gertrude and Molly have nothing in common except that their parents meet once a year to discuss very boring tax and charitable donation stuff. Except, it turns out their parents all belong to a secret society called the Pride, and apparently, the Pride isn°t exactly on the side of the angels. Now they°re on the run from the police and their parents and finding out that none of them is quite as ordinary as they thought. Brian Vaughn has a deft touch with his characterizations and his dialogue is full of pop culture references. In a few years this might date the story, but in the moment it makes the characters feel real and vivid. The cast of characters is multicultural, which is highly unusual and really nice to see. Adrian Alphona adds to the feel of the story by making his characters look and react like real teenagers. His kids are not perfect, they are confused and ordinary with extraordinary abilities. review by petra |
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If you suddenly found out your parents were super-villains and that they had framed you for a murder they committed, what would you do? Alex sees it as their group°s duty to try and balance the evil that their parents have committed. Carolina is having fun with her psychedelic alien powers. Gertrude is rejecting her past and calling herself Arsenic (she named the dinosaur her parents left her Old Lace). Chase is being laconic. Nico is hooking up with stray vampires. Molly is mostly confused about what°s going on, but loving the no-parents part of all of it. However, one of them isn°t what they seem, because one of them is a mole and is in contact with their parents. Also, what exactly is the Pride and whose side are they on? Nothing is quite what it seems, and life without adult supervision isn°t quite as easy as a teenager wants to think it is. This is an excellently written series. It is thoughtful, clever, and accessible. Adrian Alphona°s artwork in this series highlights the moments of surreality in the changing lives the Runaways in an interesting way. The colors in the world of ¿Runawaysî are by and large subdued, except for Carolina°s alien powers and Nico°s magic. The brightness of those colors stands out in sharp contrast to the rest of the image, making those unreal powers hyper-real. review by petra |
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Playing off the continuing theme that every teenager thinks that their parents are evil, is the realization in this volume that sometimes the evil things your parents do are done for a reason. In this volume things come to a head between the Pride and their runaway children. Time is running out for the Pride, and their children are catching up to them. The question is will they be in time to save the world, and who exactly is the mole and why? I didn°t see the reveal on who the mole was coming, and Brian Vaughn does a very good job making you care about all of the characters and constructing relationships between them so that when one of them is revealed as a traitor, you care. What I liked most, though, was the realization at the end that this wasn°t simply a grand adventure, but the back story for a new group of engaging, intelligent teen heroes. review by petra |
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Step right up folks, get your nice fresh crack right here, hot off the presses è Joss Whedon is writing X-Men! Let me repeat that, Joss Whedon is writing X-Men. Okay, for the non-Joss Whedon-is-a-god market, Astonishing X-Men is a Kitty Pryde centric storyline. It is crack in written form I tell you. Ahem. Professor Xavier and Jean Gray are gone. The Xavier Institute is being reopened under the new management of Emma Frost and Scott Summers. Kitty Pryde is back as a teacher, and more than a little dubious about the whole enterprise. As if relations at the Institute weren°t tense enough, a government researcher has just announced a ´cure° for mutantism. This volume has all of Joss Whedon°s trademark skill. In six issues he has created characters you care about, who feel real, and are never one dimensional without sacrificing a suspenseful plot. I°m looking forward to the next volume already. The art consciously harkens back to an earlier era of X-Men canon. The uniforms have gone through a reverse transformation back to a more yellow spandex look. It works. I don°t know that I°d want to see it in real life, but in a comic book the look works. The look of the characters is iconic, but Cassaday doesn°t allow the characters themselves to be flat or false. review by petra |
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When Joss Whedon was younger he always wanted to read the comic book about the strong ordinary girl as superhero. When he grew up he wrote Buffy: The Vampire Slayer partly in response to the horror movie trope in which the little blond girl always dies. In his world the little blond chick kicks demon ass and saves the world, a lot. In Fray Joss Whedon has written the comic book that he always wanted to read è the strong girl, with a regular looking body, and sufficient amounts of clothing, who carries the story and saves the world. I°m not sure if I°m ecstatic that he wrote this story, or profoundly depressed that in order to read this story he had to write it himself. Fray is set somewhere in a post-Buffy future. Sometime in the past the vampires were vanquished and banished from the earth. As a consequence the line of Slayers died out and the Watchers became a fringe group of zealous lunatics. Which, as anyone who has ever read a book can tell you, is exactly when you should start getting worried. Melaka Fray is a bit of a loner. She doesn°t get along with her older sister. She gets into the occasional bar fight. And, she°s one of the city°s best thieves. She is understandably confused and irritated when a large thing with horns shows up and insists that she°s the Slayer and the last hope of the world against a bunch of fairytale monsters used to scare children at night. But, a few run-ins with the undead, a startling revelation from her past, and one conspiracy later and Melaka is more than a little convinced, even if she is in way over her head. The dialogue is sharp, and Whedon°s post-Buffy world is both alien and familiar. He has created a new context without letting go of the familiar mythology of our own world. Karl Moline°s art brings Whedon°s vision alive on the page with rich colors. His Fray is not a buxom bombshell, she is lean and lithe and alive. You can see her growing up and becoming an adult over the course of the novel. Moline has not only made Fray lifelike, he°s made her real. I can°t begin to recommend this book enough. You don°t have to know anything about Buffy the show to get involved with these characters, they stand on their own and will demand your attention and your involvement in their story. However, if you were a Buffy fan and wanted to know what happened later, albeit much much later, this is satisfying on yet another level. Plus, Fray°s weapon of choice is the seriously cool ax seen in Season 7. review by petra |
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Tim Drake is the third boy to wear the Robin suit, but he°s the first one who°s had to break curfew to do it. The question is, what happens when his parents find out? How would you react if you found out your 16 year old son was running around Gotham in the middle of the night in brightly colored spandex fighting criminals with a much older man who named himself after a flying rodent? Yeah. That°s about how Tim°s father reacted too. There has been a lot of discussion and dissention about what Bill Willingham did and is doing with the Robin storyline. I liked this volume, I thought it asked some introspective questions about why Tim wanted to be Robin and where he sees himself in the future. I wanted more of the book to be about the aftermath of Tim°s parents finding out, rather than most of the book being the lead up to that. But, all in all I think this was an interesting direction to take the Robin story arc. I wasn°t thrilled with the artwork in this book. People°s faces often seem oddly misformed, and half the time Batman and Robin look almost Asian. review by petra |
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A blank canvas of desert. žSuddenly, six figures appear out of nowhere, one by one. žAs each introduces him or her self, it is revealed that they are all X-Men, but each is from a different reality. žA mysterious figure known as a Time Broker shows up, and reveals why they have been brought together. žEach one of them has become unhinged from their reality, and in order to put things right, they must fix what has gone wrong in other realities. žSometimes, the goal is as easy as freeing an old enemy from prison, but sometimes it's as difficult as killing an old friend. žEvery reality is different, and must be put right in the way that it belongs. žFailure means being sent back to their flawed realities, where they may end up comatose, crippled, or even dead. Given minimal clues to their objective each time, the group struggles against their own definitions of right and wrong, good and evil, and friend and foe to do what must be done to move on, and hopefully, eventually, go home. read more... reviews by wil The Complete Series |
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Originally published in 1976, Eroica is a shonen-ai classics. It centers around the adventures of Earl Dorian Red Gloria a.k.a. the Earl of Gloria a.k.a. Eroica, international art thief, and his various conquests and thefts across the globe. The Earl is a flamboyant and extremely wealthy man. He loves beautiful art, beautiful men, and he°s perfectly willing to steal either to get what he wants. In volume one of Eroica we meet a trio of friends (Cesar, Sugar, and Leopard) about to enter the Earl°s domain. Cesar and co. possess special powers, including ESP, which, we are told, were given to them by a Mysterious Man earlier in their lives. (No, I have no idea how or why that fits into the overall story, but that's how it's written.) Mainly, all three are now incredibly, ridiculously gifted; super strength, super brains, super looks, and twenty million languages each. However, the important part comes when Cesar catches the Earl°s eye. Eroica quickly steals several major works of art and Cesar, who goes kicking and screaming. After a series of small escapades, Cesar is freed. Now however, Cesar and the Earl have quite a mutual attraction for each other and he°s more upset about the possibility of never seeing the Earl again than being kidnapped. This is all just from the first chapter of our little tale. Volume One has three more chapters to go! Next, we meet the other major character in our story, Major Klaus Heinz Von Dem Eberbach aka Klaus, a highly respected agent of NATOÜ- remember, this was written in the late 70°s, apparently NATO was quite the place back then. Klaus encounters the Earl by chance and the two instantly hate each other, deeply. Three guesses where that might wind up going. In the meantime, NATO has its eye on Cesar and his ESP. The Major kidnaps Cesar, Eroica kidnaps some of the Major°s art collection, and further adventures ensue. So far the characters and the plot lines are all fairly silly and over the top, but it°s in a fairly typical manga and shonen-ai kind of way. It's fun and I°d be curious to see where it leads, but it°s not an intriguing enough story that I°d ever really want to pay money for it. Having said that however, Klaus and Eroica are developing grudging respect for each other and, with Cesar lurking around in the background, I°m sensing a rather amusing love triangle will be coming not so far down the road. Wherever it leads, I suspect it'll be amusing. reviews by katie |
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"Sweet exotic scents filled its every corner, as if someone was making candies in a Chinese import store. Dizzying music pulsated and bounced off the loud pink walls. There was an old bar, and a pool table, and three sewing machines. They called it their studio. It was like a secret hideout." So opens Ai Yazawa's Paradise Kiss, a stunning manga series that combines fashion and romance to tell a moving coming-of-age story. Paradise Kiss is the manga I imagine Francesca Lia Block might write; Ai Yazawa's beautiful, fairy tale visuals recall Block's dreamy prose. Yet Paradise Kiss keeps its feet firmly on the ground, following its believably flawed heroine on her journey of self-discovery. That heroine is Yukari Hayasaka, an average student struggling (apathetically) to make it through prep school and wondering who she is. Her life is suddenly thrown off its predictable course by an encounter with a group of fashion students: prickly, punk Arashi, wise (and transgendered) Isabella, doll-like Miwako, and George, the enigmatic leader of the group who call themselves Paradise Kiss. read more... The Complete Series reviews by jen |
Pet
Shop of Horrors
Batman:
Broken City
Ultimate
Fantastic Four: The Fantastic (Volume 1)
Tokyo
Babylon Volumes 3-5
Tsubasa:
Reservoir Chronicles
XXXholic
Once
in a Blue Moon (Volume 1)
Flight
(Volume One)
From
Far Away
Cheeky
Angel Volume 1
Othello
The
Ring Volume 1
Teen
Titans: Family Lost (Volume 2)
Only
the Ring Finger Knows
Dolls
(Volume 1)
Invincible:
Eight is Enough (Volume 2)
Zendra
1.0: Collection
Tom
Strong Book 1
Tom
Strong Book 2
Courtney
Crumrin and the Coven of Mystics
Courtney
Crumrin and the Twilight Kingdom
Here
is Greenwood (Volume 1)
Batman:
Evolution (New Gotham 1)
Batman:
Officer Down (New Gotham 2)
Gotham
Central: In the Line of Duty
Noodle
Fighter Miki Volume One
Revolutionary
Girl Utena: The Adolescence of Utena
Persepolis
2: The Story of a Return
Eerie
Queerie Volume 4
Birds of Prey: Of Like Minds (Volume 3)
Green Arrow: Sounds of Violence (Volume 2)
Hopeless Savages: Too Much Hopeless Savages (Volume 3)
Runaways: Pride and Joy (Volume 1)
Runaways: Lost and Found (Volume 2)
Runaways: Missing (Volume 3)
Astonishing X-Men: Gifted (Volume 1)
Fray 
Robin Unmask202357 
Exiles: Down the Rabbit Hole (Volume 1)
From Eroica With Love
Paradise KissIn the Lair
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Jen: The Darkness: Coming of Age was originally published in 1996 as a kind of prequel for the series The Darkness (which we haven°t read, so we°re not certain how representative this volume is). It seems to me that the intended audience for this book must be fans of Alison: See, immediately you°ve put your finger on the essence of my problem with The Darkness. Because rather than a ¿ho ho, how ironicî chuckle, what I really got from this was a half-hearted teenage boy°s giggle over a story that takes itself way too seriously. Jen: See, you think it takes itself seriously. I think Ennis is knowingly deploying bad comics clichÿsÞat least, I hope that°s what he°s doing. Alison: Well if so he°s being pretty darn subtleÞ in fact, subtle enough to be completely invisible, if you get my drift. I°m still mulling over the fact that the guy who wrote Preacher also had a hand in this. That°s a story where the ¿average tough guy finds himself heir to awesome powers beyond our mortal kenî thing is working well. Here, Jackie can°t stop thinking about sex long enough to produce a decent plot point. Jen: And that°s funny! Alison: Yes, yes it is... except that I really think such conversational clunkers as ¿We have to stop him from having sex!î are meant just that literally. Which is scary, but not in a good way. I mean, here°s a guy who°s going to die if he impregnates a woman and thus passes on The Darkness, right? And what°s the solution? Condoms? The silver ring thing? Explorations of gay relationships? Oh no: the answer, my friends, is to create some kind of sex-toy homunculus. Of course. Jen: Of course. For the benefit of our readers, a little more plot summary: Jackie Estacado, our (anti)hero, learns that he has inherited a power called The Darkness that allows him to make demons and metal claw thingies and the like spring out of his flesh. Apparently he can also learn to create faux-women with whom he can have sex without risking conception (because if he conceives a child that child will receive The Darkness and Jackie will die, and Jackie is the last best hope of the Brotherhood of the Darkness, who want to create a paradise for themselves on earthÞthey fight the Angelus, a force of ¿tyrannical law and orderî, lead by a foxy lesbian with giant horns and a penchant for clothing that looks like it was painted on with chrome nail polish). Needless to say, the Angelus has a harem of anatomically unlikely demon babes following her around. This comic has everything a boy could want- gore, ¿lesbiansî, fantastically-proportioned women, men with no discernable necks... Alison: Which is all fine as far as it goes, but come on è can°t we pander to our pubescent boy audience with a little more, how do you say, panache? Is it too much to ask that you pair the gratuitous skin shots and bad-boy beefcake with writing that doesn°t make me wince at every other line? Ennis! Why? Jen: It°s true that, while you can see traces of the ideas behind Preacher here, they seem to have been lobotomized. I still contend that a lot of the writing is meant to be funny. I mean, come on! ¿The Darkness is like the Force on crack.î Yet you do have a point. By the end, the writing is painfully bad. Whether intentional or not, it just gets to be too much. Alison: And then at the end you°re denied any sense of closure è has Jackie grown or changed? Has his relationship with girl love interest Jenny matured? Do we understand better the nature of The Darkness and the forces that surround it? I would say: not so much. It may be that this wouldn°t bother me if I knew more about the rest of the series (but perhaps ignorance is bliss!). I slogged though this collection of appalling outfits, awkward language, and excessive prurience and I°m not even going to be rewarded with an interesting story? The mostly-naked hotties I can find on the top shelf of a newsstand, and for the rest I°m sticking with Preacher. |
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Hellsing is the Church of England's Top Secret Vampire Repellent Bureau, and their number-one agent is Alucard, a domesticated vampire that obeys human beings. For some reason vampire activity all over the globe is increasing, so Alucard and his sidekick, Police Girl, have been very busy lately, dispatching ghouls and vampires with a variety of Big Guns loaded with silver bullets melted down from crosses. Troubles arise when Alucard is dispatched to Northern Ireland to kill a vampire and runs afoul of Father Anderson, aka ¿Angel Dust Anderson,î top agent of the Vatican°s super-secret Section XIII, Special Agency Iscariot. A brief turf war ensues: Alucard blows Father Anderson°s head off with his Big Gun, and Father Anderson pierces Alucard°s body with a hundred knives (there is a thoughtful text note explaining that Father Anderson keeps his knives in the 4th dimension, just in case you were wondering) and then cuts his head off. Both recover; Alucard later tells someone "it's been a long time since someone plucked off my head.î Hellsing has lots of comic book violence and gore, but is a very entertaining read. Recommended for high schoolers. review by George |
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Toru thinks he has all he needs è a loyal best friend, Ryoji, who makes him laugh and an encouraging art mentor, Kashiwazaki, pushing him to excel at painting. Never mind that he°s been in love with Ryoji for years è he knows there°s no hope there, and so he°s content to keep his friend. Then life gets complicated. Ryoji, a jock who has a string of girlfriends, suddenly confesses that he thinks about Toru when he°s having sex. Startled, Toru cannot comprehend what Ryoji hopes for until Ryoji proposes they ¿try it outî once so he can see what it°s like. Toru is at once ecstatic and miserable è he can finally touch his beloved but must suffer through knowing he°s no more than a fling for the curious Ryoji. Ryoji is persuasive to the point of being pushy, and Toru gives in knowing that Ryoji would never knowingly hurt him. Though awkward and uncomfortable, Toru relishes the contact even while anticipating desertion. Then Ryoji wants to do it again. It seems to Toru that every time he thinks he°s got his friend figured out, he turns around with another proposal. The pair's shrewd friend, Tadashi, sees the tension growing between his friends and, once he figures out why, warnes Toru of hurting himself by allowing Ryoji to get his way. Not sure what to do, Toru confesses all to Kashiwazaki, who encourages him to break it off with Ryoji by instead appearing to date Hashizaki himself è then Toru could tell if Ryoji°s feelings for him were at all serious. Of course, the best laid plans backfire, and what can Toru do when Hashizaki seems a little too interested? This newer shonen-ai/yaoi title is more explicit than other titles, hence why it°s in The Lair è the sex scenes are along the lines of an R rating and the publisher has slapped a (perhaps overzealous) explicit content advisory on the cover. That being said, though it may seem from a plot summary to be all too soap opera-esque, this title is a compelling high school drama with teenagers who definitely act like teenagers. Trying to figure out the difference between sex, strong friendship and love is a minefield for any teen struggling through first times, and this title is remarkably free of fantasy-driven romantic contrivance so common in this subgenre. As fans of such series as Gravitation and Fake grow older, titles like Desire will satisfy. review by robin |
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U.S. manga readers know Sanami Matoh as the author of FAKE, an endearing (and, for shonen ai, fairly realistic) romantic drama about two (male) police officers who fall in love. Until the Full Moon, the second of her works to become available in English, is something else entirely. Fans of FAKE will recognize the author's fondess for flamboyant hairstyles, outfits, and love at first sight, but Until the Full Moon takes place in a very different world. This is a world populated by vampires and werewolves, who trace their ancestry back to fairy tales and legends. David Vincent, a notorious player, is the son of a prominent vampire family. As a child, he was inseperable from his friend Marlo- son of a vampire father and a werewolf mother. He hasn't seen Marlo for ten years when Marlo's family arrives to pay the Vincent's a visit. They've come with a problem for Dr. Arnet Vincent, a famous doctor in the vampire clan. It seems that Marlo has inherited an unusual trait from his mother's werewolf clan: on full moon nights, instead of becoming a wolf, Marlo becomes a woman. Anxious to protect their child, Marlo's parents want to arrange a marriage between her- when she is a her- and David. Marlo protests, but, as her father remarks, "I'm not going to let 100 or 200 year old kids go decide what's best!" David, on the other hand, is intrigued- he's had feelings for Marlo since they were teens. As the two try to make sense of their situation, Marlo's female self begins to return David's love. Is Marlo prepared to accept that love as a man? Despite the somewhat unbelievable premise of Marlo and David's sudden engagement, Until the Full Moon shares FAKE's essential sweetness. David's love for Marlo knows no gender divisions, and Marlo's gender transformations are handled with sensitivity and humor. The story moves so quickly, however, that it's a bit hard to believe in the intensity of David's feelings. The couple have declared their love by the end of the volume, but their personalities have yet to be fully established. The publisher has rated Volume 1 for ages 16 and up. While Marlo and David are sometimes a straight couple and sometimes not, depictions of sensuality are fairly mild throughout. Until the Full Moon is not necessarily a must-have for manga collections, but it is an oddly endearing tale of love and acceptance. review by jen |
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Marvel loves its crossovers. Whether you love them or not tends to depend on whether you have any connection to the universes they are combining. This is one of the more successful crossovers, at least for me, because I like both the X-Men and Spiderman with a little bit of Daredevil thrown in at the end. After his disappearance at the end of Ultimate X-Men: Return of the King Wolverine surfaces again in New York, being chased by an unidentified group with lots of guns and no compunctions about using them. Which is, clearly, where Spiderman enters the picture. Peter Parker returns home from a long night fighting crime and worrying about the PSATs to find an almost dead Wolverine curled in the corner of his basement smelling like wet dog. There follows a chase around New York through Hell°s Kitchen, where Daredevil is less than amused by their presence, until eventually the X-Men catch a clue and intervene. Millar also continues the Dark Phoenix story line with Jean getting scarier in her abilities and her morals about using them. David Finch°s art is excellent as always with a rich and vibrant use of color. read more... The Rest of the Series reviews by petra |
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¿We were beautiful monsters, the kind this city thrives on, allows to flourish, and greedily destroys. Alone we felt like outcast aliens. Together we were perfect: too unusual and awful for anyone else.î So begins Ted Naifeh°s strange and haunting collage of drawings, photographs, and words, showing us a cast of characters as fascinating as they are flawed. You may have loved them from afar, aspired to join their ranks, grown tired and disillusioned in their company, or found comfort in their existence; if you°ve ever felt yourself on the outside looking in, you°ll recognize someone you know. Sulking on the borders of her city°s drugged, gay, goth underground Katherine reflects with cynical lucidity on the foibles, loves, vices, and transcendence of her fellow freaks and outcasts. After a week of drinking, shady dealings, and dubious sexual exploits Nick and Katherine meet in a bar to compare notes on the night before. Nick°s coming down off of a bad trip and gleefully narrates a story of giant praying mantises and Germans with x-ray vision. Katherine is mulling over the implications of an inconclusive threesome with two of the local goth nightclub°s most sought-after denizens. Two tales of strange sex and misunderstandings weave together into a tapestry at once repugnant and delightful, and this really sums up the whole series of episodes. Stories range from a spiral of heroin addiction told through fractured encounters and a Japanese folktale to the story of Katherine°s wild week of debauchery with a drag queen. The second ends with a painfully thorough lesson about what it really means to transgress the boundaries of gender, and the price some people will pay for a coherent identity. Through it all we care deeply about Naifeh°s characters because they revel too much in their own oddity to ever give in to despair. At the end of every story, and throughout the final episode, Naifeh reminds us again and again that to be an outsider is to be beautiful in the eyes of some, and in the end it°s only these people who really matter. reviews by alison |
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Just to be clear, this is not a graphic novel. Greg Rucka started his career as a mystery/spy novel author. He has had astounding success in the graphic novel/comic field, but he also continues to write non-graphic novels (although I have no idea where he finds the time). A Gentleman°s Game is a spy novel set in the Queen & Country universe. You don°t have to have read the graphic novels to follow the plot, and I doubt that you will have to have read this novel to follow the plot of the next volume of Queen & Country. However, if you°re looking for a Q&C fix, this is a good place to get it. Greg Rucka again demonstrates his finely nuanced understanding of both foreign politics and the internal chicanery of inter-departmental politics. A Gentleman°s Game is a well written, fast paced and smart political spy thriller. review by petra |
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A British media mogul is being blackmailed by the French government for media contract rights. The French have set up a honey trap using his daughter, Rachel, as bait. They have compromising video footage of her with a man they hired to seduce her. Tara is chosen to go to Paris because she used to know Rachel at school. In some ways it is an opportune time for Tara to be out of London, since she just broke up with Ed and things are a little tense between them at work. In other ways, this is an intensely personal case for Tara because Ed fell in love with her but she was just looking to not be alone for a little while, and her guilt over that is affecting how she deals with Rachel and her paid seducer. read more... review by petra The Series Related Titles |
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It is a sad fact of life that many YA books seem to reflect a teenage obsession with death. A teen does something stupidè drinking & driving, unprotected sex, vacationing at Camp Crystal Lake è with disastrous consequences; usually, most of the teen°s friends die horrible, spectacularly creative, deaths. Works such as these form a subgenre of YA literature that I call ¿dead teenager books.î Battle Royale is the ultimate dead teenager book è the members of the SHIRO IWA Junior High School Class B are enlisted in The Program, a government-sponsored game show. The rules are simple: put 42 teenagers on an island (21 girls and 21 boys), give them weapons, and the last teen alive wins. The moral center of the first volume is Shuuya Nanahara, guitarist and all-around good guy. Shuuya does not want to kill his classmates, and he is determined to hook up with his friends and turn the tables on Yomeni Kamon, The Program°s vile host. Battle Royale is not an original concept, but it is very well done; the work that came to my mind as I read is The Lord of the Flies. However, Battle Royale is a good deal more graphic than William Golding°s classic è there is sexual depravity (rape, panty shots), bad language, and extreme gore (exploding heads, flying eyeballs, etc.). Battle Royale is exceptionally strong material, especially in the wake of Columbine; it is not for conservative communities, and it is not for younger teens. The publisher has a Parental Advisory Explicit Content Warning on the cover, which says ¿Warningî to parents and ¿Read Meî to teens. Battle Royale could fit into adult collections or collections that cater to older teens and aren°t afraid of graphic material. Be careful. review by George |
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Judd Winick is rapidly becoming one of my trusted writers. That is to say, writers I will read no matter what they°re writing. I wasn°t sure what to expect from the second volume of Outsiders. I liked the first volume, but didn°t know where Winick was going to go that wouldn°t be just another superhero story. He blew me away with the second volume which is all about consequences. Most superhero comics brush over what happens after the fight is over and the villain of the day has been vanquished. Winick addresses Roy°s (Arsenal) fear and vulnerability in his recovery from the bullets he took at the end of the first volume of Outsiders. Winick also begins to question whether Nightwing°s insistence on emotional distance from his team is perhaps more dangerous than effective. The artwork matches the story well, with strong colors and lines. The action is easy to follow, but the humanity of the characters is not lost. The subplot showing the interaction between Roy and his daughter uses this to particularly good effect. This is not a book for younger readers. Winnick uses both violence and sex to good effect and with purpose, but he also isn°t coy about it review by petra |
The Darkness: Coming of Age
Hellsing Volume 1
Desire
Until the Full Moon (Volume 1)
Ultimate X-Men: Block Buster (Volume 7)
How Loathsome
Queen & Country Extra!
Queen & Country: Blackwall (vol. 4)
Battle Royale Volume 1
Outsiders: Sum of All Evil (Volume 2)Check out past updates:
July 2004
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September 2003
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April 2003
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copyright Robin Brenner 2002-2004