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Neon Genesis Evangelion volumes 5 and 6, by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, 2001 (vol. 5) & 2002 (vol. 6), Viz Communications I haven't written anything about the previous Evangelion graphic novels, so let me give a quick recap of the story. It's 2015, and alien invaders called "angels" are attacking Japan (I mean, where else would they attack?). These "angels" are insanely powerful, and they only weapons humanity has against them are giant robots (like it's gonna be anything else) called evangelions, or "eva," (pronounced "eh-va") for short. For reasons I don't understand, the only people that can pilot the evas are 14-year old kids, all of whom attend the same school. The main character is Shinji Ikari, whose estranged father runs NERV, the UN agency that is in charge of the Evangelion program. Volume 5 is where this story starts to get really weird. The first four volumes revolve around Shinji dealing with his own personal problems while fighting the "angels," as well as introducing the other main characters, like Misato Katsuragi, Shinji's commanding officer; or Shinji's school friends; or the other eva pilots, Asuka Soryu and Rei Ayanami. Volume 5 has the obligatory fight with an "angel," but the greater story begins to unfold, where you are introduced to a strange cabal named Seele that may be running events in the background. These guys supposedly have some Dead Sea Scrolls that predict the future. There's also the Spear of Longinus. In ancient tradition, this is the spear that pierced Christ's side on the cross. However, this one's so big it has to be carried on an aircraft carrier. Then there's this giant being called "Adam," who is nailed to a cross deep in NERV HQ. And then, at the end of the book, Rei Ayanami uses her Eva to drive the Spear of Longinus into the body of "Adam." !?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!??!? At this time I would like to point out that Neon Genesis Evangelion was originally an animated television show in Japan. The manga series is written by a fellow who works for the animation studio (Gainax) that made the original show. I think he was the character designer. Anyway, the manga is considerd by many critics to be better than the anime. I saw the first volume of the anime and didn't care for it, but I do like the manga (much better pacing, IMHO). There are supposedly some differences, but I don't know what they are. Also, I remember reading somewhere that Neon Genesis Evangelion plays very fast and very loose with Christian and Judaic mythology, for lack of a better term for it. This "Adam" creature is referred to as "the first being," it's implied that the "Angels" are "man's punishment for sins" or something, there are a number of crosses that show up from time to time (and "Adam" is crucified on one for no apparent reason), and so on. As a Christian, it's pretty wierd to see these disparate elements put together in this fashion. Only in Japan, eh? So while volume 5 introduces the whole "secret consipiracy" thing to the storyline (making it very confusing), volume 6 is focused very much on what happens when one of Shinji's friends is chosen to be another evangelion pilot. While this is all happening, it turns out that the "class rep" (the American equivalent might be like a class president) has feelings for this guy. So now we've got the whole "teen romance" subplot going. And some other stuff happens, which all ends very badly. In fact, this volume is one big emotional punch to the gut. Especially the ending. Man, I can't wait for the next volume to see what happens next. Evangelion has now officially gotten very interesting. |
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Neon Genesis Evangelion volume 7, by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, 2003, Viz It seems like it's been forever since I read volume 6 of Eva, so I was a little rusty starting off this volume. The story here is pretty self-contained, and seems to cover only a couple hours of "real time." Shinji kind of freaks out after the events in the last volume, and he leaves NERV headquarters. However, another angel attacks, and it handily defeats Asuka and Rei. It's about to destroy NERV central when Shinji comes back to pilot eva 01 and battle it out with the angel. This volume contains some good back story on Ryoji Kaji, which is pretty tragic. We also learn more about his and Misato's past relationship, which helps aid in understanding the characters a little more. But, mostly, this volume deals with Shinji being a whiny dork, and having to accept his fate as an eva pilot. And fighting. There's a good amount of fighting, as the angel beats the holy crap out of just about everything. And then Shinji's angel starts acting on its own, and it eats the angel. Weird. It is interesting to compare the size of these books against the Tokyopop books. Yeah, it costs more, but it is bigger, and I think that helps you see more of the detail in the art. I think I prefer the bigger size overall, though there is definitely a place for the smaller, cheaper stuff. |
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Nausicaa of the valley of Wind perfect collection 1, by Hayao Miyazaki, 1995, Viz Comics I've owned this book for about three years. I started reading it after I got it, but for some reason I never finished it. Recently my friend Joel was talking to me about it, and it sparked an interest in actually finishing it. I'm glad that I did. This story is what I would call a science-fantasy tale. It is set far in the future; it isn't clear if the world is the Earth or another planet, but past wars have crushed much of the populace, and technology is in remission. Not only that, but some sort of fungus-based plant life is slowly covering all of the world beneath toxic spores. Once the story begins we are quickly introduced to Nausicaa, a young princess of one of the border kingdoms. She has a special gift that allows her to commune with animals, and she is one of the few people in the world who tries to make sense of the ohmu, huge bugs that live in the toxic forests. Soon, her nation is called to join a war against the Domu, a large nation on the other side of the forest. Thus begin her adventures, where she meets new friends and makes new enemies. I really can't tell more without giving away the story. The art here is good, though somewhat "cluttered" at times; you can tell Hayao Miyazaki is not primarily a comics artist, as there is a noted absence of the clean lines that you see in most other Japanese comics. Once you get past that, though, you can appreciate all the detail that he includes in his drawings. Not only that, but the story is great; I get the sense, after this one volume, that there is a lot going on that has barely been hinted at. Even though this first book took me three years, I very much want to get the rest of the books, and I predict it will take me much less time to read them! |
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Neotopia issues 1 - 5, by Rod Espinosa, 2003, Antarctic Press Yes, it's another Rod Espinosa series. What can I say, he's one of my favorites. And this is probably his best series to date. Neotopia is a fantasy story about a world that has mostly recovered from some very nasty wars a few hundred years in the past. There are a number of different nations in the world, and most of them seem to be ruled by kings or emperors or other autocratic governments. There is also the "big nasty bad guys," who rule their territory with an iron fist, and are naturally seeking to expand their influence. But the story really isn't about the world. Rather, it is about a young woman who is a handmaiden (I think...) to a princess. However, it turns out that this princess hates lessons from her tutor, and attending official functions, and basically all responsibility. So, she has this handmaiden, who looks a lot like her, dress up as her and act as the princess in formal occasions. So, the handmaiden gets to travel the country as the princess and enjoy all the priveleges that status brings. It also brings unwanted attention from the "big nasty bad guys," however, and that conflict is the main story arc through these five books, which seem to be just the start of a longer series. Artistically, the series is great. Mr. Espinosa's art, and especially his coloring skills, are better here than I have ever seen before. He is really getting good. He is also getting better at drawing action and proper expressions. The writing is fine, too, though I do have to say that the main character seems like an amalgam of all his past heroines. There's nothing really here to differentiate her from the leads in For*Eternity or The Courageous Princess. Not that this is bad, but I would like to see some radically different attempts at characters, just for a change of pace. Also, the books cost more than your average comic booklet. You do get 32 pages, which is more than some books out there, but it still costs a little more per page than average. Still, if you enjoy different takes on fantasy, or you enjoy great art, or you're just looking for an entertaining story, then I think it's worth your money to try out this series. |
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Neotopia series 2, issues 1-5, by Rod Espinosa, Antarctic Press Here's another series that came out last year, but I wasn't able to get all the issues until just recently. In this second Neotopia series, Nalyn and the crew of her ship are finally away from the main continent, as they travel across the ocean in search of a way to defeat their enemies. Along the way they get waylaid by pirates, have to navigate a monster storm, and find a civilization beyond their dreams, though dreams can have darker sides, too. I continue to be impressed with the storytelling and the art in Neotopia. Mr. Espinosa does an excellent job framing his views, and he has a very inventive mind as he designs the ships, buildings, and outfits for each new group that the crew of the Intrepid Explorer comes across. The storytelling itself sometimes gets predictable, but even at its lowest it is still enjoyable, as the crew now is around itself enough for some good banter to start up among the "regulars." The romatic possibilities between Nalyn and Philios are also explored a little bit in this series, though that is in no way a focus of events. It is interesting to see how that is playing out, but our heros also show some interest in other people, too. I would bet money on the two of them being together by the end, though, as it is being broadcast a little too much. That aside, this is still one of the best things out there in comic book land these days, and unless you are addicted to men in tights, you owe it to yourself to check this series out. |
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The Norm The Twelve Steps to Marriage, by Michael Jantze, TheNorm.com This book is part of the Small Press Spotlight. The Norm is a syndicated comic strip that runs in some newspapers across the country and also at the creator's website, which is how I found it. When I was at the Expo I got to meet Michael Jantze, the strip's creator. At the time he was getting ready to start some bi-monthly collections of his works (as of this writing two issues have been released), and he created this book, The Twelve Steps to Marriage, as sort of a lead-in to the concept. However, this book is a little different, because rather than a collection of daily strips, everything in this book (I think...) is original, and it all revolves around what happened between when the strip's namesake Norm got engaged, and when he woke up the day after the wedding. Yeah, it didn't make any sense to me either, but according to Mr. Jantze he had skipped all that stuff in the daily strip, so this was an attempt to create some continuity and give the fans something new. This book was not my first introduction to the strip, but I had only seen a couple dozen or so of the daily strips on the website. As far as the actual book itself, it is basically Norm's "observations" about how his life is changing as the wedding approaches. As someone who has never been married, nor engaged, I can't really say whether any of it really makes sense or not. It has some "face validity," but that's the only real insight that I can give you. Sorry! The art is black & white inked drawings, just like you would find in a newspaper strip, though the more free-form nature of this book gives the author more space to work with, which results in some larger drawings, which becomes more common during the actual wedding sequence. I find the art to be very good. It is definitely "cartoony," but the guy draws a newspaper strip, so that's fine. Overall I liked the book, but I can relate to some of the author's other works better. |
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All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku, by Yuzo Takada and Yuji Moriyama, 2004, ADV Manga I am a serious fan of the Nuku Nuku TV show, so when I saw this book on sale I figured I would pick it up. I shouldn't have. It's not that the book is necessarily bad, but it doesn't really give you much for your money. This book contains 3 short stories by series creator Yuzo Takada, and then one by Yuji Moriyama, the character designer from the original OVA series (not the TV show I like so much). The stories are fairly vapid, though I liked Takada's stories about Nuku Nuku trying to be a good family member more than I liked Moriyama's 'cats in spaaaaace' story. It looks really good, being made of cel art, but it is silly and mostly dumb. And the whole back third of the book is advertisements for other ADV products and then a dozen postcards that you can pull out and mail to your friends to show how much of a geek you are. I'll bet they could have made the book for cheaper without the postcards, and then maybe ADV could have sold more of these. What I really want, however, is the original Nuku Nuku stories by Takada. I'll bet I never see those, though. |
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Nextwave issues 1-4, by Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen, 2006, Marvel Comics I can not remember the last time I have laughed so hard at a comic book. I have enjoyed a number of super hero spoofs over the years, but this is the best one yet. In fact, it isn't even really a spoof, it just doesn't take iteslf very seriously. This probably wouldn't work well at all, except that Warren Ellis' script is pure genius. All of the dialogue is delivered totally straight, but it was obvious by the middle of the first page that the book was going to be quite humorous. I especially liked all of the joking about superhero names in the first issue. Great stuff. So, a few days after I read issue 1 I ran out and found the other issues currently in print and read them all immediately. So far, the story revolves around the Nextwave team, an anti-terrorist squad from H.A.T.E., also an anti-terrorist squad which unfortunately is funded by terrorists. These terrorists are testing Unusual Weapons of Mass Destruction in various American cities, and Nextwave has to stop them. So far they have stopped a giant dragon and a corrput cop that was turned into a giant robot. Seriously. As is usual in these books, my favorite characters are the ladies, specifically Elsa, but Tabitha is great in issue 3. Crazy and hilarious with non-stop action, Nextwave is your new favorite comic. Dirk Anger commands it! |
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Nextwave issue 12, by Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen, 2007, Marvel Comics Ah, Nextwave, how I loved thee! This was the funniest series in comics, but now it is over. Granted, near the end it totally stopped making any sense at all, but I suspect that was planned from the beginning. Issue 11, in particular, was completely outrageous, as our heroes fought stranger and stranger creatures dreamed up by the Beyond Corporation. Here, in our final issue, we finally uncover the secret of the CEO of Beyond Corporation, and it isn't pretty, folks. Completely whacked-out stupid? Definitely. Pretty? No. Truth be told, the climax goes on a little long. I also suspect that the whole thing is some sort of obscure in-joke for people that have read every Marvel comic over the last 30 years. But, even if you don't get the jokes (Lord knows I don't), you can laugh at the silly antics of The Captain and our other misfits. So long, Nextwave; you will be missed. |
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Nadesico volume 2, by Kia Asamiya, 1999/2003, CPM Manga I am a big fan of the Nadesico TV show, so when I had an opportunity to pick up the first couple volumes of the original manga for cheap, I figured that it would be a good way to re-enjoy the adventures of my favorite characters. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out that way, as the anime and the manga really aren't that similar. Yes, many of the same characters are in both, but the manga and the anime take the original, basic story and do very different things with it. By the end of the first volume I could tell things were going to diverge, but it didn't look to be that different. By the end of this second volume, I am obviously not reading the same story I am already familiar with. Here, the Nadesico is attacked on Mars by some giant weapons platforms, rather than by thousands of robotic attackers. This means that we don't get the Aestivalis battles that I so enjoyed in the anime. Also, Nergal gets sold! Because of this, the Nadesico is captured by the space fleet, which contains an admiral who is an enemy of Yurika's. Oh, and Yurika becomes a priestess for some Martian religion, or something. Yeah, it didn't make any sense to me, either. In fact, many things happen in this book that don't make sense, and seem to come out of nowhere. After reading this, I have no idea why it is considered to be influential, as it is poorly paced and filled with non sequitors. I can't really recommend it to anybody. |
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Nadesico volume 3, by Kia Asamiya, 2004, CPM Manga Full disclosure time: the only reason I read this book was because I had already purchased it before I got around to reading book 2, which really rubbed me the wrong way. I am now glad that it worked out this way, though, as book 3 confirmed for me that most of my negative feelings for book 2 were related to the fact that the anime had really diverged from the manga, and I was having trouble mentally adjusting to that fact. I had resigned myself to that fact by the time I read book 3, and it was a much better reading experience. I can't really talk much about the plot without giving stuff away, but Akito begins spending a lot of time in his Aestivalis (even reading manga in it (with the 'mech holding the book), which was pretty funny), Yurika is taken to the enemy's home base, and the Nadesico sets off to rescue her. As usual, Akito doesn't know what he should do, because he sucks like that. Seriously, how many manga and anime have the main male lead be indecisive and wishy-washy? 90%? 95%? It's played out, man. Let's get some strong characters, for once. Anyway, this book has redeemed the series for me, so I'll likely be finishing it off down the road. |