Sequential Art - October 7th, 2011

OK, OK, maybe I'm obsessed with comics and manga. Or maybe just moreso in recent days. Even maybe-er I'm being extremely pretentious in dating the first post with this title, because I might not ever write one again. But I'll try it out anyway. This is the first in what hopefully becomes a regular thing - a weekly review / hype meter for comics and manga. I've read a SHITTON of manga over the years, and a few graphic novels. As I mentioned earlier, I'm starting to get into DC Comics monthly issues in a big way. Bottom line, I read a few comics and manga every week, and I'd like write about it. I'll call these posts "Sequential Art," ganked from Scott McCloud's definition of a comic as outlined in his fantastic book Understanding Comics.

I'll try to keep this informal, using random basketball words to rate things. I probably won't write about EVERYTHING I read, because schedules are irregular and I can't help it if I miss something. I'll try to post this every Friday, because that's when I've had a chance to go over everything. Wednesday is comics day and early Shounen Jump day, and the less-popular Jump titles are usually scanned by Friday or Saturday. The way I have my schedule working, every week I should be reading 2 - 5 DC Comics issues (depends on what I want/buy), 4 - 8 manga chapters (depends on scanners), and whatever trade paperbacks and manga volumes I feel like writing about.

Here's a rating system I made up on the spot:

MVP = Most Valuable... Pages. Best issue or chapter of my week.
STAR = Good comic being good, makes me want to keep reading it.
GLUE = Not outstanding, but not bad. Could be worth reading.
FUNK = Good comic has an off week. Won't drop it. Haven't lost faith yet.
BENCH = Subpar comic. Doubting its value. Needs to redeem itself.
CUT = Bad comic. Not worth continuing to subscribe.

And here's a table of contents. Because, why not?:

Table of Contents

Comics
Action Comics #2
Detective Comics #2
Animal Man #2
Swamp Thing #2
Huntress #1

Manga
One Piece ch.641
Bleach ch.467
Naruto ch.558
Fairy Tail ch.253
Kimi no Iru Machi ch.153
Beelzebub ch.127
History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi ch.447

Volumes
Axe Cop: Bad Guy Earth

So, without further ado, here are a few reactions:

 Action Comics #2

Pretty good. We see a team of scientists (torturers?) testing the limits of Superman's constitution and we also get a glimpse of several of his powers. Lex Luthor comes across as a little too boring for me, but I love these interpretations of Superman and Lois Lane. Also saw the alter egos of Metallo and Steel, so we might see some origin-flavored stories involving them in the near future. Not a lot of action in this issue, but definitely some hinting at more later. This Superman story shows a lot of promise, and I can't wait to see it really get rolling. STAR


 Detective Comics #2

A comic that was already pretty gruesome got gruesomer. Lots of new developments arise concerning Dollmaker, the new killer in town who appears to have control over a gang of like-minded sickos and has struck a deal with the Joker. Lots of panels with people getting their faces ripped off. Also introduces a host of Bruce Wayne acquaintances that I'm already unsure about whether they're evil or not. The final page of #2 is a shocker, but maybe more off-putting than compelling. I'm not sure if I want to continue this one or not, as its heavy on violence and gore but low on intrigue. We'll see how #3 is. BENCH


 Animal Man #2

Buddy undergoes some transformations and we get glimpses of the story's villain(s), Maxine's powers, and The Red. Maxine seems a little *too* precocious and weirdly knowledgeable about what's going on, but it's already too late; I'm hooked. Animal Man is consistently exciting and creepy at the same time, and I can only imagine the places it'll go. MVP






 Swamp Thing #2

The stakes have been raised. The mythology in place (which I understand was 98% invented by comics legend Alan Moore, even though I haven't read his 1980s Swamp Thing run) is really, really cool, with a concept of The Green that ties into Animal Man's powers deriving from The Red. The antagonist of Swamp Thing is also, bar none, the most dangerous and world-threatening being introduced in new DC Comics universe thus far. I am on the fence about a subscription here. This solved the weaknesses of Swamp Thing #1 and is probably going to get awesome fast. STAR


 Huntress #1

This isn't part of the New 52. Huntress is going to be a 6-part miniseries, which is quite a common thing in comics, I'm lead to believe. Anyhow, I like Huntress from her appearances in the Justice League Unlimited cartoon and in Batman: Hush, so I gave it a shot. It's not bad, but not really awesome either. Huntress is like a female Batman with less of an intellect and few qualms about killing criminals, but she's a pretty cool girl. She's in Naples trying to shut down a human trafficking ring, and she's almost Catwoman-esque in her willingness to use her sexuality as a weapon. If it ends up being *really* good, I might look into getting a trade paperback, but for now it's far from necessary. GLUE


 One Piece ch.641

This wasn't the greatest chapter of OP, probably because I had to wait a week longer than usual and I didn't get the action I wanted. Instead of starting up the Mugiwara vs. Fishmen fights teased at in 640, we get more setup with Luffy, Hodi, and Shirahoshi's brothers clashing above Fishman Island, with Hodi performing hit-and-runs while Luffy struggles to reach the ship's air bubble. No big power moves or revelations in this chapter, so it's definitely an off week. I have a lot of faith in Oda, though, so no worries there. FUNK




 Bleach ch.467

I'm not the biggest fan of this arc, but seeing some Ikkaku action was nice. My hope is that we get a few other fan-favorite Shinigami kicking ass in the next few chapters, and then the story wraps. GLUE











 Naruto ch.558

This was kind of a filler chapter getting in the way of sweet, sweet combat. Naruto darts around saving lives and saying hellos, and hopefully we're setting up for a major throwdown or two to conclude the grand battle. This entire arc of Naruto has been intense as hell as has actually renewed my interest in the manga somewhat, but this chapter needed more action. FUNK






Fairy Tail ch.253

Wow, Hiro Mashima has some serious stones. This is a normal, energetic, optimistic shounen manga that went and killed off its entire cast. Or at least made them vanish into the void or something. And before then it actually did a fair job of getting you attached to them! The new arc is clearly a young character a few years later (maybe the kid Natsu helps in the manga's second arc?) trying to solve what happened. It was an okay manga before, but now it's judgment time. Can it keep its fans with shenanigans like this? Not sure. BENCH

Kimi no Iru Machi ch.153

Not a whole lot happened this chapter, but there's one major revelation: Yuzuki and Rin's parents are moving, but letting their two daughters live alone for at least a year. Haruto acts like a dumbass, of course, but we get some weird emotions from Rin, who's becoming more interesting with each appearance. Shit, I'd probably prefer seeing Haruto end up with her over Yuzuki, but I seem to never like the main heroines in these stories (exactly like Suzuka from the same author). Hopefully there's more humor or more drama next week. FUNK

Beelzebub ch.127

Not a whole lot happened this week - major characters are pairing off to spar with one another to prepare for learning really strong shit from Zenigame and the new trainer lady. The jokes were funny, as usual, but this chapter was all about setup, unfortunately. Should be better next week. FUNK

History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi ch.447

Holy shit. We got great action moments from multiple masters, and one of the most shocking developments in the manga thus far: Miu's been captured to be brainwashed and trained by one of the Nine Fists. This would be sort of cool if it was Hongou or Agaard training Miu, but it's fuckin Jenazad, one of the most terrifying psychopaths in the whole series. This manga could go into a dark place, and soon. Don't know if want. But they brought the drama this time, so I've got to hand it to them. Oh, and there's Miu cheesecake, but that's hardly a surprise in this one. GLUE


 Axe Cop: Bad Guy Earth (paperback)

This might not be the best thing that the Nicolle brothers have ever written (that would be "and I want every weapon."), but it's over-the-top, well-drawn, and surprisingly self-contained. Dinosaur Soldier transforms at least five times, which is awesome, and I was running a bizarre gamut of emotions by the end; the random downer of a final page makes it a perfect funny/sad/WTF combination. I wish I had been reading the monthly issues of this, because it's fantastic. STAR


That's all I got. I'll be doing this again next week (I hope). On the gaming front, I'm having difficulty making progress in, well, anything. It's a problem. When Layton comes out in about two weeks, however, I'll be all over that shit.