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.

Monstress, Volume 1: Awakening

Monstress is a book that has appeared on many Best of 2016 lists, and I liked but did not love it. The main story follows Maika Halfwolf, an Arcanic (a magical creature that can look human), as she tries to avenge her mother's death. In the opening pages, she infiltrates a household of the Cumea, an order of sorceresses that treat the Arcanics like animals, experiment on them, and sometimes even consume them.

On Maika's side, she knows that there is something powerful and ravenous inside her, although she has to learn what it is and how (if?) she can control it. Her plan might not be the most solid one, but she soon finds herself embroiled in a world of revelations, double-crossings, cruelty, and surprising alliances. Also, she learns about the five races of beings in the world, one of which is cats. Smart cats that can talk and have multiple tails, how cool is that? They were among my favorite characters in the book.

If all of the above sounds like a lot to digest, that's because it is. My big issue with the book is that much information and exposition bogs down some of the proceedings. Still, this book is gorgeously illustrated, as you can see in the preview above, in a style that combines elements of manga with more western comic books. Its lush images are imaginative, interesting, and aptly frightening. I feel that this fantasy world is an interesting take on typical monster/magic books. It's a good allegory for several civil rights issues as well as compelling locale populated with complex characters.

Monstress is the creation of writer Marjorie Liu and artist Sana Takeda. Liu has published best-selling novels such as the Dirk & Steele and Hunter's Kiss series as well as several comic book series about Wolverine, X-23, and the X-Men. Takeda's credits include work on Marvel's X-23 and Ms. Marvel. Liu speaks about her work on Monstress in this interview, and Takeda speaks about her evolving art style in this series in this interview.

All of the reviews I have read about this book have praised the artwork, but some have been more critical about the narrative. Jeff Lake called it "confident and complex, bolstered by a compelling narrative and wondrous visuals." Publishers Weekly summed up, "The labyrinthine drawings enchant, but the convoluted storytelling and extreme violence may drive away more casual readers." The reviewer at Comic Bastards liked the book overall but voiced "that in trying so hard to establish this vast, fantasy world for the reader, there is a tendency for heavy exposition and extensive historical dialogue that can be a bit of a drain at times."

Monstress, Volume 1 was published by Image Comics and they have much more information about this book and the series here. The series also has an official page here, if you are interested in checking out previews, art, and news about it.

Brobots and the Kaiju Kerfuffle!

Brobots and the Kaiju Kerfuffle is a bright and colorful book aimed at an audience of younger readers who like robots and monsters. As an older reader who likes robots and monsters I was intrigued to see what this book was like. I found it pretty enjoyable, if a bit slight, because the book ended so quickly. But maybe that is a good thing because it left me wanting more. And I hope there will be more volumes forthcoming. I mean if they gave it a #1 on the cover, they must have more in store, yes?

The story specifics here follow a trio of brother robots on a fishing trip. One of them uses radioactive bait, with disastrous results. Just see:

The rest of the book features their adventures as they battle and learn to deal with this creature. Also, the plot has a couple of surprising twists that elevate the proceedings above a typical smash-'em-up fight book. Plus, there are lots of corny jokes that I am sure that younger readers would enjoy. I know I love a good corny joke myself, and this book tickled me a few times.

This book is a collaboration between writer J. Torres and artist Sean Dove. Torres is a veteran comics writer who is known for his work on Teen Titans Go! as well as his own series The Mighty Zodiac and Power Lunch. I also really enjoyed his work on the Jinx books from Archie Comics. Dove is a successful artist, illustrator, and art director who has done lots of high profile work in comics and commercial art over the years. Torres speaks more about his work on this book in this interview.

I had a tough time finding any reviews of this book, but the one I did find was positive: Alyssa Vaughn summed up by stating, "Brobots is adorable, and it’ll definitely be in the stack of comics I give my nephew for his birthday."

Brobots was published by Oni Press, and they have more info about the book here. Comic Book Resources provided a preview here.