Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit's Tale issues 1-7, by Ryo Mizuno and Setsuko Yoneyama, 2001 and 2002, CPM Manga

That's because Record of Lodoss War started life as a role-playing campaign using the Dungeons & Dragons rules. Ryo Mizuno liked the story that developed in his game, so he wrote the game events in a story format and published them as a novel. People liked the novel, so he wrote more. This spawned off comics, an original video animation and a television animation production, as well as video games and other spin-offs. It's a big deal.

This specific comic story, Deedlit's Tale, is somewhat different from the other Lodoss War stories out there. This is because Deedlit's Tale is co-written by Ryo Mizuno and Setsuko Yoneyama, a shoujo (girls) manga artist. Yes, this is a comic series written to be read by girls. It is the only shoujo manga I have ever read. I am unclear on whether Ryo Mizuno wrote the entire story himself and had Setsuko just do the drawings, or if Setsuko Yoneyama actually helped write the story. Considering the romantic/relationship aspects of the story, direct assistance by Yoneyama-san would not surprise me. But enough background, on with the story!

Deedlit is an elf, an immortal being from the Forest of No Return. During the first Lodoss War story, Deedlit meets and falls in love with the human Parn, who is an impetuous youth trying to become a knight like his father. Deedlit's Tale takes place after the initial "Grey Witch" story, and it looks to me like it takes place before the events in "Chronicles of the Heroic Knight," though it might be set during the timeline of the first few episodes from that story. Anyway, Deedlit and Parn are now living together in a village, acting as the village's protectors against the forces of Duke Rastar.

Into this scene walks Estas, another elf, who has come looking for Deedlit. He wants to bring Deedlit back to the forest, but she wants to stay in the human world with Parn. At this point Duke Rastar's forces attack a neighboring village and kills a lot of the villagers, which terrifies the villagers Parn and his friends are protecting. They really are a cowardly lot, which causes Estas to think humans are stupid, and he threatens to take Deedlit back to the Forest of No Return by force if he has to. That's the bulk of the story. That one ends pretty abruptly and then another one begins, that seems to be at some point in the future, but I can't tell how far in the future it is. In this story the Forest of No Return is under attack, and Parn and Deedlit have to help the elves find a solution to the problem.

I wasn't completely satisfied with these comics. The art is great, probably the best of the three Lodoss War comic series I have. The story has problems, though. It starts out really well, with the whole "elf mindset vs. human mindset" conflict being really interesting, but it kind of peters out near the end of the main story arc. I'm not sure the writer(s) knew how to end it. The backup story is OK, but not very good. You don't really connect with the characters. If you don't have a lot of experience with the Lodoss War stories, then some of the stuff here won't make sense to you. I have a lot of experience, and I still had trouble with some of it. I can only recommend this series if you are a serious Lodoss War fan.

Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit's Tale volume 2, by Ryo Mizuno and Setsuko Yoneyama, 2002, CPM Manga

The art is still the same, with its obvious shoujo style. In general it works well for a story about Deedlit, so I am happy with it. The story, though, doesn't really work for me. Actually, there are three stories. The main one involves Parn and Deedlit helping some people escape a Marmo attack by fleeing through the Forest of No Return. Deedlit has to convince the Elven leaders to let the humans pass, and it is a partially cliched story about overcoming prejudice. Boring. The second story makes no sense. It involves a guy from the old kingdom of sorcery, the last survivor, and he declares a vendetta against all high elves. That's it, nothing comes of it. Maybe there were additional stories about him published in Japan, but they aren't in this book, so that story seemed painfully out of place. The final story involves Deedlit's past and how she helps a human hunter escape the Forest of No Return after being trapped for 20 years. It is very touchy-feely and very much not my thing.

In the end, this is a decent book for girls, but there isn't much here for us red-blooded males. Serious Record of Lodoss War fans will be interested in this book, and serious shoujo fans, that everyone else can pass it by without missing much.

Robotech issues 0 - 2 by Tommy Yune and a lot of other people, 2002, WildStorm Productions

It looks like this limited series (it's supposed to be 6 issues long, with issue 0 being the "teaser") will try to fill in some of the gaps left in the Macross storyline. It starts with Roy's experience in the global wars in the late twentieth century, and even places him around Macross island when the alien ship crashes. The second issue carries the story up through the start of Roy's involvement in the Veritech project. It's pretty well done, actually. The art and coloring is very good, and it's good to see some more of Roy and Rick's history. This is a series that I plan on reading for as long as they print it.

For the record, issue 1 is shown to the left. The cover to issue 0 is better, in my opinion, as it captures that whole "movie poster" feel, but I always prefer to show the first issue when I have the option. Actually the event pictured on this cover doesn't happen at all in any of the three issues I read. They probably just let the artists loose to come up with whatever they wanted.

Robotech issue 5, by Tommy Yune and the gang, 2003, WildStorm Comics

For those of you who want me to write something about the story, this issue involves the Anti-Unification forces sneaking some troops aboard the orbiting weapons platform Armor 1, and threatening Alaska Base and Macross Island. The only man who can save the day is Roy Fokker, who hijacks an experimental Veritech and blasts off into space, but not until he has a heart-to-heart with Claudia. Good storytelling here, folks, though I am somewhat biased towards anything with the Robotech name on it.

Ruse Enter the Detective, by Mark Waid, Butch Guice, Mike Perkins, and Laura DePuy, 2002, Crossgen Comics

First, there is magic. In fact, Emma Bishop, the partner of Simon Archard (the brilliant investigator), has magic abilities, though she hardly ever uses them, for reasons that are hinted at but not explained. There are also gargoyles living in the city, which gives the place a darker look than if it were, say, doves flying around. These "fantasy" elements do not overwhelm the story, though; they just add a little flair to the formula.

The first four chapters cover one story arc, where our heroes encounter a foreign lady who is trying to take over the city through nefarious means. It is pretty good, though the ending didn't quite work for me. The last two chapters are both stand-alone stories. The first of these is notable because Emma goes at it alone while Simon is away. The writing in this story was great, especially when Emma gets Simon's agents to dig up clues for her. Pretty solid stuff overall.

The art is also very good, and the top-notch CrossGen coloring work is present here. Butch Guice does a great job with his pencils, and the characters all have great motions and facial expressions to convey their throughts and emotions. I especially like the relationship between Simon and Emma. He treats her well for the most part, but he is totally emotionless in all things; a true disciple of logic. This frustrates Emma, naturally, but she sticks by him. I wonder if she has feelings for him or not, and I think the story is written intentionally to keep you off-balance in this respect. An excellent book all around.

The Rising Stars of Manga, 2003, TokyoPop

It turns out that there is other stuff I like, though not everything here is to my taste. The winner of the contest was a comic called "Devil's Candy." It's perfectly good at what it does, but the whole "Nightmare before Christmas" gothic silliness isn't quite my thing. The cyclops girl is cute, and the concept of crazed teddy bears attacking the school is far out enough to be funny, but it wasn't my favorite. The Van Von Hunter comic was my favorite, followed closely by a comic adaptation of "The Little Match Girl," the Hans Christian Andersen story. That one's done by a teenager, and it's really great. It's sad, but a fantastic use of sequential art to tell the story.

Most of the comics here are good, though I will admit that I didn't understand "Ophelia's Assassination" at all (though it's pretty), and "Zero" was rather whacked out. Not my kind of thing. "Trickster" is an excellent shoujo piece, but I don't like the way the artist draws eyes. Not a big deal. For $10 this book is a pretty good deal if you're looking for shorter comic stories. You can expect to not like at least one thing, though, as the subject matter is all over the place.

The Resistance, issues 1 - 8, by Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray, Juan Santacruz, and Raul Hernandez, 2002 - 2003, Wildstorm Productions

The story follows the exploits of a young computer hacker, someone who has lived "off the record" his whole life, who ends up getting saved from the GCC by a member of a rebel group known only as the "Resistance." This group has its own network of operatives trying to bring down the GCC and restore some equality and freedom to the world. Think a much grittier, less epic Star Wars and you've got the basic shell of the plot. The cast of characters is very interesting: you've got the "dumb kid" hacker, the gritty-yet-with-a-heart leader, the psycho, the enigmatic hot chick, the GCC agent-turned-rebel, and the average lady, plus other minor characters. It all works well, though some of the story elements are not adequately resolved. Those elements don't relate to the main characters, though, so I can deal with it.

There's actually two stories here. The first six issues deal with the fight against the GCC. The last two issues, however, deal with the character Version Mary and an enemy from her past. These stories, while interesting, don't really have anything to do with the original storyline, and I wonder why this series was eight issues instead of six. It's not that the last two issues were bad, it's just weird that we get this side story about Version Mary to cap off the series. Maybe the books and the character were popular, so they decided to do a couple extra issues to capitalize. Who knows?

Artwise, the book is fine. It's not my perfect art style, but it works, and the action flows well. As you would expect for a dark future story, the art is pretty dark, itself. The use of lighting is good, and the whole things looks basically like you would expect it to look. Bottom line, the art helps the story, which is exactly what you want in a comic. If you like stories with a darker edge, or comics that want to be summer action movies, then you will love The Resistance.

Racetrack Road: Somewhere a Little Less Ordinary, by Derek Gebler, 2003, Atomic Productions Press

I only got this book because it was $1. Heck, I'll try pretty much anything for that little money. The book is a collection of strips from the Racetrack Road comic strip that runs in the Badger Herald newspaper at the University of Wisconsin. Because of this, you would expect it to contain a lot of college humor. It does contain some, but most of the humor revolves around the concept of a house being rented by a bunch of guys, most of whom are slobs or losers (or both). I get a lot of the jokes, as when I was in college I lived with some guys in an apartment for a couple years. However, I am well past that time in my life, so I didn't find the comic that humorous. OK, some strips were pretty funny, but the majority of the strips only got a wry grin at best. If you want to give this comic a try, head to the website and try out some of the past strips. It's free, so the only thing you stand to lose is some time.

Rose issues 1-3, by Jeff Smith and Charles Vess, Cartoon Books

As much as I like Mr. Vess' landscape painting, his faces aren't always the best, and the design for Rose is particularly lacking, at least to me. The proportions just seem off. Other people have the same problem, but Rose has it the worst. Ah, well, at least the countryside is beautiful. When it isn't on fire, anyway. But I digress! The story here is unfortunate, because there is little to no character development. Characters are introduced and they do their thing, but they don't grow at all, and in just 3 issues (larger than normal, I must admit), there isn't much chance to get attached to anybody, as things must needs move very quickly. This is really unfortunate, because it seems like the world the story takes place in is interesting, and I would love to see more stories set there. Maybe in the future Mr. Smith will take me there, but for the time being this is all I've got. In the end, probably not full price, but Smith or Vess fans will find something to like.

Robyn of Sherwood , issues 1-4, by Paul Storrie, Michael Larson, and Rob Davis (issue 4), Caliber Comics

This series is pretty average. The story is the best part of it, though there really isn't much unexpected that happens here. It is just a basic story, entertaining enough, told in a competent manner. The artwork, for the most part, also can be described as competent. It gets the job done, but won't get you all excited. Some artists can make a black-and-white comic really come alive, but the ones we have here are only serviceable.

To the best of my knowledge, this series ended after just the four issues. I understand that there was intent to have this a longer series, but instead it ends after the first story arc comes to a close. There are some plot threads left dangling at the end, but I'm getting used to that in comic series that suffer a premature end. Still, if you have an interest in the Robin Hood stories, it's probably worth your time to pick up this series if you can find the issues at a good price.