Manga Monday: Eat Man

For the first manga Monday I will review a title released by Viz in June of 1998, Eat Man, by Akihito Yoshitomi. According to wikipedia the manga ran for 19 volumes in japan, but in the US of A we only got what I believe are the first two volumes. I have had these two collections on my shelf since their 1998 initial release, and they have been favorites of mine ever since.

Eat-Man centers around an explorer named Bolt Crank. The world he inhabits is a little hard to describe, like many manga worlds, it is a combination of multiple genres. I would say it is equal parts fantasy, sci-fi, and western. There are air ships, monsters, giant laser weapons, six shooters, mermaids, wizard kings, and robots. Explorers are basically jack of all trades for hire. They take any type of job, from delivery to protection. Usually the jobs taken by explorers are very dangerous, but it doesn't seem to trouble Bolt one bit. The thing about Bolt is he doesn't carry a gun or a sword...but he does carry screws and pieces of metal and machinery around. Not only does he carry this stuff, he also eats it. He is more often than not seen with a screw between his lips. He has chomped the barrel of a gun and caught bullets in his teeth, and has also been know to drink industrial alcohol. All of the items he ingests have a purpose later in the story. For example, the industrial alcohol. after drinking it all up, a monster confronts him and his traveling companions. Bolt takes a match and shoots the alcohol he drank from the tips of his fingers while holding the match, creating an inferno from his finger tips. Any object Bolt dismantles and eats piece by piece, can be re-formed and used as a weapon, and reappears in his hands.

Each tale in these first two volumes of EAT-MAN generally have a similar premise. Bolt is hired to do something, is accompanied by a pretty young woman, who has a secret. During the story the secret is revealed, Bolt uses whatever weapon he has been eating throughout the tale and saves the girl, and we all find out that there is more heart to Bolt than meets the eye, as well as how terrible an opponent Bolt would be if you ever got on his bad side. Bolt seems to be ageless, and the trusted friend of famous explorers and sword smiths. He also shows a degree of clairvoyance it seems, because he always knows exactly what weapon he will need at the end of each tale to defeat the bad guy or solve the conflict. For example, in one tale, Bolt eats a radio at the opening. He is sent by a prince to retrieve a special flower that he must present to his beloved as a marriage proposal. The woman the prince loves accompanies Bolt to retrieve the flower, she does not know that the prince has in fact chosen her to be his bride, and wants to get the flower for him in the hopes that the gesture will change his mind. At the close Bolt gets the flower and saves her from the monster guarding it (the monster actually IS the flower, its a strange story) and pops the radio from his hand, revealing a transmission from the prince that the woman he loves has gone missing, and for anyone having seen her to report to the palace. Did Bolt know that he would need this radio at the end of his adventure, to show the woman that the prince really loves her? Probably not, but in each tale Bolt has a similar gift of foresight.

Interestingly enough, the gimmick doesn't really get old. Bolt is a charming character, and the stories are exciting and creative. How bolt uses his unusual gift in each story is a sight to behold, and brings a smile to my face even today.

The artwork in EAT-MAN is pretty fantastic, the backgrounds and technology all look genuine and convincing, the world building is great here. The character's faces can be a bit cookie cutter, but that is to be expected sometimes in manga. The Author's sense of pacing and action storytelling is really effective, it is an exhilarating joy to read these pages. The stories here are generally light hearted, but get intense when they need to be. It is never too melodramatic, and definitely does not take itself too seriously. It is a cryin' shame that the rest of the series wasn't picked up. I know there is an anime of this that was brought over here, but I haven't seen it. Volume one is up on Amazon dot com...FOR ONE CENT USED!!!! That is more than worth it for this under appreciated gem of manga over here. Volume 2 is also available used one amazon starting at $1.27, still a great deal, although featuring a cover (that i do not like in the least) by American comics legend Jim Lee. CHECK THESE OUT!!!!

Long Hiatus/Batman;The collected Adventures volumes 1 and 2

It has been a while, but it is time to get back on the horse. The titles I am going to review today have been on my shelves for quite some time, two trade paperback collections of the DC comics series THE BATMAN ADVENTURES, based on the holiest of comic book animated properties, BATMAN THE ANIMATED SERIES, the cartoon that represents the ultimate version of batman to many fans, including myself. When I think of Batman, the image that is conjured in my head first and foremost is the animated series version, over all of his comic renditions, over Adam West, Micheal Keaton, even Christian Bale. It might be silly to hold the cartoon version in even higher esteem than his comic counter part, but I think that speaks to the quality of the show. Batman the animated series had a great setting, great mood, stellar character designs and actors, a fully orchestrated score, (for the most part) amazing animation, and fairly intelligent scripts for a Children's cartoon.A comic series based on the cartoon show was started, that would use the character designs and general style of the show as inspiration.Volume 1, written by Kelley Puckett, Martin Pasko, pencilled by Ty Templeton and Brad Rader, inked by Rick Burchett, colored by Rick Taylor and lettered by Tim Harkins, is a great start to a series that many probably thought would be a throw away comic based on a cartoon. All of the art is great, crisp and clean line work in an easily accessible cartoony style, with lots of rich black shapes and exciting compositions. The writing is great, just as snappy as the cartoon, reminiscent of the older comics and movies. There is a good mix of bumbling henchmen, menacing main villains, and wry wit from Bruce Wayne/Batman. This Batman is still dark, but also has a bit of charm to him, some times shown with a slight smirk. I think I like this Batman a bit more than the thin mouthed growler that seems to be popular today.
The stories here feature (in order) The Penguin, Catwoman, and the Joker, followed by the Scarecrow, as well as a Hitchcockian style murder story. The first three issues involve a sweeping plot devised by the Joker, who uses Catwoman and the Penguin to steal some important objects for him, in order to set into motion a master plan to rid himself of Harvey Dent, Commissioner Gordon and Batman himself. These stories are pretty standard Batman fare, but with good writing, and brilliant panel layout and staging, are carried to the next level of comic story telling.
Following these is a 2 part Scarecrow story, where the citizens of Gotham begin losing the ability to read. The pencils in this 2 parter are done by Brad Rader, and I really like the use of dark shapes and lighting. Rader has a great understanding of anatomy and noir Lighting, and really makes these issues epic in scope. Rader also pencils the last issue in the trade, THE THIRD DOOR, which doesn't involve any of Batman's rouge's gallery, which I find slightly refreshing. The staging and lighting in this issue is nothing short of amazing, and really gives the reader a cinematic vibe while reading.
Volume 2 is written solely by Kelley Puckett, pencilled by Mike Parobeck, inked by Rick Burchett, colored by Rick Taylor and lettered by Tim Harkins. Mike Parobeck is one of my favorite pencillers of all time, and has a very cartoony style to his art. Some of the characters have an almost rubber hose quality to them, he uses his dark shapes well and has an amazing knack for composing action scenes. The stories in volume 2 are much more stand alone, and involve (in order) Killer Croc, Clayface, Rupert Thorne, the Riddler, Manbat, and a tale involving Batgirl, Catwoman, Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn.
Much like the show, the stories in volume 2 each play like little epics or films, telling a complete, compact story, packed with tons of action, humor and fun. I think this volume better captures the essence of what the cartoon was going for.
Overall I think these two volumes are a great addition to Batman the animated series, and a good addition to your comics library. They are a good read for kids and adults alike, not too violent or gritty, but not dumb either. The two trades are available used on amazon for about 25 dollars apiece before shipping.

Fist Of The North Star Follow Up

I posted some more Fist of the North Star goodness here, at the Autumn Society 2 blog. Check it!
E-money

Fist of the North Star

Back in high school, I picked up a dozen or so issues of Fist Of The North Star, aka Hokuto No Ken in Japan. It's fairly big in Japan I think, with several anime tv shows, OVA's and video games. They are published by Viz comics, with the writing being done by Buronson and art by Tetsuo Hara. The initial storyline involves our protagonist, Kenshiro, master of Hokuto Shin Ken, searching for his lost love Julia. In the past, she was taken by Kenshiro's friend, Shin, after a nuclear catastrophe devastated the world. Shin wanted to rule this harsh new landscape, with Julia as his bride, and met Kenshiro in battle, wounding him terribly and giving him 7 scars on his chest, in the shape of the big dipper. Left for dead, Kenshiro is fueled by rage to get back and save Julia, and seek revenge against Shin, along the way trying to bring order to a ruthless world.
The series seems to run the same each issue, Kenshiro is traveling, runs into a gang of bandits, uses his Mastery of Hokuto Shin Ken to make some heads explode, and then save the surviving villagers. It is a cartoonishly violent manga, but it's only the bad guys that get it, so you don't get that dirty feeling like after watching a SAW movie or something. I only read a dozen or so Issues,
so I don't really know how the story continues, but I am a big fan of what I have read and seen so far, the art is a little more realistic that most manga i see. If you are a film fan, the major influence would have to be MAD MAX and the Road Warrior, Kenshiro's design is even similar to that of the Road Warrior's. If you enjoy those movies, with a touch of Bruce Lee, maybe this comic is a good one to try and dig up.

Robotech:Vermilion

When I was a younger buck than I am now, I was big into Antarctic Press comics, specifically their Robotech line, as well as a three issue series called Silver Cross and some Warrior Nun stuff. This four issue Robotech series,published in 1997, written and illustrated by Duc Tran, has always been a favorite of mine. The issues are well worn, because I leafed through them so damn much. I don't really know much of anything about Duc Tran. I assume he isn't a Japanese Manga-ka, but in these days of a lot of gaijins trying to do a manga style, I think he gets it the closest I've seen in an American comic. All of the grays he's applied appear just like in genuine manga. I'm not even too sure how these shades are applied, I think its with some sort of paper they press onto the piece of paper they are working on, but really I am ignorant of the process. I also really dig robotech, specifically the Macross saga. (Robotech is really three different Japanese shows combined, I should say I'm a big fan of Macross.) This series is about Rick Hunter's investigation into the disappearance of one of his trainees. It also involves defectors, stealth robots and aliens. All good stuff, no? As much as i love the art, some of it can be spotty, and sometimes the dialogue is crammed up against the edge of the bubbles, almost as if he drew the bubble first, and then tried to cram the words in there. These are minor quibbles for me however, because these four issues will be in my collection for a long time to come, i still look at them all the time. His use of values is great to look at, a fun read all around.

The Elongated Man: Europe '92

The Elongated Man is a character I first came into contact with while watching the Justice League Unlimited animated series. He was funny on the show, but seemed like just another stretchy guy, like Mr. Fantastic or Plastic Man. But then i soon discovered two things about that character that piqued my interest. One, he was a detective. I love detective fiction, and detective characters, be it Sherlock Holmes, Phillip Marlowe, or Nick and Nora Charles. And in fact, the Elongated Man has a partner in solving mysteries, just like Nick Charles has his wife, Nora, to help him in the Thin Man novel or Film series, one Sue Dibny (the Elongated man's real name being Ralph Dibny.) The series is in 4 issues, written by Gerard Jones, and Penciled by Mike Parobeck,(now deceased, sadly) and inked by Ty Templeton. Mike Parobeck has been one of my favorite artists for years, his work on the Batman Adventures comics is great, cartoony and well thought out. Ty Templeton is a great artist as well, and i believe has drawn and inked Batman Adventure comics, among alot of other work. Gerard Jones has written many comics and novels.
The series concerns The Elongated man and Sue investigating attacks on peace conferences in europe, perpetrated by men in silly costumes. Copperhead makes an appearance, he was a favorite of mine from the Justice League tv show. There are also squid men, and a team of men dressed as sausages. If this sounds silly it is, and thats half the fun of the series. The relationship between Ralph and Sue gets tried a little, but they're fun characters to read about, and this series was well worth it. I don't think it's collected in trade form, i ordered the issues from amazon.com, but if you like your superhero books on the light side, try this out.

Jack Kirby's OMAC: The one man Army

I was first exposed to OMAC in a Paul Pope short in his issue of the no defunct(but awesome) DC series SOLO. Its basically a retelling of the first issue of OMAC, which according to the new collection's intro by Mark Evanier, was an idea Mr. Kirby originally had for a Captain America set in the future.
OMAC's origin bears some similarity to Cap's. OMAC started out as Buddy Blank, a scrawny man who was picked by the mysterious Global Peace Agency to become their new One man army, who must prevent catastrophes of violence in a future world that cant afford it. Buddy is linked with Brother Eye, a seemingly all powerful giant robotic eye shaped satellite in space that transforms Buddy into the super strong OMAC, whose first target is the Build a friend factory, who is making robotic women to become friends with important world leaders and the like. Once they meet, Kaboom! the woman explodes and takes the target with them. Buddy is horrified to discover that his friend, Lila, has been one of these robots all along, but as OMAC, the crooks are torn asunder, and OMAC realizes, that "OMAC LIVES...SO THAT MAN MAY LIVE..."

Each chapter features awesome robotics designs, monsters and weapons that are all Kirby staples, and the art is pretty outstanding throughout.Issue one and issue eight stand out i think, because inker and letterer Mike Royer contributed to them, and I think he may have had a bit more of an understanding of Mr. Kirby's pencils or something, they look a bit better than the inks provided by D.Bruce Berry. Each issue has a few incredible splash pages I would love to have framed and hung upon my wall. The book is fun to read above all else, something i cant say about alot of Mainstream superhero books out today. Maybe OMAC should become required superhero comics reading from now on...