Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Part 7: Steel Ball Run vol. 1
I made it clear that I thought “Stone Ocean” was definitely a step down from previous Parts of “Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure.” Normally that would be a sign that this long-running series was running out of steam and one should be wary of future installments. However, we’re still playing catch-up to the Japanese release after all these years, which means that there was a considerable amount of word of mouth already circulating around this Part. Good word of mouth too, all indicating that “Steel Ball Run” was a much-needed change in direction and even a return to form after the uneven shenanigans of the previous installment.
Was it all true, or just a lot of hot air? If this first volume is anything to go by, then “Jojo’s” is back, baby!
Let’s set the scene: The year is 1890 and wealthy industrialist Steven Steel has announced the transcontinental Steel Ball Run race. It’s set to run 3,700 miles from San Diego to New York with a $50 million cash prize. Why is Mr. Steel doing this? Even though transportation across the continent has been standardized by the railroad, he wants to show that the pioneering spirit is still present in America and its people today. If there’s another, secret, reason for this, well… I guess we’ll just have to see about that later.
Such a large prize has attracted all sorts of characters to the race. There’s Gyoro Zepelli with his unflappable confidence, signature grill, and mysterious spinning ball accessories that allow him to do all sorts of crazy things. Including being able to make disabled jockey Johnny Joestar briefly walk again which drives the young man to enroll in the race so he can learn their secret.
You’ve also got Sand Man, a Native American who wants to use the prize money to buy back his people’s lands, and plans to win the race by running it entirely on foot. Another competitor is Porcoloco, a sharecropper from Georgia, who entered the race after being told that he’ll have the best luck of his life for the next two months by a fortune teller. Then there’s another jockey from Britain, said to be the best one on the continent, by the name of Diego Brando. He’s best known by his nickname, Dio, which I’m sure will have NO RELEVANCE WHATSOEVER TO THE REST OF THE STORY.
Really. If you were starting to read “Jojo’s” from this part without any knowledge of what has come before then that would mean nothing to you. For everyone else, we’re just waiting for the other shoe to drop. This is one of the advantages of the timeline being given a reset after the events of “Stone Ocean” as it’s not entirely clear where mangaka Hirohiko Araki is going to re-reveal him as the ageless vampire antagonist of the Joestar clan here.
If you’re confused by that, it’s understandable. The end of the previous Part made it clear that we were now in an alternate universe compared to the previous ones, but the setting here is before every other one, save for Part 1. That said, it looks to be pretty clear that Araki is starting the series continuity over and anything that ties into the previous iteration should be treated as either an Easter Egg, foreshadowing, or potential red herring. I will say that the mostly clean break from what has gone before does make this the most new-reader-friendly installment of the series since “Stardust Crusaders.”
Even though this is a new continuity, this first volume still feels very much like “Jojo.” While a lot of that can be put down to the mangaka’s inimitable art, and he’s clearly having a blast drawing these new characters, their setting, and all of the action on the road and horseback, the style of the series is still very much intact. Oddball characters who don’t respect social norms and have abilities that set them apart. People finding themselves in situations that feel dire, but are soon resolved through either their own ingenuity (or luck). Ordinary characters interacting with the supernatural. These things are all still here, even though that last one has been dialed way back for this volume.
What makes this volume work as a welcome change of pace is that it no longer feels like Araki is trying to top himself with each encounter. While there were definitely some memorable battles in “Golden Wind” and “Stone Ocean” there were also a lot that felt increasingly esoteric with ever more over-the-top powers and more convoluted ways to defeat them. We don’t get that here. All of the conflicts here are of a much smaller scale and don’t take eight-or-nine chapters to resolve. Araki sets things up and tends to resolve things within the same chapter while maintaining the overall momentum through the first stage of this race. However, if you’re worried that he’s made things too normal for this Part, just know that there’s a section where a rider and his horse surf using a desiccated cow carcass.
While it’s possible things could fall apart and Araki’s bad habits from previous Parts could reassert themselves, this first volume of “Steel Ball Run” really does feel like exactly what the series needed. It keeps the core parts of the “Jojo” saga intact while moving things to an entirely new setting and setup. Though it also scales back the action, this first volume still manages to generate a lot of tension and excitement through its characters and their conflicts. I honestly can’t wait to see where the series is going to go after a start like this!