Manga and Comic Reviews
I was genuinely surprised by the first volume of this series. Most of James Tynion IV’s superhero work had come off as by-the-numbers to me and his (and Werther Dell’edera’s) monster hit series “Something is Killing the Children” didn’t feel like it offered me anything new. “The Department of Truth,” however, took a nightmarish look […]
This latest arc of “Jojo” got off to a slow yet solid start as new protagonist (and son of Dio) Giorno Giovanna took his first steps to achieving his lifelong dream of being a mafioso. He takes a few more steps here after settling things with Polpo and formally joining Bruno’s gang. Its members, Abbachio, […]
I was looking forward to this volume in a way that I haven’t for previous volumes in this series for a while now. Though “Arslan” continues to be quite readable, its storytelling has fallen into a predictable groove where it’s easy to see how the major conflicts and character arcs are going to play out. […]
If anyone was expecting something significant to follow on from Makie and Nakahara’s late-night encounter at the end of the previous volume, then you’re going to be disappointed. In fact, much of Makie’s storyline gets put on the back burner as Minare and Mizuho gear up for the former’s latest gig for her radio show. […]
Contrary to what its title implies, the third “Reckless” graphic novel does not involve a giant-size Ethan Reckless taking on Gozilla, Mothra, King Ghidora, and other monsters in a giant kaiju free-for-all. (I would still pay to read that, Ed and Sean, if you’re reading this.) “Destroy All Monsters” is a bit of a departure […]
The monster finally made another appearance at the end of the previous volume, and it capsizes a ship at the beginning of this one. It’s on its way to Tokyo and that means it’s time for Asa, Kasuga, Keiichi and their shady government friends to spring into action, right? Well, it would be if everyday […]
Any longtime reader of Inio Asano isn’t likely to ask if things are going to get better after the events of vol. 9. No, they’re likely to ask “How much worse are things going to get?” while also holding out hope that things don’t become terminally depressing by the end. At the risk of minor […]
OH NO! Chiaki has wound up having dinner with both his fiancee Mariko and his sex-obsessed stalker Mihono! As this is happening at his apartment in front of his younger brothers, you have to wonder how things could get worse. At least, until the end of the chapter when Mihono puts him in a sleeper […]
This is the latest title to reach print from Brian K. Vaughan and Marcos Martin’s Panel Syndicate operation, which has creators offering their comics to readers on a pay-what-you-want basis. The creators in this case are Martin himself and writer Ed Brubaker, which does set my expectations for this story quite high. It does have […]
Vol. 23 of “One-Punch Man” is mostly run-of-the-mill by the title’s standards. Which is to say that it delivers some quality fight scenes without advancing the overall Hero Society vs. Monster Society story all that much. In fact, it’s getting to the point where it feels like writer ONE is determined to use every single […]