Billy Bat, Volume 1

Set in 1949, Billy Bat tells the tale of Kevin Yamagata, a Japanese-American artist who has hit it big with his popular new series Billy Bat.

As you can see, that comic is a cartoon noir, with lots of subterfuge and, it turns out, communist spies. Everything is going all right until one day, Kevin learns that his character may be based on one that originated in Japan, where he was stationed during World War II. 

Even though the stories that character Billy Bat has are not based on any story he's consciously read, he feels obligated to travel to Japan and track down the original artist in order to get his blessing and also head off any issues with plagiarism. What Kevin finds in Japan instead turns into a tangled web of murder, politics, ancient texts, graffiti, tattoo artists, and communist spies. And the reaches of this conspiracy range far, maybe even beyond planet Earth. There are plenty of twists and turns in this single volume, likely a portent of the amount of suspense to follow.

The kick-off to this series was made by writer/artist Naoki Urusawa and Takashi Nagasaki. Urusawa is an internationally known manga creator, winner of the Shogakukan Manga Award three times, the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize twice, two Eisner Awards, and the Kodansha Manga Award. His works have been some of the most celebrated of recent times and include Asadora!, Monster, 20th Century Boys, and Pluto. Nagasaki is also an award winning manga writer/editor with a long list of credits. Billy Bat has been completed in Japan for some time and only now being published in the US, and editor Kriistina Korpus explains more about why in this interview.

All of the reviews I have read of this book have been positive. Matthew Orozco opined that it is "an enthralling, genre-defying series that combines mystery, historical fiction, conspiracy theory, and metafiction, unfolding across multiple eras and continents." David Brooke called it "exactly the kind of ambitious, unpredictable storytelling that has made Naoki Urasawa one of manga’s most celebrated creators." Kara Dennison wrote, "The art is wonderfully dissonant, slipping easily between stylized mid-century cartoons and a more settled, faded realism."

Billy Bat was published by Kana, and they offer more information about it here.

Mujirushi: The Sign of Dreams

Being contacted by the Louvre, one of the most well known and prestigious museums in the world, to collaborate on a comic seems a highly unlikely proposition, but then again most artists are not as renowned as Naoki Urasawa. Among his many manga credits are contemporary classics such as 20th Century Boys, Monster, Pluto, as well as the ongoing Asadora! Urasawa has won numerous awards, including the Shogakukan Manga Award three times, the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize twice, and the Kodansha Manga Award. He has also been recognized internationally, with honors from the Angoulême International Comics Festival and the Eisner Awards.

Mujirushi is exceptional among Urasawa's works in two ways: first, because it is based on holdings and input from the Louvre, it features a lot of the architecture, artworks, and behind-the-scenes schematics from the buildings. Second, it is a serial story that can be contained in one graphic novel-seized volume and not a multi-volume epic that takes years to be published. Still, it features the grand craftsmanship, pacing, and vivid characters that are a hallmark of his past work. 

The plot focuses on a father Kamoda and his young daughter Kasumi. Kamoda stops paying taxes and gets mixed up in some get-rich schemes, which end up with him destitute, desperate, and stuck with a factory full of unwanted rubber novelty masks. Also, his wife leaves him. Through a convoluted series of events he and Kasumi end up involved with a Francophile con man ("the Director") who has a scheme to "borrow" a Vermeer painting from the Louvre. What they do not know is that they have all become people of interest in an investigation of an international art smuggling ring, and the detective is determined to catch them in the act.

What makes this book work is its incredible artwork, strongly defined characters, and a plot that takes many twists and turns as the complicated backstory of the Director is slowly untangled. There are many revelations and twists in these nine chapters, maybe too many coincidences, and the ending is a clever weaving together of seemingly unrelated plot threads. If you would like to get a taste of what makes Urasawa's work so appealing and do not want to invest the time to read multiple volumes of a manga serial, this book is for you. If you are already a fan of his, this book is another gem to be enjoyed. 

The reviews I have read of this book have been mixed. Morgan Santilli wrote, "Though perhaps not as engrossing or complex as some of Urasawa’s other offerings, Mujirushi does leave the reader with that familiar feeling of awe at a master’s manipulation of line, panel, and story." Irina found it "to be both entertaining and endearing in many ways." In a long critique of this book and Urasawa, Austin Price calls the story "cute" but also "contrived and overblown."

Mujirushi was published by Viz Media, and they offer more information about it here.

Asadora! Volume 1

My experiences with manga are pretty limited, I feel, but there are certain authors whose works I seek out and Naoki Urasawa is chief among them. Asadora! shares many features with his other works, including an exploration of how the past affects the present, a compelling mystery, expressive art, and a series of breathtaking cliffhangers. The titular star of this book comes from a large family, and is often overlooked in the shuffle of daily life. (SPOILERS ahead!) One eventful day, she gets kidnapped, a giant hurricane hits, and she and her kidnapper have to band together to survive. While trapped, she learns about his background as a fighter pilot in World War 2, and when they finally survey the damage they see what appears to be a giant footprint among the wreckage. (end/SPOILERS)

What are they looking at? Buy the book and find out!

Three things recommend this book: 1. It is incredibly well crafted in terms of plot. Each chapter ends with a revelation/cliffhanger that compelled me to keep going. 2. The characters and their personalities are quickly introduced and communicated, both visually and narratively. They are drawn in an incredibly expressive style, and I found myself intrigued and enchanted by them in short order. 3. It sets up a captivating mystery, adding a touch of magical realism into an otherwise straight-forward action tale. There is so much going on that is unresolved and unanswered, and this book is a great introduction to a nuanced and detailed serial comics series. I have read the next four books already, and I cannot get enough of them.

Naoki Urasawa is regarded as one of the premier manga creators, and he has won the Shogakukan Manga Award three times, the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize twice, two Eisner Awards, and the Kodansha Manga Award once. His works have been some of the most celebrated of recent times and include Monster, 20th Century Boys, and Pluto. More recently, he has started a YouTube channel where he demonstrates his artwork (in Japanese).

All of the reviews I have read of this book have been positive. Tom Shapira contextualized it against others in his oeuvre, and although he has some issues with some tics, he concluded that "Urasawa can do it all." Will called it "another strong entry in Urasawa’s career." Publishers Weekly wrote, "Urusawa excels in focusing on human drama and multifaceted characters, and the storytelling is matched with dynamic, classic realist manga artwork."

Asadora! is published by Viz Books, and they offer  more information about it here.

Greg Burgas on Monster

Greg Burgas at Comics Should Be Good has a detailed and thoughtful review of Naoki Urasawa's Monster series here (contains spoilers, though not about the ending). I thought the series dragged some during the later volumes, but overall I agree with a lot of his comments.

20th Century Boys 01

Naoki Urasawa is regarded as one of the premier manga creators, and 20th Century Boys is one of his crowning works. It has won multiple accolades, including the 2001 Kodansha Manga Award, an Excellence Prize at the 2002 Japan Media Arts Festival, and the 2003 Shogakukan Manga Award.

This volume introduces the story in twin narratives. In 1969 a group of boys create a club, complete with a hideout in a field and a secret symbol to help them identify membership. 30 years later, this symbol resurfaces as part of a secret society headed by a mysterious figure only known as "The Friend." This group seems to be involved in shady dealings, murdering rivals, and manipulating social control. Also, they seem to be bent on destroying the world with a giant destructive robot reminiscent of Gigantor. A friend's suicide leads failed-rocker-turned-convenience-store-owner Kenji Endō to try piecing together what's going on in the present with his hazy memories of the past.

The story and art both contain clues to the mystery, and Urasawa spins a compelling story that bears (even requires) rereading because of its nuances. The title of the series comes from a famous single by the glam rock band T. Rex, and there are many references to rock music and the popular culture of the times.

In Japan, this series was hugely popular, and it has spawned a trilogy of ambitious live action movies. The movies deviate from the books in some ways; still, some may wish to avoid the trailer because of spoilers. US reviewers have been very positive about the book. Lee Newman praises it, stating that "Urasawa has converted this conservative American fanboy" to manga. Hansel Castro literally runs out of superlatives describing it. Greg McElhatton is impressed by the level of detail in Urasawa's story and art.

20th Century Boys is published in the US by VIZ Media. 13 of the intended 22 volumes have been published. The series was delayed until his other series Monster and Pluto were completed, and the remaining volumes are again being released periodically.

Pluto: Urasawa X Tezuka, Volume 1

Osamu Tezuka is considered the Walt Disney of Japanese animation and comics, responsible for a number of beloved characters, chief among them Astro Boy. So recasting one of the most beloved of Astro Boy's stories, "The Greatest Robot on Earth" is a tall order, much as it would be to redo a classic such as Bambi or Snow White. In this case, Urasawa plays to his strengths, recasting the story into a murder mystery. A mysterious figure is destroying the most powerful robots in the world, and one detective is on the case. That detective is Gesicht, who is himself a highly advanced, powerful robot.

As the series goes on, it redresses some of the more anachronistic parts of Tezuka's tale, with a more realistic and less stereotypical portrayal of Middle Eastern people and conflicts. The ability of Urasawa to marry ideas from Tezuka's original story with popular culture and historical references from more recent times is one of the great strengths here. The story is not a direct update but also draws on a great many pop culture works like Isaac Asimov's I, Robot and Star Trek: The Next Generation as pointed out in this substantive review by Ed Sizemore. It is this eye to include disparate elements that lends greater intrigue and depth to the story.

Naoki Urasawa is one of the most acclaimed purveyors of manga in recent times. His work on series such as Monster and 20th Century Boys has led to financial and critical success. He has won the prestigious Shogakukan Manga Award three times, the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize twice, and the Kodansha Manga Award once. Pulitzer Prize winning author Junot Diaz even called him "a national treasure in Japan."

Updating a classic for a modern audience is no easy task, but according to many reviewers, including Charles Tan, Urasawa's effort here is very successful. The strong characterizations in the story led Greg McElhatton to call it a "must read." One other review from Deb Aoki compares the updated Urasawa version to the original Osamu story.

For people interested in more discussion on this volume there is a substantial essay on the series on the Tezuka in English website.

Monster, Volume 1

Set in Düsseldorf, West Germany in 1986, Monster recounts the story of the brilliant Dr. Kenzo Tenma, a Japanese surgeon. Tenma has a potentially great live ahead of him, blessed with great medical skill, a successful career, and an engagement to the beautiful daughter of the hospital director. But when he goes against his superiors' orders, his life is radically changed. What began as a seeming good deed instead unleashes an evil onto the world. These events also allow Urasawa to begin a huge series of twists that keep drawing readers in for more.

Dubbed "Japan's Master of Suspense" by VIZ Media, Naoki Urasawa weaves a compelling tale that incorporates complex characters, social issues, Cold War politics, as well as contemplations about how evil and justice operate. Urasawa has won numerous awards over his 20 year career. He has won the prestigious Shogakukan Manga Award thrice, the Osamu Tezuka Cultural Prize twice, and the Kodansha Manga Award once. Meanwhile in the US, Monster has been nominated twice for the Eisner Award. Urasawa has also entered the world of academia, in 2008 accepting a guest teaching post at Nagoya Zokei University, where he teaches courses in (what else?) manga.

Monster has received generally positive reviews. Here is one from Johanna Carlson Draper, one from Leroy Douresseaux, and one more from Robin Brenner. Originally, the series ran in Big Comic Original magazine from 1994 until 2001. It has been collected in English as an 18 volume series. The story has also been adapted into an anime, which will begin airing soon in the US on SyFy.

The official website, a hub for all these media versions, can be found here.

This was the very first manga series I read, on the recommendation from the good folks at Comicopia in Boston who told me that this was "a manga for people that don't like manga." I'm really glad I listened to Matt...