Comic Picks By The Glick

Two new manga series debut from Dark Horse in their latest solicitations.  Well, one new one and one new edition of a series previously published by Tokyopop.  As all of the collections are advance-solicited by two months, this means that a full year after “Eden vol. 13” came out there’s still no sign of the next volume.  With that in mind, I’ll be hitting up the local Kinokuniya before the end of this year to see if I can get my hands on the Japanese editions so I can read the scanlations guilt-free.  By doing this, I’m sure that this will cause Dark Horse to finish publishing the series in English to spite me for investing the funds to read it quasi-legally.  I realize this comes off as terribly egocentric of me, but it worked when I imported “Xenoblade” from the U.K.  Sooooooooo, maybe here too?

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If it seems that I write about this particular manga more than others, that’s because it usually winds up bringing something new to the table with each volume.  Case in point:  Creators Moritaka and Akito finally deliver their manga masterwork here.  This a watershed moment for the series as the title was pretty much founded on the creation of such.  Tt also threatens to throw a metafictional wrench into the pseudo-reality writer Tsugumi Ohba has built up around this version of Shonen Jump.

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This month we’ve got a couple high-profile releases with specific religious themes, Scott Snyder going toe-to-toe with Alan Moore’s legacy, the final volume of “Hitman” and as always MOAR BATMAN.

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Yes, I bought this in hardcover; but, it was worth the cash.

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With this third volume, the series has settled into a comfortable and familiar groove.  Shizuku will encounter someone in crisis or distress that will somehow be related to wine, much investigating by himself and his associate Miyabi will be done, and we will all have learned something new about this classiest of beverages before the arc is over.  I was expecting more than this based on the hype for this title, but there’s no denying that it’s a satisfyingly executed take on some very familiar tropes, bolstered by its focus on a subject that has a lot of depth to it.  I’m enjoying it, but this volume unwittingly begins what may be an extended journey into the realm of self-parody.

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Do I feel inclined to contribute to the Kickstarter campaign to fund the second volume now?  Sadly, not really.  This first volume of “Carbon Grey” positions itself as an epic story involving prophecy, war, betrayal, and the fate of an empire.  All of these are centered around the four Sisters Grey, and one in particular, Giselle, who may be the daughter prophesied to bring about revolution in the world.  It’s all very ambitious, but the creators are not quite up to the task of giving this story the execution it deserves.  Though they clearly have a story to tell, it comes off as more focused on widescreen action than coherence or worldbuilding.  A bigger problem is that there’s barely any character development at all.  None of the events here have any resonance because it’s hard to care about a group of one-dimensional ciphers.  No editor is listed in the credits for this book, but this is a story that desperately needed one in order to bring out its full potential.

However, “Carbon Grey” does have one major point in its favor:  the art.  Three people, Khari Evans, Kinsun Loh, and Hoang Nguyen are listed as providing the (mostly) stunning look of this series that is sure to catch anyone’s eye.  Almost every panel boasts a level of detail that’s usually only reserved for covers, but it avoids the posed awkardness that comes from artists like Greg Land who clearly swipe their characters from other sources.  There’s a vitality to the art here that manifests itself in the incredible action sequences such as Giselle’s airship escape in the book’s opening, and her mid-air assault on pursuing aircraft later on.  It’s not all perfect, though, as there are also more than a few sequences where it looks like the artist came down with a case of this-needs-to-get-to-the-printers-NOW as they look embarrassingly unfinished compared to the rest of the book.  Overall, this wasn’t really a bad book, but it’s clearly a case of the creators’ reach exceeding their grasp.  Recommended mainly for fans of great art, who may also be interested in picking up the recently published artbook as well.

The Shohoku vs. Ryonan match is over.  FINALLY.  This particular game ran over five volumes for thirty-six chapters.  Think about it:  When this was originally serialized back in Shonen Jump, it took 2/3rds of a year to tell this story.  That’s almost as long as it took to serialize this story in English.  I could go on about how this also ties into why I prefer to read nearly all American comics in collected form, but I will say that -- true to the series -- the match was wrapped up in thrilling fashion.  Mitsui’s collapse may have been a “cause for concern” but it only heralds Sakuragi’s second wind as the gifted newbie makes a series of stellar plays that keep Ryonan from scoring.  He also sets up the beautiful, momentum-destroying moment from perpetual benchwarmer Kogure that seals the deal for Shohoku.  The game continues after that, but the dreamlike silence with which it’s conveyed only makes the joyous eruption of cheer at the end of the ordeal that much more satisfying.

Now, Shohoku’s victory shouldn’t come as a spoiler.  Aside from the fact that there are ten volumes left, I don’t think that this became one of the biggest-selling manga of all time by having the main team face off against their rival and LOSE.  No, their victory and subsequent trip to the regionals (and the crying of many manly tears) was assured.  Fortunately Takehiko Inoue doesn’t waste any time setting things up for the next series of matches, as he re-introduces some of key players from Kainan and shows us the star players from the other teams in the tournament.  Those scenes, along with Rukawa’s heart-to-heart with Coach Anzai, help keep the momentum going and give us a reason to be invested in the next arc.  Can Inoue top himself with the space he has left?  You can damn well believe that I’m going to stick around and find out.

If not for Azzarello and Risso's "Batman," then this whole event would've been a complete wash.

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In order to be better than the previous volume, all Brian Wood would have to do is offer up a main story that isn’t completely ridiculous.  That is accomplished here with “The Siege of Paris.”  It’s not the best story in the series or even the title one, but it is the longest at three issues which show the battle through the actions and narration of Mads, the viking in charge.  Simon Gane provides the art, and delivers an appropriately prickly version of Cameron Stewart’s cartoonishness as seen in the savagery that dominates the proceedings.  Mads is an engaging narrator and has a satisfyingly complex relationship with Abbo, the monk he liberated from virtual slavery and now works as his chronicler.  However, the story is undermined by the fact that the actions Mads takes to break the battle’s stalemate come after months of battle, when it appears that they could’ve, and should’ve been done much sooner.

Two other stories fill out this volume with “The Hunt,” with art from Matthew Woodson, being the better of them.  It’s a man-against-nature story about a hunter who tracks a deer across the wilderness in winter and winds up confronting his failures in life along the way.  This story builds to a satisfying anti-climax as he gets what he wants in a way that renders his efforts almost meaningless, while the title story “Thor’s Daughter” probably would’ve been better off if it had the three issues given to “Paris.”  Here we have the (almost) always interesting story of a girl, the daughter of a murdered village chief, struggling in a patriarchy to secure her birthright and save her home from invaders squeezed into one issue.  What’s here is good, but I can’t help but think that it would’ve been even better to see her struggles over a period of months or even years -- especially with the fantastic art from Marian Churchland.  That said, we have three stories that are all better than “decent” and no supernatural tomfoolery -- I’d call that a win..

Or, “Ultimate Comics Avengers vol. 4” if you’re inclined like me.  I’m assuming that the “Death of Spider-Man” subtitle was added on to the original “Avengers vs. New Ultimates” title from the mini-series for purposes of cashing in on the event.  That’s because while there is a definite connection to the “Ultimate Comics Spider-Man” story, it’s by no means the central story being told here and except for one moment mostly occupies the background when writer Mark Millar tries to give this story some emotional resonance that he can’t provide on his own.  Yes, this is the last title I’m planning to read from him for the forseeable future as I’ve had just about all I can take of his tone-deaf dialogue and pointless attitude.  I will give him credit for crafting a story that actually has enough plot to sustain the six issues collected here, but aside from some great art this is only marginally better than the last two volumes.

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