Sequential Art - December 1st, 2011

We have an uncommon fifth Wednesday of the month, so no monthlies from the major publishers. There are also a few trades I picked up, and a lot more manga than usual; one of my monthly series is in business, and one on hiatus is finally back.

Table of Contents

Comics
No comics this week....

Manga
One Piece ch.648
Naruto ch.565
Bleach ch.475
History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi ch.453+454
Beelzebub ch.134
Kuroko no Basket ch.114
Kimi no Iru Machi ch.160+161
Liar Game ch.139
Rosario to Vampire II ch.47

Volumes
American Vampire Volume 1
Irredeemable Volume 3

Rating System
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 series has an off week. Haven't lost faith yet.
BENCH = Subpar comic. Doubting its value. Needs to redeem itself.
CUT = Bad comic. Not worth continuing to subscribe.

 One Piece ch.648

Pretty good chapter, tying up a few loose ends of the arc, but the real treat was that I got the ending I wanted. This new Mugiwara has so much awesome combat potential that I don't even know where to start. One Piece hasn't let up in this arc's finale, but it should start slowing down now that the crisis is over. There is still plenty to wrap up before the next arc gets underway, and I can't wait to get some more post-timeskip scenes from around the world. One Piece is good at scenes like that. STAR



 Naruto ch.565

The combat in this chapter was actually pretty good. I wish I knew more about these former Jinchuuriki, but them's the breaks. Between this and the Madara fight, Naruto's combat is taking on a climactic tone. After this I think the only places to go are Obito (calling it for the past 5+ years now), Kabuto, and Sasuke's team. Seriously, I think Naruto will be over sometime in 2013. This is not a bad thing - a defined endpoint will almost always help more than it hurts. Attaboy, Naruto. GLUE



 Bleach ch.475

Ichigo makes it clear whose side he's on, but not a lot happened this chapter. Just talking, bankai, then a big ol' sword beam thing. You can insert your own joke here, really. FUNK











History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi ch.453+454

Pretty good setup. Kenichi meets his old rival Radin's younger sister (she's hot, of course) and takes her side in a civil war. We're going to have a TON of Indonesian-flavored combat in the next few months, which sounds like a good time to me. GLUE

Beelzebub ch.134

Okay chapter for Aoi fans. Aoi kicks a moderate amount of ass, then we meet some Pillar Heads (boss demons) and the tables turn... and then there's a surprise betrayal that is too weird to make sense, yet. Whatever. I'm a little lost, but hopefully we'll have the scenario cleared up in a few days when 135 drops. FUNK

Kuroko no Basket ch.114

Great promo chapter. Reminds me of the very beginning of Shohoku vs. Sannoh in a certain other basketball manga. Seirin is playing the underdog/villain, and that suits them just fine. I still think it's too early for Seirin to play Touou, but if it's awesome then all is forgiven. GLUE

Kimi no Iru Machi ch.160+161

Big drama. Now our star-crossed lovers are broke college students and Yuzuki is probably disowned. Haruto's still too nervous for sex, but overall this made me hate this main pairing a little less. Pretty much emblematic romantic chapters for this series, but I prefer when Seo writes a little naughtier. Really good showing this week. STAR

Liar Game ch.139

Necessary setup/bridge chapter, after the epic poem that was the Musical Chairs arc. Looks like we'll get another revolving door of side characters, but we still have a lot of people from Musical Chairs, Contraband, and Contagion lying around. Also, dramatic announcements from Hanayama and Yokoya, which is no surprise. Ah well, I'm mostly just glad to see it back. GLUE

Rosario to Vampire II ch.47

I like this recent combat turn for Rosario II; it feels like a great battle chapter of an ensemble shounen like One Piece or Yu Yu Hakusho, and the monsters are cool instead of tentacly and weird like the final fights in Rosario I. The series is preserving its characters, not losing any momentum, and feels kind of like a monster-of-the-week manga again, just like in the very first chapters in its first season. We have a summoner vs. summoner battle coming up, and its setup was fantastic - Triad families, Chinese magic tricks, and BURNING POWER TO PROTECT MY FRIENDS. I'm looking forward to how it unfolds. This is a good manga. It really is. MVP

 American Vampire Volume 1

Dayum. Scott Snyder's reputation-making title is hella good. He and Stephen King (yes, that Stephen King) write a badass vampire tale, even inventing their own type of vampire while they're at it. I've heard that this title jumps decades every story arc, which is actually pretty cool. Skinner Sweet's 1890s outlaw and Pearl Jones' 1920s flapper are way cooler than any vampire duo from True Blood, Twilight, or even the world of Anne Rice. This a good start for making vampires cool again. STAR


 Irredeemable Volume 3

I'm not sure what I thought of Irredeemable Volume 3. The U.S. Army introduces their countermeasure against The Plutonian, we get some info on how The Paradigm was founded, and we finally see what happened to Modeus. On top of that, the motivation for how and why The Plutonian went evil is now a little more complicated. Was it Bette Noir, Samsara, or something else entirely? Look, this was good, but it opens far more doors than it closes. And Modeus's re-introduction is so creepy and brilliant that I have to wonder if he'll become the series' true villain. Mark Waid knows his shit. STAR

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Was I a little too forgiving in my reviews this week? Nah. Maybe it's comics withdrawl, but manga's been great to me the past several days. Next week we'll have Week One of Month Four, which menas five comics issues, the usual manga, and at least one trade. Now let me get back to Portal 2.