Rocket Bomber - reviews

originally written for and posted on Comicsnob.com [Dec ’06 – May ’08]

Phantom, Vol. 1
Published by: Tokyopop
Story: Ki-Hoon Lee
Art: Sueng-Yup Cho

200 (170) pages.
Original Language: Korean
Orientation: Left to right
Vintage: 2004. US edition January 2007.
Translation: Woo Sok Park
English Adaptation: Troy Lewter
Copy Editor: Stephanie Duchin
Retouch & Lettering: Samatha Yamanaka
Production Artist: Mike Estacio
Cover Design: Tomas Montalvo-Lagos
Editor: Hope Donovan
Publisher’s Rating: Teen, ages 13+

Rating: 3 out of 5

##

Premise: Police, terrorists, and private corporate armies duke it out over the skyline of Neo Seoul in giant robots.

Synopsis:

Our hero, K, starts out as your run-of-the-mill beat cop, except his beat is the abandoned sections of old Seoul, and he pilots a clunker of a robot while on duty. He’s outgunned by just about everything out there, and only his skill as a pilot keeps him from getting killed. His almost daily run-ins with the terrorist group “Raven” keep him busy, and his chief is always jumping down his throat about the collateral damage, and the repair bills for his mech.

K is your standard-issue lone wolf cop: his sense of justice is more important to him than following a bunch of rules and regulations. And his sense of justice will be sorely tempted when he finds out that present circumstances are not all black and white, the “terrorists” may just be the good guys, and the biggest villains of them all are operating from the shadows.

Before the end of volume one, K will have discovered not only that his world is not a damn thing like he thought it was, but also that his piloting gifts could be something really exceptional, when paired with the right mech.

##

Review:

It’s not a new plot. Well, it’s not just one old plot, it’s two. When it isn’t following the cop movie outline, we get the distinct impression that this is going to be a duel-of-the-week comic, the sort of robot-vs-robot recycler that has been popular since Gundam.

Even the cops & robots combo isn’t all that new (Patlabor, or um, Robocop) but writer Lee has taken all the old hardware, filed off the serial numbers, and given this a couple of twists. What we get is a new story wrapped up in familiar packaging. This first book serves as a good intro to the background, supplying the reader with some brief explanations and a few telling details, while keeping the focus on K and his crisis of conscience.

– Not that he has a whole lot of time to think things over, what with all the action sequences the writer and artist are throwing him into. The mech designs, background, and action sequences are all well drawn. From the second page, we get a sense of speed, size, and mass of the robots, an immediate impression that fixes in the mind the scale of all the combat in the rest of the book. Bullets fly, things explode, destroyed hardware mixes with building rubble: the term that sprang to my mind more than once while reading was ‘cinematic’. It’s pretty close to reading a movie (well, an anime, anyway).

With pages and pages devoted to action, there hasn’t been much room for characterisation, but so far we have a good feel for at least three main characters– along with K, there are his two potential romantic interests: Yura, a police staffer, and Sara, another robot pilot. Lee is also dropping a few hints as to the larger conflict, and how the later story is going to shape up. Of course, if this volume is any indication, there may be no way to predict exactly where Lee and Cho are taking us.

It’s a fun read, and the robots are nice (if you like robots). 3 out of 5.

originally written for and posted on Comicsnob.com [Dec ’06 – May ’08]

Train + Train, Vol. 1
Published by: Go! Comi
Writer: Hideyuki Kurata
Artist: Tomomasa Takuma

200 (186) pages.
Original Language: Japanese
Orientation: Right to left
Vintage: 2000. US edition January 2007.
Translation & Adaptation: Christine Schilling
Production Assistant: Mallory Reaves
Lettering: TeamPokopen
Production Manager: James Dashiell
Editor: Brynne Chandler
Publisher’s Rating: Teen, 13+

Rating: 4 out of 5

##

Premise: Combining a high school with a summer abroad and taking it’s students on the galaxy’s longest field trip, the School Trains of planet Deloca are renown across several systems for the quality of their education. In addition to the regular School Trains, however, there is one Special Train, with a unique curriculum.

Synopsis:

Meet Reiichi Sakakusa (call him Rei). He’s your normal rising high-school freshman, though perhaps a bit more timid than most. Or at least that’s what we’re supposed to think.

Rei and Liae Igarashi, a childhood friend, are making the trip from the largely rural planet of Migella to enroll on the School Train. They’re not the most sophisticated of teens however, and soon the two find themselves in big trouble. Rei is about to get his ass kicked by what appears to be 150kg of Cat-thug-hybrid (a non-human a bit testy about being pointed at by some rubes like some sort of sideshow freak) and the only way to save his scrawny ass is to take the offer of a passing girl, who claims she can save him if the pair will cover her next meal.

She’s Arena Pendleton. She kicks ass. She takes names. She has a katana, and knows how to use it.

Arena isn’t out for the regular school course: she’s here for the Special Train. And it’s leaving soon. As in, a couple of hours. She’s grateful for the meal, since she hasn’t eaten in three days, but time’s a wastin’.

As might be expected… the cops, some mercenaries, a pair of high-security time-locked handcuffs, and the resulting comedy of errors has both of our leads in a bind. Seemingly against his will, Rei is being dragged to enroll on the Special Train, and it is only after he makes the (literal) leap that the story really begins.

##

Review:

So far, there is only the barest sci-fi gloss (space shuttles, anthropomorphic robots, four-story tall locomotives, cat-like aliens who’ll kick your ass) and a bit of steampunk underpinnings (ref: four-story tall locomotive) to what is otherwise an action- and character-driven book: Fist fights, street rumbles, and running battles punctuated by the occasional revealing conversation about future plans, expectations, and what one should really want out of life.

I’d like more sci-fi elements in future volumes, but I am by no means complaining. I’d still give this title two thumbs up– two thumbs that just finished cocking back the hammers on twin pistols. This one rocks.

Let me back up and deconstruct it a bit, because that’s what’s expected of a critic. The premise is ready-made for episodic adventure, in that the train (both a metaphor and an actual conveyance) can take our characters to a new environment for each book, with new challenges and adventures to be had at every stop. Simultaneously, the train is a huge freakin’ school, so everyone lives and learns together in what is basically a confined environment. I wish I had thought of this first; I’d still be writing sequels. Writer Kurata gets full marks.

The art… supports the story. Neither exceptional or objectionable, it works for this application. It trends close enough to “realistic” that some who object to the super-cute manga style will find no annoying distractions here. And there are the aforementioned aliens, robots, shuttles, and giant machinery to look at. And a one panel cameo from the demon goddess Deathwish, she who will bring destruction and carnage to Deloca in time for its Millennial Celebration. OK, so I’m just teasing you with that one. It’s not that exquisite a panel, I just like repeating “the Great Deathwish, etc.” –a lovely turn of phrase; kudos to both the original writer and to translator Schilling.

Artist Takuma gets 4 marks out of 5. Sometimes, not messing up an otherwise good story is valuable, too. And since comics are a medium of both words and pictures, a lot needs to be said about the importance of panel layout as it affects both pacing and narrative flow. (A lot more than has been said up to this point, anyway.)

I’m looking forward to the trip Kurata and Takuma are about to take us on. (if you’d like more convincing, go check out the trailer on Go! Comi’s web site.) (yes, a manga trailer. CPM has been doing them too)

originally written for and posted on Comicsnob.com [Dec ’06 – May ’08]

Matt’s Capsule Manga Reviews, Edition 1:
Kat & Mouse #2, R.O.D. #2, Angelic Days #3, School Rumble #3.

I’m in the middle of a number of series at this point (some of which already have a dozen or more volumes out) and like Bob I find myself with more to review than we have room for at Comicsnob. (no, we’re not going to each start daily posts. We have day jobs, you know.) Even if there isn’t time or space for a batch of full reviews, we can at least take a quick peek into a few of these.

Here are some second (and third) helpings of manga from previously reviewed series:

##

Kat & Mouse, Vol. 2: Tripped
Published by: Tokyopop
Story: Alex de Campi
Art: Federica Manfredi

96 (90) pages.
Vintage: January 2007
Tones: Christine Schilling
Lettering: Lucas Rivera
Cover Design: Jose Macasocol & Federica Manfredi
Editors: Tim Beadle & Carol Fox
Publisher’s Rating: Ages 8-12

Previously reviewed: Vol. 1
Rating: still 4 out of 5

What’s up:

More of the same for girl detectives Kat Foster and Mee-Seen “Mouse” Huang. This time there is some drama between the two over [*gasp*] a guy. Well, Mouse has a crush on the new art teacher, and as a school-girl crush I think we’re safe in assuming it won’t go anywhere, but I understand these sorts of feelings will crop up on occasion with girls of a particular age.

The heroines manage to patch things up, and also manage to solve not one but three mysteries (hmm… 2 and a halfish; I don’t think they did anything directly to resolve the second sub-plot) that come up during a class field trip to a Boston Art museum.

The series isn’t far enough in for things to become formulaic, yet, but I think we’re starting to see how the larger story arc is going to develop. Methinks Kat & Mouse will run at least 6 volumes, at least from the hints given so far. (of course, we should all hope for more than that.)

##

Read or Die, Vol. 2
Published by: Viz Media
Writer: Hideyuki Kurata
Artist: Shutaro Yamada

224 (212) pages.
Vintage: 2000. US edition May 2006.
English Translation & Adaptation: Steve Ballati
Touch-up Art & Lettering: Mark McMurray
Cover & Graphic Design: Janet Piercy
Editor: Urian Brown
Publishers Rating: Older Teen

Previously reviewed: Vol. 1
Rating: still 4 out of 5

What’s Up:

New assignments. Old boyfriends. Unexplained earthquakes. Hidden Libraries. Events proceed at a slower pace in volume two, perhaps because writer & artist both know they have us hooked, so they can tell a longer story without having to sell us on character and concept.

This series caps out at four volumes, so I’ll likely have another full review for the last volume. There is also a sequel series (R.O.D.: Read or Dream) in release now.

##

Neon Genesis Evangelion — Angelic Days, Vol. 3
Published by: ADV Manga
Story & Art: Fumino Hayashi
based on an original story by Gainax

184 (162) pages.
Vintage: 2003. US edition November 2006.
Editor: Javier Lopez
Translation: Kaoru Bertrand
Graphic Artist: Scott Howard
Publisher’s Rating: Teen, 13+

Previously reviewed: Vol. 1 & Vol. 2
Rating: Downgraded, 2 out of 5

What’s Up:

We deal with the aftermath of the students’ first trial by combat in this volume, but there are also more important things than saving the world– like confessing to the one you love, and going out on dates.

It’s still well done, but I was hoping for more giant-robot-vs-giant-alien combat. Let me credit Hayashi for one thing though: I have yet to see a shonen manga artist with such a deft hand drawing emotion– A single panel (w/o dialogue) is usually all it takes, and I know exactly what the character is feeling.

##

School Rumble, Vol. 3
Published by: Del Rey Books
Writer & artist: Jin Kobayashi

192 (158) pages
Vintage: 2003. US edition August 2006.
English Translation & Adaptation: William Flanagan
Letterer: Michaelis/Carpelis Design
Publisher’s Rating: Older Teen, ages 16+

Previously reviewed: Vol. 1
Rating: Upgraded, 3 out of 5

What’s Up:

Well, in volume 2 quite a bit happened. It looks like the delinquent and so-called secondary character, Harima Kenji, has become the hidden engine driving this series– His character undergoes the most changes, and is also the more interesting to follow even if Tsukamato Tenma, the object of his affection, gets at least as many pages. Harima loses all hope, to the point where he draws manga as his only emotional outlet, then falls even lower when he discovers the artist he respects the most and was emulating (wait for it) is also his rival for Tenma. Then he: shacks up with an older woman, wanders the earth like Caine, becomes mistaken for a local Shinto deity (or perhaps just a saint), tells fortunes on the street, and after a mix-up involving love letters and school correspondence (don’t ask) eventually ends up going back to classes.

Meanwhile, Tenma is also going through her own trials, but… it reads much the same as volume one. Quite a few minor characters are getting fleshed out, so the series as a whole is starting to develop more of an ensemble-cast feel, rather than the one-note love-triangle plot that dominated volume one. Oh wait, volume 3 also has the girls in swimsuits. Oh, I know, no big surprise there. Volume 4 will likely have the cast going to a hot spring resort next. (these are so predictible…)

I have no idea where this series is going to take us next– except that I doubt that anyone is finding “true love” any time soon, obviously.

originally written for and posted on Comicsnob.com [Dec ’06 – May ’08]

Hayate the Combat Butler, Vol. 1
Published by: Viz Media
Writer & Artist: Kenjiro Hata

194 (180) pages.
Original Language: Japanese
Orientation: Right to left
Vintage: 2005. US edition November 2006.
English Adaptation: Mark Giambruno
Translation: Yuki Yoshioka & Cindy H. Yamauchi
Touch-up Art & Lettering: Freeman Wong
Design: Yukiko Whitley
Editor: Kit Fox
Publisher’s Rating: T+, for older teens

Rating: 1 out of 5

##

Premise: Hayate, the Combat Butler. Through a series of misunderstandings, a young man down on his luck gets a break (we won’t call it a lucky break, yet) and goes to work as a Butler-slash-bodyguard.

Synopsis:

Hayate Ayasaki is 16. He works hard as a bike messenger. He has to; his parents are incurable gamblers and the only income is what Hayate can bring in. It gets worse.

In relatively short order, Hayate finds himself broke, unemployed, and holding the bag for his parents gambling debts. The yakuza are nice guys, though; in lieu of money, they’re willing take his organs to sell on the black market.

After a botched kidnapping, a real kidnapping, and a heroic rescue attempt that could be called successful–if you don’t mind being run over by a car–Hayate ends up in the employ of the Sanzenin family, which is apparently just one very rich little girl. And her maid. And a 300lb. tiger. Things get kind of messed up from here on in.

##

Review:

I bought this one for the title.

The title, at least, did not disappoint. By the end of chapter four, Hayate has been in several fights, and is also hired as a butler.

It quickly devolves from that somewhat promising opening. Now it could be that later volumes will attempt a plot of some sort, but in this book the plot is pretty much abandoned as soon as Hayate becomes a butler, in favor of some sight gags and wacky comedy. I expected sight gags and wacky comedy, but I thought that might be leavened with a little action, maybe some (I don’t know) “Combat”. Though I’ve described Hayate as a butler and bodyguard, so far he isn’t called upon to do much of either.

The art is decent enough. You know what you’re in for, though, from the bug-eyed ‘cute’ kid on the cover (she’s Hayate’s new employer, by the way). It’s manga-generic, in that nothing about the art really sticks out that would make this title any better than dozens of others on the shelf.

I get the feeling this is Kenjiro Hata’s first book as a professional. It is technically well done, but the book lacks polish and the story falls apart after a few chapters. The first few chapters were pretty good, though, which only made the last half of the book seem even worse in comparison. Some manga artists learn a lot about pacing and storytelling over the course of their first series, so I’ll be thumbing through later volumes in this series, just to see if the Combat Butler can ever find the right balance between action, comedy, and um… housework.

originally written for and posted on Comicsnob.com [Dec ’06 – May ’08]

Buddha, Vol. 1
Published by: Vertical
Story and Art by Osamu Tezuka

400 (396) pages.
Original Language: Japanese
Orientation: Left to right (flipped)
Vintage: 1987. US edition 2006.
English credits aren’t listed, but I’ll give a nod to Chip Kidd, Art Director, and Kerim Yasar, Editor. (other executives & staff are listed on the website)
Publisher’s Rating: None given.

Rating: 4 out of 5

##

Premise: The life of the Buddha. Not a religious paean, though: A manga biography of an extraordinary man told with a mix of comics sensibilities, an echo of gritty realism, and a touch of humour.

Synopsis:

Of course, in volume one, the man who will become Buddha isn’t even born yet. For our main characters, we have Chapra and his Mom, who are slaves owned by a fairly wealthy merchant. There is also Naradatta, the monk, who was sent by the head of his monastery to seek out a mysterious man, one who will know the answer to a key riddle. Our other hero is the ever resourceful ragamuffin Tatta, who is of the lowest caste, an untouchable, but he doesn’t let that get him down.

The four are thrown together, and events really get moving, when an invading army comes to take over Kapilavastu Castle. Tatta and Chapra don’t live in the castle–they live three and four towns over. General Budai and his soldiers are pretty much pillaging like they usually would even though no one is opposing them. It gets messy.

Life is tough on the subcontinent, and then you die. Events have been set into motion, though, that might change that fate for everyone.

##

Review:

Let’s talk about length, shall we? This is a 400 page book. It’s not a compilation of several volumes, it was written to be a single book and originally published at this size. Oh, and it’s volume one of eight. The young prince Siddhartha of Kapilavastu is only born on page 257, so we know Tezuka is going to be taking us on a long trip, before he finishes the tale of this one, extraordinary life.

You won’t mind. At least, I didn’t, because there is quite a bit of story here. Tezuka also throws us the occasional anachronism or sight gag, so it’s not as deep and serious as you might think, for a biography of the Buddha.

Tezuka has his own style, which you’ll immediate recognise, because artists have been copying him for decades. Characters and animals are drawn in a “cartoon” style, and one can see the heavy influence of classic American toons, from the likes of Disney and Warner Bros. Backgrounds are richly drawn (when they need to be) and other artwork is well done, so the character designs in this style are a conscious choice, not a deficiency of talent.

Osamu Tezuka is a manga god, and this is a fine example of why. It’s amazing to me what one man can do with just pen and ink. I don’t see any ‘modern’ production methods, and ‘87 was a tad too early for Photoshop, so just pause and appreciate that all 396 pages of artwork have been hand-drawn. From the Himalayan backdrops, to palace interiors, to a plague of freakin’ locusts, every bit of it was done the old fashioned way. Tezuka illustrates on nearly every page why comics (art + words) are equal to more than just the sum of their parts.

I’m going to recommend these, and I’ll be buying the other volumes as they come out in paperback (the eight hardcover editions have been out for a year) so sometime in June I’ll be back here on Comicsnob to tell you my overall impressions of all 3,180 pages of this thing.

originally written for and posted on Comicsnob.com [Dec ’06 – May ’08]

The Dreaming, Vols. 1 & 2
Published by: Tokyopop
Writer & Artist: Queenie Chan

192 (174) + 192 (186) pages.
Original Language: English
Orientation: Left to right
Vintage: December 2005 and November 2006
Production Artists: Lucas Rivera & Jason Milligan (vol. 1); Jihye “Sophia” Hong & Courtney Geter (vol. 2)
Cover Design: Anne Marie Horne
Copy Editors: Peter Ahlstrom, Eric Althoff, & Hope Donovan (vol. 1); Stephanie Duchin (vol. 2)
Editors: Carol Fox (vols. 1 & 2), and Paul Morrissey (vol. 2)
Publisher’s Rating: Teen, Ages 13+

Rating: 3 out of 5

##

Premise: Victorian Gothic Horror. In Australia. In the back country of Australia, actually, and that’s just the background; the story starts when two present-day girls transfer to an odd boarding school.

Synopsis:

At an isolated boarding school deep in the Australian bush, twin sisters Jeanie and Amber are having a little trouble adjusting. The other students they meet are nice enough, but everyone is a bit guarded. Or scared, even. Weird things happen at the school. The vice principal is perhaps insane, but even if she isn’t nuts, it’s clear she doesn’t like kids much. (have to wonder why she works at a school, then.) The only cool teacher, who happens to be the schools headmistress–and who also happens to be Jeanie and Amber’s aunt–is going to be gone for the next 3 months.

No wonder the girls are feeling a little isolated. They are also having trouble sleeping. When they do sleep, they have the same weird dream, about girls in antique dresses doing odd things out in the woods. And the blood, and the chasing, and the…

And of course they wake up, feeling awful. Jeanie starts taking sleeping pills, for dreamless nights, leaving Amber somewhat alone.

The dreams seem to tie in with an odd series of paintings, hidden here and there about campus, and also with mysterious disappearances. It seems that every decade or so, a girl will leave the school and wander into the nearby bush, never to be seen again.

Can the twins overcome the differences growing between them? What happens when the disappearances go from story and rumour to something all too immediate? And what’s the deal with the sealed room across from the vice principal’s office?

##

Review:

I thought this was a two-parter when I bought these, but now it looks like I have to wait a year or so to finish this title off.

I mention it in passing, because it is easy to get caught up in the mystery and characters, and it’s going to be a bitch waiting to close this out. You might put these on a shelf, without reading them, until you can get that 3rd volume. If you can resist the temptation.

Chan isn’t afraid of ink: Each panel has rich screen tones and inkwork, in fact the pages almost run black with all the print they’re burdened with. From wallpaper to dress fabric to the ominous mass of Australian bush, covered in fog, just outside every window– even if we removed the text from every dialogue bubble, you’d know this was meant to be a gothic horror. The artwork gives the books an atmosphere that really suits the story.

The story, however, isn’t just a reworking of Wollstonecraft sensibilities in the manga format. Our characters are present-day teens, and they’re just as creeped-out as we are by the Victorian-goth backdrop and backstory. Well, that and blood dripping from trees in your dreams every night; that’d creep anyone out. One of the things that makes the story so effective is that it plays out primarily inside the characters’ heads. In fact, the dramatic punch on the last page of volume one is when the eerie events of dreams finally break through into the real world.

The reason I only give the books 3 points out of 5 is that horror isn’t really my cup of chai. (If you like gothic horror, this is your book.) I might not have bought these at all, except when I discovered an Australian comic artist & writer, I just had to give this title a try. (There are some notes from Chan at the end of volume one that give us insight on how her background and some odd bits of Australian history have informed the story presented.)

originally written for and posted on Comicsnob.com [Dec ’06 – May ’08]

Last Hope, Vol. 1
Published by: Seven Seas Entertainment
Art: Kriss Sison
Story: Michael Dignan

192 (162) pages.
Original Language: English
Orientation: Right to left
Vintage: April 2005
Lettering: Jon Zamar
Graphic Design & Tones: Culture Crash
Editor: Jason DeAngeles
Publisher’s Rating: Teen

Rating: 2 out of 5

##

Premise: High school kids go dimension hopping in self defence, because a sci-fi fantasy samurai version of Claudius out of Hamlet is chasing their scrawny butts.

Synopsis:

The new kid at Maunaloa Academy is quiet, reserved, maybe even a little arrogant. Hiroto doesn’t seem to be interested in making friends. Maybe because he is actually a prince from another world, and constantly looking over your shoulder for an ambush must be tiring.

Hiroto is on the run because his uncle, the evil Lord Kumagai, just offed both his parents, and wouldn’t you know it, Hamlet Hiroto is the only thing standing between him and the throne.

Evil uncles and attacking cross-dimension ninjas are just the start of Hiroto’s troubles, because his spacetime hopping gadget is a little busted at the moment. Hiroto just knows that the school nerd can help him fix the gizmo. Turns out he’s probably right, though no fixing is happening yet, because wouldn’t you know it– Lord Mucketymuck and his masked minions attack first.

Hiroto and his potential mechanic, Alvin, along with a few more-or-less-innocent bystanders are forced to use the broken sci-fi gear to make a run for it, into a nearby alternate dimension. Let’s round out the scooby-gang, shall we? Spunky tomboy redhead? Check. Demure girl next door? Check. Rival who might slowly turn into a friend? Check. Fuzzy sidekick? Looks like the gang’s all here. We even have this guy named Tom, who may in fact be wearing a red shirt. (Don’t go on any away missions in volume 2, Tom.)

##

Review:

If from my description, Last Hope sounds like a cross between Sliders, 90210, and a Samurai 7 alt-version of Hamlet, well that was pretty much my take on it. I may in fact have let a little sarcasm slip into my synopsis, and for that I should probably apologize to Sison & Dignan, because their book does read better than my flip description might lead you to believe.

It’s not a comedy. The story has lighter moments, but this is deadly serious for all the high schoolers involved, no matter what their country or dimension of origin. The pacing is good, though fast, and we barely have time for quick character introductions before things go from school yard fights to life-and-death combat.

The character design is good. I like these kids. The plot and premise also feel like a good fit, using the world-hopping meme as a backdrop and a source for episodic action while having the power struggle for the throne between Hiroto and Kumagai operate as both the larger story arc, and also a way to literally drive our characters from one setting to the next. Right now the comic is just potentially good though, since the action heavy first volume leaves us just a few pages for dramatic and thematic set-up.

And the premise can easily fall into cliché. The first alternate world the characters run to is a dystopian high school run with cruel discipline, where a previously generic teacher is now a villain with dark and fascist undertones. (cue lightning & dramatic music)

2 points. But I will be buying Volume 2 when it streets later this month, to see which direction the Seven Seas crew are taking this one.

originally written for and posted on Comicsnob.com [Dec ’06 – May ’08]

Jim Henson’s Return to Labyrinth, Vol. 1
Published by: Tokyopop
Story: Jake T. Forbes
Art: Chris Lie

192 (164) pages.
Original Language: English
Orientation: Left to right
Vintage: August 2006
Inkers: Jeremy Freeman; with Robert Grabe, Alex McCaffrey, Tyler Niccum, & Em Stone
Tones: Erfan Fajar Studio
Layout and Lettering: Lucas Rivera
Cover Design: Anne Marie Horne & Kyle Plummer
Consulting Editor for the Jim Henson Company: Michael Polis
Contributing Editors: Tim Beedle & Luis Reyes
Editor: Rob Valois
Publisher’s Rating: Teen, 13+

Based on the feature film Labyrinth: Directed by Jim Henson, Story by Dennis Lee & Jim Henson, Screenplay by Terry Jones
Original Designs by Brian Froud

Rating:
4 out of 5

##

Premise: Toby is an otherwise ordinary teenager whose wishes come true, sort of. Usually a wish is granted in a way that causes damage or brings down the wrath of parents and teachers, because Toby is being watched–and watched out for–by Goblins. To try and change this fate (and get back some stolen homework) Toby goes down the rabbit hole into a whole new world…

Synopsis:

After a brief fairy-tale-style intro, and a neat segue, we settle in with some introductory scenes to the mundane life of Toby Williams. He has the usual problems: His parents are detached and mostly absent, but still find time to nag him about homework. He just ruined the school play, but not before embarrassing himself by flubbing his lines on stage. He gets caught cheating on a test, but that’s not really his fault.

No, really. It’s the Goblins I tell you.

When Toby finally gets to confront someone about all this Goblin “help” he’s been getting, he demands that the King of Goblins stop it. And while Jareth and the other goblins stop helping him, they aren’t done messing with him yet.

Toby has to figure out a way into the Labyrinth, the city of goblins, and then struggle his way through it before he’ll find the answers, or his stolen history paper. He makes a few friends, and a few enemies along the way. But in the end, the answer he gets… will lead us into volume 2.

##

Review:

So, I just finished telling you in my most recent column that Japanese manga, at least the volumes on the shelf at your LCS, are better than American Comics. And I spent quite a few words proving it, at least to my satisfaction.

So let me punch a few holes in that argument, immediately contradict myself, and review an American manga. I’m good like that.

Picking up 15 years from the end of the movie, now it is young Toby’s turn to face the Labyrinth. For those of you who haven’t seen Labyrinth (1986, Starring Jennifer Connelly, David Bowie, and a bunch of creatures built by Henson), relax, you won’t need to. Toby was just a plot device in the film (a kidnapped baby) and it was his older sister who played the heroine.

Toby’s sister Sarah is back again, too, but just at the beginning, in a supporting role. And a number of other characters and creatures make a return appearance.

The strength of the manga is not what it borrows from the film, but what it builds on top of it. The new characters and possibilities excite me a lot more than the cameos. The background is rich with possibilities; the few details we get only whet the appetite for more. I think the writer, Forbes, is doing well to take the original as his inspiration and move on with his own twisted fairy tale. The art style is fairly good, too, but once again new characters seem to fair better than those previously captured on film.

It is hard to take a character designed by Brian Froud, brought to life by Henson’s Creature Shop, shown 10 feet tall on a movie screen, and still living in my memory– and have it play out well as line art. The art is good, the inkwork and tones also well done, but it seems like a caricature. That may be why the new characters (who don’t have the burden of having to appear “cinematic”, and can merely be themselves) seem to be much more real.

While I’m on the topic of artwork, let me insert an aside: Damn that’s a creepy cover. Fortunately the art inside is not in the same style. I think the cover is the reason I stalled 4 months before buying this, even though I’m the second or third biggest Henson geek on the face of the planet.

There is a lot of story crammed into this first volume, and more events than I can describe in the space provided here. Some of the side stories, like when a fairie takes a couple pages to explain how she lost her wings, read like their own little fractured bits of Andersen and Grimm. It’s a fun comic. It also seems to be building a much larger story, even beyond the events of the movie or of this first book. I think the creative team (and it’s a big team, read the credits) are working on making this title into an fantasy epic. If it is done with the same skill and care shown here, and with even more new inventions in the world of Labyrinth, then I wish them well.

As a bonus after the story, we get a 24-page preview of another Tokyopop/Henson collaboration, Legends of the Dark Crystal, currently scheduled for a 27 February release. (…and more Henson: If you look at the initial press release, you’ll see they’ve also got Gaiman scripting a manga prequel to Mirrormask. Yes, that Gaiman!)

Edit 5 July 08: Legends of the Dark Crystal shipped 6 months late, but is in fact available, but no work yet on that Mirrormask Manga.

originally written for and posted on Comicsnob.com [Dec ’06 – May ’08]

Kat & Mouse, Vol 1.: Teacher Torture
Published by: Tokyopop
Story: Alex de Campi
Art: Federica Manfredi

96 (90) pages.
Original Language: English
Orientation: Left to right
Vintage: July 2006
Tones: Kathy Schilling
Production Art & Lettering: Erika “Skooter” Terriquez
Cover Design: Anne Marie Horne
Editor: Carol Fox
Publisher’s Rating: Ages 8-12

Rating: 4 out of 5

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Premise: Kat finds herself in a new (private) school when her dad lands a gig at Dover Academy as the new science teacher. Fortunately for her, she links up with Mee-Seen (everyone calls her Mouse) who is one of the few cool people there. Between unexplained thefts, blackmail, and middle school social cliques, together they have their hands full.

Synopsis:

Kat Foster and her mom & dad are moving from Iowa to New Hampshire because Fergus Foster (dad) just landed the job as science teacher at a prestigious private school. One of the job benefits is tuition for Kat, which Mom is excited about, but for Kat it just means that she has to leave her friends and start 7th grade over again in a new school.

On top of the usual transition headaches, Kat also has to deal with the fact that Pops is a teacher (never a good social position to bargain from) and to make matters worse, some ne’er-do-well students are blackmailing her father, trying to get better grades.

Here’s the meaty part of the plot: expensive equipment has been stolen from the science lab, and since Fergus can’t recall if he locked the lab door (absent-minded professor character template) he could stand to lose his job over the matter. He also gets an odd note, telling him that if he doesn’t pass everyone with at least a C grade, even worse may befall him.

Kat and her new friend Mouse take up the challenge, and with a little CSI-flavoured sleuthing, manage to save the day.

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Review:

[special thanks to Johanna for bringing this title to my attention]

Kat & Mouse manages to pack more story, character development, and heart into 96 pages than a lot of other properties can manage over several volumes.

Part of that is our characters, and the setting. Middle school is a dynamic time in most of our lives, and presents dramatic and thematic possibilites that aren’t soon matched outside of the English War of the Roses or Late Republican Rome. Oh, it’s all just piddling stuff, but in the lives of our characters, it really is that important.

Middle school is the day-to-day battleground of our characters, and also of the target audience. However, just because this is marketed to the ‘tween-girl demographic, you should not skip this title. Both Mom & Dad are developed as characters, with their own problems and feelings, so even if you aren’t a 12-year-old girl, there are other characters you’ll identify with. But the main story–making life work after moving to a new school–is universal enough that just about anyone should be able to connect with it: Kat & Mouse is a sweet, light adventure that transcends its marketing goals and develops into a comic that everyone can enjoy.

And if you can’t empathise with Kat, something in your soul is dead.

Stylistically, the comic seems a bit plain. The black & white art reads a lot like the old 4-colour comics of days gone by: heavy inks supplemented by only a few tones, without a whole lot of depth. Not that I’m knocking the art; it works. Artist Manfedi doesn’t skimp on backgrounds or character details, either, so I’m thinking the clean, slightly simplified art was chosen as a matter of style, and to appeal to kids more familiar with TV cartoons than comic books. I am more impressed by subtleties of story than by subtleties of shading, anyway.

With these characters, this set-up and the concomitant story possibilities, de Campi and Manfredi could run this series for as long as they like. Nancy Drew ran for dozens of volumes; here’s hoping the Kat & Mouse crew feel like going for at least a couple dozen themselves. You should give this one a try (or buy gifts for the daughters and nieces in your life) particularly considering that the MSRP is only $6