About Heroes

Black Jack vols. 6 & 7
Story & Art: Osamu Tezuka
Translation: Camellia Nieh
Publisher: Vertical
Sometimes I find it difficult to review Tezuka’s work because after all the man is the God of comics and how do you criticize perfection? I remember being so excited when Viz first released these stories in their short-lived manga Anthology Manga Vizion. It was upsetting that they didn’t continue publishing the adventures of the tortured renegade Doctor. Along came Vertical to the rescue and this translation is far superior to its predecessor. Like the previous five books, these volumes are oversized with 14 different stand alone stories per volume. Black Jack is a complex individual; he is a man who professes to care only about money but who is deeply concerned for the well-being of all his patients. He is a man with no limits in the medical field and even though he works miracles, not everyone has a happy ending. The stories are a fantastic mix of sci-fi, romance, horror, and of the human will to survive. One of my favorite things about Tezuka’s art is that he never recycles any of his character designs (unless they make a cameo) and the secondary characters all stand out in their own unique way…I think I developed a soft spot for Pinoko after reading The Two Pinokos story. Camelliah Nieh does a stupendous job with the translations making the characters sound so real and as true to the Japanese as possible. I literally read the book from cover to cover twice and have passed it around to other friends to get them to read comics. If you are a fan of House, Grey’s Anatomy, ER, or even Scrubs you are missing out on such a great series if you aren’t reading this book.A

Karakuri Odette vol.1
Story & Art: Julietta Suzuki
Translation: Aimi Tokutake
Adaptation: Peter Ahlstrom
Publisher: Tokypop

There are certain things I’m a sucker for in life: Giant robots, two chicks and one cup, X-men, and for some reason robot girls trying to become human. Sure we have seen this kind of story since the days of Pinocchio, but it’s always a nice twist when the thing trying to become human is a cute girl any guy would fall for. It would have been really easy for Suzuki to turn Odette into an annoying Bimbo (yes, they do exist), but for some reason she comes across as a naïve, gentle, and caring android that you end up cheering for in the end. While the first few chapters get a little repetitive, I still found myself wondering what she was going to come home and ask for next. Kind of like Arale in Doctor Slump, but not funny. When she asked for weaker arms, because she didn’t want to stand out during gym class I wasn’t expecting her to get stuck in a well with her friend. During the Christmas season Professor Yoshisawa leaves Odette alone, she finds herself in company of Chris Number Seven, yep another android that ends up playing the game of Life with her. The art in this book is your typical shojo art. But it is refreshing to see that you won’t find any kind of fan service in this robot chick story. A -

NG Life volume 1
Story & Art: Mizohu Kusanagi
Translation: Nan Rymer
Publisher: Tokyopop

Kind of funny that the day after I watch the episode of Doctor Who entitled The Fires of Pompeii, I end up reading this book Now stay with me cause the plot can get a little confusing, well just the players can get confusing. In the city of Pompeii Sirix was becoming a champion in the gladiator arena. His best friend, who was always at his side, was named Loleus. His love interest was the lovely Serena. All this came to an abrupt end when Mount Vesuvius erupted and destroyed the city. Of course nobody survived the disaster, but it seems that their souls are occupying bodies in modern-day Japan. Sirix is a high school student named Keidai Saeki, his best friend is now a girl named Mii Serizawa, his sister is his mother, and his arch nemesis is his father. The biggest twist of fate comes in the reincarnated body of Serena, who turns out to be his new neighbor named Yuuma, and happens to be a boy. Not only is Keidai the only person who remembers everyone’s past lives, but he’s managed to creep out Yuuma, who I still think looks like a girl. While this is all some great ingredients for a confusing love story, it is really overshadowed by the unfunny comedy that is all over this book. It seems that in every other page Keidai is freaking out about something and over reacts with jaw dropping faces. The art's a little rough on the edges, but it has a warm feel and brings out the characters' personalities, but like I mentioned before, sometimes a little too much. Plenty of clichés in the story, but I still have hope that after the play something happens to the other characters to make them remember. C+

Oh My Goddess! vols. 9-12
Story & Art: Kosuke Fujishima
Translation & Adaptation: Dana Lewis & Toren Smith
Publisher: Dark Horse

How could I only put one exclamation mark when I write Oh My Goddess? I believe three exclamation marks wouldn’t do the book justice. Okay, in case you don’t know what Oh My Goddess! is about, here is a real real quick recap: Keiichi Morisato accidently dials a goddess hotline and ends up with three goddesses. These three Goddesses are Belldandy, who Keiichi is madly in love with, her older sister Urd, and her younger sister Skuld. These four volumes have so much story pact in them it’s insane. From Keiichi turning into a girl a storyline that takes a turn for the darker as Urd's evil half is exploited by the demonic Mara, partly as another scheme to drive Belldandy back to Heaven but also simply to return to the friendly relationship she enjoyed with Urd when they were kids. Mara being Mara once again fails to fully consider all ramifications of her plan... and the resulting two Urds may both die before the story is over. By far the greatest OMG story comes from these volumes. The sad story about Keiichi’s dog literally brought tears to my eyes, as I’m sure any animal lover would get teary eyed too.

What are the odds of someone making the same mistake twice? Well, leave it to Keiichi to beat the odds when he manages to dial up Peorth, a beautiful goddess who happens to know what Keiichi's secret desires are, and wants to grant him his fantasy.
Peorth will stop at nothing to get Keiichi to admit his desire for intimacy. Showing up nude in the bath to scrub his back? Getting into his bed in black lingerie? Trying to get him to drown so she can perform mouth-to-mouth? She'll do it. Things only get worse when Peorth meddles with Urd's love potions, accidentally creating one that makes ANY woman Keiichi looks at fall in love with him. And wouldn't you know it, his sister Megumi is visiting for the day! Keiichi and Belldandy's love for each other is put through trial after trial, as Peorth attempts not only to seduce Keiichi, but to make Belldandy remember an insult she gave Peorth long ago. Fujishima's characters and their relationships continue to evolve in these volumes with Belldandy and Keiichi taking a backseat for the first two volumes while Mara, Urd, and Skuld step into the spotlight. The art is, as always, the gorgeous mix of cartoon-like style and realism that Fujishima becomes increasingly adept at. It seems that in these volumes Fujishima is finally comfortable with his characters and it is just plain gorgeous. Do yourself a favor and buy these books! A+

Reservoir Chronicle Tsubasa: Character Guide 2
Translation: Satsuki Yamashita
Adaptation: Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane
Publisher: Del Rey

Since CLAMP has done so much work over the years, sometimes I wish I knew what character came from what manga in the Tsubasa books. Over 20 volumes deserves a character and world guide. Put out by the Shonen Magazine Editorial Department it is a bit like the Clamp No Kiseki, with a little more information in a more manga-style format as opposed to the magazine/art book type. There are a lot of fun tidbits other than just a guide to the characters. Pre-production character sketches, the original color art, and artist contributions are probably some of my favorite parts of this guide. There are other things that seem to just take up room to fill in the book like an advice column by Fai and the personality test. The new manga in the back is very short and doesn’t affect the continuing story in any way. The mini interview did peek my interest. Reading about how CLAMP is tailoring their traditional shojo style of art and storytelling to fit into a shonen magazine was something I didn’t know. They’re very conscious of the different expectations shonen readers have, both in art and storytelling. Ohkawa has a good sense of humor and makes the interview an enjoyable read and I love how she draws herself. I think that as long as you've read the manga, this book provides no information about the stories or characters that you don't already know. But if you are a completist, like me, you know you are going to purchase this book. C