The Eastern Edge

Right off the bat (ehem), I must admit that I have no clue what's going on with Billy Bat anymore. I tried following it, and even aspired to providing commentary and historical context on this blog, but the story is going off in more directions than pedestrians crossing the Shibuya scramble, and I just don't have the patience for Urasawa's notoriously irregular schedule. As a serial, Billy Bat is a disaster so far. In fact, I'm beginning to worry that the way Urasawa stumbled across the finish line with 20th Century Boys has carried over into Billy Bat. I hope I'm wrong but I'm worried.

However, whether Urasawa's grand plan will begin to reveal itself and make me ashamed for ever doubting him, or if I'm in for the biggest let down since Jodie Foster's father was at the end of the wormhole in Contact, remains to be seen. I still hold out hope and will see how it goes as the tankobon come out.

Even though I've long since abandoned the serial, every so often Billy Bat appears with Vagabond in Morning and I have a quick look at what's going on. Well, today is Thursday and there is a Vagabond episode this week, so that means I bought Weekly Morning. This week's issue has the latest Billy Bat, which, of course, I didn't read because the episodes on their own now make about as much sense as a Japanese government policy speech. But skimming through it was worthwhile because of this gem on the last page;

Genius!

However good or bad Billy Bat ends up becoming, there's no doubt that Urasawa will still have his moments!

Despite Takehiko Inoue suggesting a little over a year ago that he couldn't see the story in it's current state ending up anywhere near Kyushu, he opened 2010 with a colour section in Weekly Morning of none other than Funajima.

"Funa" (meaning "boat"), of course, is the island (shima, or when used as a suffix jima, means "island") that was renamed "Ganryu" following the legendary duel between Kojiro Sasaki and Musashi Miyamoto that took place there.

Funajima was a small, uninhabited island in the strait between honshu and kyushu. Today Ganryujima is considered part of Yamaguchi prefecture, known as "Nagato" and the domain of the Mori clan during Kojiro's time, and is accessible by ferry from Shimonoseki city. On the Kyushu side of the strait, which is now Fukuoka prefecture, was Buzen, the domain of the Hosokawa clan and Lord Tadaoki Hosakawa, under whom Kojiro "Ganryu" Sasaki was employed.
Kojiro was extremely well respected and had many followers, evidenced by the fact that the island where he died was renamed after him and not Musashi, whose legend only gained popularity relatively recently when his "Book of Five Rings" was retranslated and applied to modern business strategy for the self-styled "Samurai" Salaryman of the 70's and 80's.

Eiji Yoshikawa's novel, on which Vagabond is based, is often the standard around which portrayals of Musashi and Kojiro are modelled. Kojiro is portrayed as a narcissistic, womanizing pretty-boy, and Musashi as the tough, grizzled anti-hero who becomes the legendary "sword saint". Even minimal research, however, shows the fictionalized versions of Kojiro and Musashi resembled the actual people about as closely as modern-day Ganryu island resembles Funa island circa April 13th, 1612.

This is Ganryu island today.

It is no longer the remote, uninhabited island where one of the most famous duels in Japanese history took place on a sandy beach nearly 400 years ago. It is now a developed, well-manicured tourist attraction with a number of contrived "historical" monuments (even the monument to Kojiro that resembles a burial site in the last picture above, was only built in 1910 and is not Kojiro's grave) and even more tacky souvenirs at the shops. Much like the legends of Kojiro Sasaki and Musashi Miyamoto, much as changed since the days that these two men actually lived. There are precious few actual historical records, and the few that do exist give wildly varying accounts of events in the lives of both men. Add in the interpretations, speculation, and personal biases of the people who wrote about them after, and all we are guaranteed is that we will never know what these men were really like, or what really happened in their duel other than the result.

Maybe it's better that way. Clouded history and vague accounts of legendary events make for really, really good fiction!
In case you are wondering what the "official" play-by-play of the duel would look like, here's the Ganryu island tourist attraction's version of events:

Tough act to follow, eh!? Call me crazy, but I have a gut feeling Vagabond's final duel might just outdo it.

I was kind of hoping that Inoue would end Vagabond in April of 2012 on the 400th anniversary of the actual duel. But ending it right is much more important than ending it on a certain date, and if it must end this year then it must end this year.

If this really is the final year of Vagabond, and if Inoue can stick the landing on this, he might just solidify his own legend too!

I had some very interesting comments from readers - all of whom I thank very much for sharing their thoughts - about the Japanese weeklies and the industry in general.
Obviously you're going to get various reactions when you state that an up-to-now successful status quo has now got a choke hold on creativity - especially when you're talking to fans – but it’s really interesting to see what people think.

I think that the current serial formats, especially the weeklies, and the lack of collaboration among creators is slowly choking the life out of Japanese comics. What I wrote previously and the comments from readers who were kind enough to share their thoughts are here
and here and here. Please check those out - especially the comments.

I agree that there are still some great weeklies and the format isn't going anywhere yet, especially not as long as the successful ones continue and creators feel that they need to release content on a regular basis to stay relevant in the minds of a fickle, and increasingly fragmented fan base.
Whether the weekly serial format is the problem or not may be debatable (I still think it’s a major problem because only a few creators can really do it well and do it consistently), but there is no debating the fact that the Japanese comics industry overall has seen its sales decline for over a decade with no end in sight. Yes, I realize that Weekly Shonen Jump's circulation increased slightly last year, but it's by far the biggest and boasts cross-over mega hits like One Piece. Jump is the exception to the rule, and even it only saw a small increase and remains well below the circulation numbers of the 80’s glory days.

Comics are still in trouble over here and I think fans and creators alike need to talk about what the problems might be, not pretend it’s not happening, cry about it, or get defiant and retract into ever more insular otaku turtle shells and wait for the second coming of Tezuka to usher in a new golden age of manga. The comics industry must win back the readers they alienated when they started making comics more for themselves and the nerdy sub-groups they identify with, and less for regular people. Like I mentioned before, I think comics need to broaden their appeal like Nintendo has done with games. There's nothing wrong with catering to hardcore fans, but they alone cannot sustain the industry. It’s time to start looking outside Akihabara and "otaku" and ask regular people what comics they read and why.

Almost all of my Japanese friends currently read at least one comic. That sounds promising until you also learn that not one of them follows the serial. This is just my own little survey, but I asked a bunch of friends who are currently reading an ongoing comic, or have read a comic in the last few years that was serialized at the time they were reading it, if they followed the serials. The serials were 0 for 40! Another thing my friends have in common is they are not considered "comic fans" and they are far from being anything close to "otaku". In fact all of them (except one!) would be offended at the term "otaku" being used to describe them. They are "normal" readers who just enjoy a good story. Most of them also used to read more comics than they do now, and none of them - yes, that's zero again! - learned about the comics they do currently read by picking up the serial anthologies. They are the type of reader the industry seems to have forgotten about while they continue to desperately fight for a larger piece of the dwindling, and ever weirder, hardcore fringe.

Part of the reason, as I mentioned before when I wrote that creators should have a life instead of 24/7 comics to meet a weekly deadline, is that too many comic creators are in their own little world and have lost touch with the rest of us. Creators and publishers don't just cater to the fringe, they are the fringe and they seem to think that they have to be the hardest of the hardcore to survive.
The gaming industry was plagued by the same type of thinking until Nintendo slapped everyone around by showing us all that you can make games for non-gamers and they're good they will sell like crazy. We learned that it wasn't that non-gamers didn't like games; it was just that there weren't many that appealed to them. I think the same goes for comics. There will always be a hardcore fan base, and that’s all well and good. But it's the so-called "cross-over hits" that make the money and ensure that the self-indulgent nerdy stuff gets made too. Nerds will call it a sell out, but if you don't branch out you risk going bust. When that happens no one gets what they want.

The nerdier and more insular you get, the less likely you'll be able to create something with broad appeal. That makes the industry even more fragmented and will cause readership to continue to fall, major hit titles become fewer and farther between, and the door is opened for the Third Horsemen of the Apocalypse; "Famine". There just won't be anything big left.
It's time to take the milk from the cash cows now, while they are still producing, and do something with it other than just make more nerd cheese!

It doesn't matter how many teenage girl "ambassadors" the Japanese government dresses up in bunny ears, school uniforms, or creepy goth-loli costumes and sends overseas, the industry will live and die on quality content with wide appeal, not fad and fetish. Japan has to quit looking deeper inward for new ideas and start looking around and thinking in new ways. That's why I think Japan needs more collaboration. I think creators need outlets to focus on their strengths, hone their craft and learn the industry without their careers hanging in the balance right from the get go. You shouldn't have to serve time as an uncredited slave at another artists' studio just to get experience, or have to have your own comic idea and be able to do it all yourself in order to launch your career. Creator should get together more and brainstorm, experiment, and do joint and collective projects. I think that will open the floodgates and a ton of suppressed, pent up creativity and innovation will just pour out. That's one reason I will never be fully against publisher owned properties, like the Marvel and DC model. They offer creators a chance to showcase their skills, try new things, get full credit for their work and get paid for it. It doesn't matter if you don't hold the copyrights to everything you do, sometimes it's worth it to do work for hire, get experience, get exposure, and most of all get paid so you can afford to keep on creating!
Having said that, though, I do not think Japan should go to the American publisher owned superhero model necessarily. Superheroes won't save Japanese comics, but alternative platforms to work from might be all some creators need and I think it would improve the overall quality and originality of Japanese comics.

Maybe more groups similar to CLAMP is the answer? They came from outside the industry and were never assistants to published creators. CLAMP members focus on their strengths, collaborate, and create together. Maybe that's the answer. I’m surprised that more young creators aren't trying that model, but I’m not at all surprised that it has taken independent female creators to give us a glimpse of what an alternative Japanese creative collective might look like. Women have been leaders in creative endeavors in Japan ever since Heian times. While the upper-class men of the era compared literary penis sizes with each other by writing pompous showoff pieces in Chinese, the women, whom not much was expected of, wrote Japanese phonetically. Women of the Heian courts didn't have to impress anyone with how many Chinese characters they could write and were free to write how they felt. The result was that the women of the era produced the most beautifully poetic and historically important writing Japan has ever known - including some of the only literature using pure Japanese vocabulary instead of the Kango (Sino-Japanese language) that was so prevalent in the upper classes at the time. (Incidentally, many Japanese today have trouble communicating without using foreign loan words, and most couldn’t complete a sentence without using Sino-Japanese vocabulary).

The problem with collaboration, I think, is that putting a bunch of creators in a room together, male or female, won't change the social structure of Japan. Here there is still a very ridged top-down societal hierarchy, which in comics terms means that creators are called "sensei", assistants get little pay and no credit for their work, and social etiquette, customs, bureaucracy and red tape are so intrusive that most established creators can only get together professionally at arms length, if at all. Underlings rarely dare to express ideas even if they are encouraged to do so. CLAMP creators are different because they came from the independent scene and were never assistants on the sweatshop assembly line of another creator. But CLAMP’s success should at least hint at other possibilities for people. There should be more groups of a similar structure in the mainstream backed up by industry resources, organizational muscle and a little cash, where creators can pool their talents to create new things in new ways.

While I would personally like to see more international team-ups in Japan, too, creators don't have to team up with Stan Lee to collaborate. Even without international collaboration, all it'll take is a few successful mainstream creators to go maverick and unCLAMP themselves from the status quo to show everyone that there are other ways to make comics and other formats they can be successful in. If the big companies were smart they would start experimenting now before creators take it upon themselves and while they still have the money and resources to do so. Someone’s got to at least try and be the next Nintendo, or get the next CLAMP under their wing, otherwise they’ll all continue their downward slide together.

This is going to sound nutty, but what if, for example, Disney, with all their resources and muscle, can dream up a way to make Marvel a force in Japan? I bet many manga fans are snickering at the thought and wondering what I’ve been smoking, but just try and entertain the thought. Imagine the ramifications, because it’s not that far fetched. Who would have thought a few years ago that the iPod could come to Japan and immediately make Sony’s Walkman it’s bitch, or that the iPhone would become one of the top and still fastest growing mobile smart phones in the ultra high-tech and brutally competitive Japanese cell phone market where all other foreign products failed? Most Japanese didn’t thik so. (Sony sure as hell didn’t!)

On the flipside, I doubt very many people foresaw the sudden and massive impact that Japanese comics and cartoons would have overseas in the last decade, either.
What I'm trying to say is that if Japanese comic publishers keep running on hamster wheels at home, who’s to say they aren’t the next ones in line to be slapped around by a foreign competitor like Apple, or by an innovative domestic one like Nintendo, who has new ideas that capture the attention of the average consumer? Is it really that hard to imagine that the comics establishment may become vulnerable in the near future too?

Whatever happens, comics will change in Japan sooner or later. And just like with literature so long ago, don't be surprised if women lead the way again, too!

Vagabond 32 come out today with another outstanding cover.
The subtle difference in Musashi's expression on this cover compared to previous ones almost tells the story of his development by itself.
Musashi's expressions and demeanor have softened considerably over the last few years of the comic as Musashi matures and begins to realize who he is and the gravity of the things he has done. Inoue's ability to express that through the art alone is awe inspiring.

In fact, if you look back at all the graphic novels you can almost tell the entire story of both Vagabond and Inoue's progression as an artist just through the covers.

Take a look!

Takehiko Inoue's progression as an artist over the last decade is stunning and it's all there in the pages of Vagabond. Inoue is also sticking to what he said a couple years ago about ending Vagabond. You can actually feel the story moving in that direction. He most recently has said will end Vagabond within the year 2010. I will be very sad to see it end, but watching him steer the story toward the final act has been fascinating.
Even more than Musashi, I've been captivated by Kojiro's story. Only an artist of the highest quality could depict a deaf, mute character in a comic so expressively and with so much emotional depth. The only word Kojiro has ever spoken is "Jisai", the name of the man who raised him from infancy (Inoue better tell us what happened to him, dammit!).
Inoue has never cheated by giving Kojiro an inner monologue or adding narration. Inoue just draws it and you feel it. I don't think it's a stretch to say that Kojiro could be one of the best comic book characters ever!

The road to the end is going to be unbelievable! It's a shame that North America will barely notice, because I have no doubt the end of Vagabond will be the comic book event of the year in Japan!

Why do you have to prove to the world that you have no life in order to be a respected comic artist in Japan?

What would be wrong with making some of these weekly anthologies that many artists are killing themselves to appear in into monthlies? Couldn't they just add pages to the popular titles for the artists that can handle it? Creators could be given the option of doing a volume of work equivalent to four weeklies, or doing less pages and taking more time to do them in. In turn creators should then also be obligated to meet their deadlines or decrease their work load, and not allowed to keep erratic publication schedules just so they can have the status that comes with being in a flagship weekly (with the obvious exception of time off for unforeseen circumstances such as illness, etc).

I realize that the super nerds will still talk about how many pages a given artist produces in a month compared to everyone else as a mark of how hardcore that artist is, but who cares? Some artists take more breaks and miss more deadlines than others as it is, and that annoys fans both hardcore and casual. I think setting a firmer schedule within a more flexible format is a win-win situation.

Creators who need that extra little bit of time could have it without the problems that come with weeklies that aren't weekly, and people who are doing weeklies can still produce the same amount of work on the same schedule, just with a different release schedule for the anthologies. If longer episodes won't work for creators currently in the weekly format who do it and do it well, then they can make four episodes a month, with the only difference being they get released together. What's the big deal? The upside is that if they get the flu they can make three, even two, episodes for that month instead of four and still not miss having their comic appear in every single issue of the anthology like clockwork. There will be fewer excuses for extended flashbacks and the crap filler that plagues the weeklies now.

Creators would also not necessarily have to take such long breaks because they get burnt out, writers block, or * gasp! * they actually have something else going on in their lives! Heaven forbid these people have lives, right!?
I think comics would be so much better if their creators were allowed to have lives.

Just like this generation won't work overtime for a bowl of udon and drink until last train like their fathers did, or unwaveringly support the kids and household in the absence of said father and at the expense of their own interests like their mothers did, this generation - for better or worse - isn't as willing or able to suffer like their predecessors.
The post-war generation made doing the impossible a way of life. They had little choice and they made Japan what it is today. Hats off to them! I salute them and their achievements.
The fact is, though, that most of their kids simply won't or can't do what they did. Many of the post-war generation would say that they worked their asses off so their kids wouldn't have to be like them. Well, what's wrong with letting their work bare a little fruit by giving their kids a better life than they had?

Why should a comic artist have to prove how dedicated they are by killing themselves to adhere to an impossible standard for the sake of a demanding, but dwindling, hardcore fan base - many of whom (meaning the hardcore "otaku" who complain the loudest) are single, often live with their parents, and don't know the meaning of the word work?
What I'm trying to say is that Japanese comic artists are people too. They should not be considered soft because they don't kill themselves for their craft, and they should not be deprived the option of having a life just because many of their readers don't!

People who have lives tend to be more interesting people, and will probably make more interesting comics, too. If more creators had lives outside of making comics, they may even make more comics that appeal to readers who have lives outside of reading comics!
Need a new fanbase? There it is! Want to know if that will work?
Just ask Nintendo how making games for non-gamers worked for them!

This came out yesterday and I just got my copy today.
And, oh yes, it shall be blogged!

Can't blog it until I've read it, though.
I'll be back in a day or two with some Takehiko Inoue and Vagabond goodness.

THE LAST DAYS OF AMERICAN CRIME #1 (of 3)

Synopsis:
The Last Days of American Crime Issue #1 (of 3)

ON SALE NOW!

In the not-too-distant future as a final response to terrorism and crime, the U.S. government plans in secret to broadcast a signal making it impossible for anyone to knowingly commit unlawful acts. To keep this from the public, the government creates a distraction, installing a new currency system using digital charge cards.

Enter: Graham Brick. A career criminal never quite able to hit the big score, Graham intends to steal one of the charging stations, skip the country and live off unlimited funds for the rest of his life. But the media has leaked news of the anti-crime signal one week before it was to go live...and now Graham and his team have just a few days to turn the crime of the century into the last crime in American history.

64-Pages, Full Color

Creator and Writer: Rick Remender
Artist: Greg Tocchini

"The Last Days of American Crime" series url @ Radical Comics

Eastern Edge review:

I'm not even sure what to say about this comic other than, "Wow!"
I love it!
While I'm familiar with many of the animation projects Rick Remender has been involved in, I didn't know much about his writing or comics other than hearing about his acclaimed run on Punisher. Unfortunately, I haven't read much Punisher since Klaus Jansen drew it way back when, but I'm starting to think I should be hunting down Remender's Punisher comics! I didn't know much of anything about artist Greg Tocchini either, but there's no way I won't be paying attention to both of these guys in the future.

The Last Days of American Crime appears on the surface to be your typical noir crime story with the usual cast of characters, but it doesn't feel unoriginal in the least. In fact, it's the complete opposite. The writing is outstanding, which right away sets it apart from a lot of comics that suffer from weak dialogue. I was also intrigued by the political landscape in the story, which put an interesting twist on the simple "great heist" concept and gives it a modern feel that many of this type of seedy underworld crime stories lack. The socio-political backdrop is a little vague on some things - like the "signal" the government is going to broadcast - but some of those things may come out in subsequent issues. I hope so, because I like the premise a lot and would like to see it fleshed out more. But the story appears to be really about the cast of very unlikable characters at it's core, so developing them is more important to issue one than explaining all the politics of the world they inhabit in fine detail.

Last Days of American crime #1 is extremely well-written, with beautiful cinematic artwork. It goes a little overboard in some places, but I like the washed-out water-colour look too. It makes some of the sequences seem almost dream-like until the hard-edged dialogue pinches you awake.
Only a really tight story can get away with showing you how it ends right from the beginning. Just in case you weren't already hooked, there is a nice reveal at the end of issue one to keep your interest.

Personally, I was into it from the opening few pages, which begin with a flashback of what appears to be our protagonist bloodied up and about to be killed.
I bet he deserves it, too, but I have to know what happens in between!

Preview copy of “The Last Days of American Crime #1” provided courtesy of Radical Publishing.

Today begins a three day weekend that will be jammed with 10 hours of Aikido. Most of the rest of the time will be taken up by a new addiction, reading Yotsuba To!
(albeit, no where near the dojo.)

If only we could all look at each day with the wide-eyed wonder and enthusiasm that Yotsuba does. Of course without all the bumping into things, falling down, and generally doing and saying things that would anyone but a cute 5 year old committed.

Then again, if we could all be in Yotsuba's world, we'd never realize how nice it would be to have a little bit of it. That's what makes Yotsuba so bittersweet to those of us that have accumulated cynicism along with age.

Sometimes it sucks to be a grown up...

HERCULES: THE KNIVES OF KUSH #5 (of 5)

Synopsis:
The stunning conclusion! After an explosive showdown of thunder and lightning on the battlefield, Hercules and his companions are set to end Egypt’s civil war. But even with a cunning plan to defeat Khadis, Lord of Lightning and the insurgent king Amenmessu, there still remains a traitor in the royal house of Seti II. When the dust has settled on the grounds of war, the future of Egypt is in the hands of Hercules.

Featuring two incredible covers from Clint Langley

28-Pages, Full Color

Writer: Steve Moore
Cover Art: Clint Langley
Artist : Cris Bolson
Colorist: Doug Sirois
Letterer: Todd Klein

"Hercules: The Knives of Kush" series url @ Radical Comics

Eastern Edge review:

In my previous review of issue 4, I talked a lot about my impressions and what I liked and didn't. Since then, I've read the back issues (which Radical kindly provided me) so I put critique aside and just sat back to enjoy the final issue.

Packed full of action, this was an enjoyable conclusion to an overall fun series. Certain things in a story of this type that end with a massive battle are enevitable, but there are some nice twists and turns, and a couple suprises to keep it interesting.

I'm looking forward to more of Hercules and his crew. Hopefully Steve Moore is already at work to tell bring us their further adventures in another action packed series!

Preview copy of “Hercules: The Knives of Kush #4” provided courtesy of Radical Publishing.

I don't know how I missed this, but a comment on my post yesterday about the weeklies pointed it out (thank you!)

From Takehiko Inoue's website, December 3rd, 2009:

This wraps up Vol. 32 which goes on sale 1/15. Unfortunately, there were a couple breaks during this series, as I had other work such as Real and the Museum of Contemporary Art. I wasn't able to meet the expectations of all the readers who follow me every week. I'm sorry. I'd love to have everybody continue reading every week, but I only have one body and it can only do so much. It's frustrating.

I had to make the most edits in a graphic novel ever for this one. It could be that the weekly issues aren't showing what the final version will be. In other words I haven't "completed" them in time. I feel that I may be nearing the end of my life as a serialized manga artist (although to be honest, I think I've been heading in that direction for a while now...).
Or if I want to continue, I have to change something.


INOUE TAKEHIKO
3 December 2009

Note in particluar, "I feel that I may be nearing the end of my life as a serialized manga artist (although to be honest, I think I've been heading in that direction for a while now...)."

Inoue is only 42 years old.
'Nuff said!

I read about it at 4thletter!, then read the preview at AdHouse Books and watched this video I found via the creators site www.streetangelcomics.com

Now I must have this comic!!!

I'm not too likely to find this in Japan so I'm gonna have to go cyber-begging back home in Toronto, I guess. But sooner or later I'll get my Afrodisiac!
And when I do, just like Black Belt Jones, I'm going to take it to McDonald's to celebrate!

On a serious note; While Afrodisiac is a brilliant parody, I'm not joking around about Jim Kelly. He was massively cool and should have been a star.

Yesterday I wrote about the importance of the spirit of collaboration for Japanese comics in future, but I didn't really get into another major factor that I think is stifling creativity here - the weekly serials!
Let's get this kicked off with an excerpt from my translation of an article in which Urasawa talks a little about the weeklies:

Honestly, the situation in Japan where comics are released in weekly anthologies is a very abnormal one. Everyone has become accustomed to it and deals with it like it was nothing, but people overseas think that producing comics of this quality on a weekly basis is insane. ... Yeah, it really is insane.
50 years ago, knowing it was something extremely difficult to do, weekly comics were created on a trial basis for the first time. But even after that initial trial period, it continued and is still the way it is now. It’s actually impossible. But it’s going through the impossible that has made today’s manga culture prosperous. It's an amazing story!

It is an amazing story, but like he said it's also insane and impossible. You can only do the impossible so long before it catches up with you, and the fact the Urasawa isn't doing weeklies anymore is evidence of that. Weeklies got the industry to where it is, but it won't sustain it forever.
Urasawa's own current comic, Billy Bat, is serialized in Weekly Morning, but only appears every two weeks at best. If you factor in the time off he has taken already in this young series, it's practically a monthly.
Uraswa also took some notoriously long breaks from 20th Century Boys, so much so that the series is generally considered to consist of three different sections that roughly mark the long breaks and restarts in the serial.
In my opinion, that hurt the series because he appeared to get lost a few times and had trouble pulling it back together in the end. It could be argued that he never really did. The first third of the series is by far the best and 21st Century Boys was anticlimactic and didn't tie up loose ends well at all. A lot of my Japanese friends who were into the series said the same thing.

What if Urasawa had less pressure and more time between episodes to think things through? Maybe he would have stayed in a groove longer and not needed to go off on so many tangents and different directions. Maybe he wouldn't have taken such a long break from it. Maybe it would have turned out differently and ended brilliantly as it began.

At the same time as 20th Century Boys he was also doing Pluto. Episodes of Pluto took so painfully long to come out that following the serial became pointless. It is, however, brilliant when read all together in tankobon format and should have been released that way in the first place. Why it wasn't is because the industry generally won't allow it. Tradition, and the fact that the industry can't afford to lose the revenue that comes from selling you a comic twice, are difficult obstacles to overcome.
How long will it be before Japanese also start waiting for the trades like people are more and more in the U.S. with pamphlets? Especially for a shorter series like Pluto that is so often delayed, it makes sense to wait, doesn't it?

The only weekly serial I follow regularly right now is Vagabond. Vagabond comes out weekly for long stretches, but Inoue has taken some very long breaks from that too, partly to work on his other "weekly", Real. Real comes out so infrequently that it is barely a monthly, even though it is published in weekly Young Jump.

The big weekly anthology magazine, Weekly Shonen Jump, features extraordinary weekly hits like Naruto and One Piece, but also a revolving door of new titles, some of which stick but then get farmed out to Jump Square, which is a monthly.

Don't believe me that the weekly format is on it's last legs? American manga readers can check out the February 2010 issue of U.S. SJ and read what Takei has to say about doing Ultimo in the monthly format rather than weekly. He actually now has the time to work on the details of his own art. What a concept!! Let's see a little more of that, please!

Gifted creators who are excellent all around like Urasawa, Inoue, Oda and Kishimoto, just to name a few that I like, are a joy to follow. They always deliver and always leave you wanting more, which in turn makes you want to follow a weekly serial. They are also rare. Most creators are far stronger in either storytelling and writing, or in art. Few can do both well, and even fewer can produce their best work at such a breakneck schedule week in and week out.
I would like to see how some of these people do with more time, but less help from uncredited assistants. I'd also like to see more credits for inkers, colourists, background artists etc. Ultimo actually credits an inker and colourist, which is extremely rare! Unless everyone else is really doing the majority of their own work themselves - which they are often not once they have a regular serial - I'd like to see a lot more credit where credit is due. Either that or give the artists extra time, but force them to actually do it all themselves in exchange for taking all the credit! That would probably mean going to at least a monthly format for most.

Aside from the art, weekly formats also give creators little time to consider plot points, so when they get stuck or just need a little time to think about something, they either take time off or pump out boring filler or those incredibly annoying flashbacks that go on for pages and pages. I'd rather an asterisk telling me to see episode whatever if I don't remember, instead of paying for reprints of shit I already bought!
Weeklies pull stunts like that way too often, but there are only so many options for a creator when they can't or won't take time off to figure things out.
Some are just lazy, but most are just trapped by an industry that refuses to change with the times and explore new formats and ways of doing things. Like I wrote yesterday, the industry needs to free up creators to create, not just produce.

With apologies to the handful of awesome ones, that's why I think most weekly serials suck! Many aren’t even weeklies to begin with, and most that are shouldn’t be. Except for the ones that really deliver quality every single week, almost all of them should go biweekly or monthly and artists should get paid bit more so they can afford to. If that means also paying the top guys who really put out awesome weeklies more, then that's fine. They deserve the cash. Besides, with more time all creators will need fewer assistants that they have to pay anyway. In fact, instead of being let go, maybe those assistants could make comics of their own to support the creator/studio they work for? Just a thought.

Anyway, if the weekly anthologies stagger content well they'll be fine. In the end they'll probably also find that they will have more really solid titles with even higher quality production and artistic values than ever before to keep current readers hooked, and bring in new ones.

The decade is over, most of the "best of" lists have been compiled and published, and reaction and commentary on what has been and what will be abounds.

I don’t have a lot to say about the previous decade and I have few “most anticipated” upcoming comics on my list except for Frank Miller’s follow up to 300, which I hope comes out some time before the next decade.
In Japan, there are only a handful of titles I want to check out that I haven’t yet. One is Zipang, because for the last decade or so I’d been waiting for it to end so I could read it all at once at a time when my Japanese would also be good enough to really dive into it. I’m sort of interesting in giving My Girl a shot, and also taking another look at the original Dragon Ball and One Piece back issues. But one comic I just can’t put aside anymore is Ultimo. Not because it’s Stan Lee and not because it’s Hiroyuki Takei, but because it’s both of them together.
It’s a collaborative work by two giants of Japanese and American comics that is actually being produced in Japan by a Japanese publisher. This one must be paid attention to, even if only in an academic sense, because I think it's a huge step toward change that he industry needs. I think that collaboration is the future and the only way Japanese comics will survive another decade – particularly in North America.

Manga is hurting so bad that the English meaning of term itself has been reduced from meaning “comics from Japan” to “comics resembling comics from Japan”. The problem is that the “manga” industry and the fans have boxed Japanese comics into a corner by trying to set them apart from "regular comics" and insisting that they were the future of the art form to replace superheroes. Now that it's clear that superheroes aren't going anywhere, and things aren’t going as planned on the Japanese soft power world domination front, some are trying to tell us manga is only a style of comic. We’re being told that it’s a set of formulas and a look characteristic of the Japanese mainstream that can be mimicked by anyone who can connect the manga dots in a given manga sub-genre (shonen, shojo, seinen, whatever!).
When these non-Japanese clones started being marketed along side Japanese imports as manga, that was, to me anyway, not only lame but the beginning of the end.

We have now even had an industry person actually suggest working with the same pirates so often blamed for the beating that sales are taking recently, a sign that some are in seriously deep trouble and don’t see a way out.
Well what did anyone expect? Keeping Japan's comics limited to specific formulas and superficial looks, and insisting they are unique and have so much more to offer than anyone else’s comics, isn't going to help them survive it's going to kill them.
And, however much they may resemble Japanese comics, putting non-Japanese comics in with Japanese imports and treating them as one in the same is like saying Avatar is a foreign film because James Cameron is Canadian.
It's ridiculous!!

Anyway, manga has they are currently marketed in the U.S. is not sustainable as long as the Japanese market continues to slide. Japan is struggling to stop a long slow slide in sales domestically, while at the same time trying to stop the bleeding by grabbing bigger cuts of dwindling overseas revenue. That's exactly what they did with animation, and where is “Anime” now?
If Japan can’t stop their death spiral, then overseas markets will continue to hurt too and the void just cannot be filled by clones. Something needs to change.

Along with breaking down the impossible weekly schedules to free up Japanese creators to really create instead of just scrambling and furiously delegating work to meet deadlines until they are forced to take time off anyway, they need to explore different work formats and learn to collaborate to keep creativity alive. That's not to say that Japanese creators have to collaborate with Americans or other foreign creators, only that many have realize that there are really only a handful of people capable of creating all around quality comics on their own, and even fewer who can do it on a regular weekly, or even monthly, basis without burning out.
I hope that Ultimo is a sign that maybe things are changing. However, it will impact the industry as a whole if it sells well. If it doesn’t sell then this new "collaboration" thingy will ditched as a failed experiment even before it’s been given a chance to really challenge the current status quo in Japan.

It may seem inconceivable now, and even blasphemous to some, but abolishment of weekly serials (but not necessarily anthologies) and a spirit of both domestic and international collaboration is the future for Japanese comics.

I firmly believe that the current mold must be broken or it will become the coffin that manga is buried in!

I’m rooting for Ultimo to lead a trend that will revitalize all Japanese comics, and force even the one-man shows to at least think about new approaches to their work in the future. Sooner or later change will come to the comic industry in Japan, especially as a new generation comes in that wants to create great comics, not just produce work as it always has been done. Pay attention, because the stupid manga box that people have shoved Japanese comics and their clones into is going to become as obsolete as Japanimation on Laserdisc.

My only question now is, why is the English edition of Ultimo going down the traditional translation and delayed release pipeline? It seems to me like the perfect opportunity to take the simultaneous Japan/US release model that RI-NE is pioneering, and really take it the next level with a true international collaboration.
Oh well, I'm sure it's easier written about on a blog than done. Maybe it'll happen someday.

In any case, while I have yet to read it and don't know if I'll even like it or not, I still hope Ultimo does well both here in Japan and overseas - for everyone's sake!

(must... fight.... urge to type "Excelsior!"... Arrgh!!!)

I use this Grinch pic every year, but this year I found myself wondering why I know so little about one of my favorite cartoonists/writers from when I was a kid, Dr. Suess. Naturally, I decided to do a little checking.

Imagine my surprise when I found out that not only was he vocally anti-Japanese and fully supported the internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII, but that he later seemed to soften his attitude when he used one of his children's books as an allegory for the U.S. occupation of Japan, and dedicated it to a Japanese friend.

I'll never be able to look at Horton Hears a Who the same way again!

Sigh... Life was so much simpler when I didn’t know about the politics behind some of my favorite children's books.

I remember the message, too, that "even though you can’t see or hear them at all, a person’s a person, no matter how small." I think the message is well intended - if maybe somewhat arrogant - and I don't want to judge the man. It was, after all, a much different world back.
However, learning about that allegory while living in Japan has really made me feel even more like the elephant in the room over here!
Oh, well.

Merry Christmas from Who-ville, everyone!

Ummmmmm...

WTF is this!?

According the DC's blog and Grant Morrison, this giant prehistoric rodent pelt wearing caveman, and the pirates, witch hunters and cowboys that will apparently follow, are all part of “The latest chapter in the long-running, ‘definitive’ Batman epic.”
Personally, I'd like to know exactly what he's been trying to "define" over the last few years. I get the whole nod to the nutty Batman comics of the 50's, but I thought that Frank Miller gave the finger to those pieces of shit and buried them once and for all.

Wasn't that the point of "The Dark Knight Returns" and "Batman: Year One" - including the brilliant Christopher Nolan movies based on them - to create new book ends for Batman, between which all the silliness of the past didn't exist and could finally be forgotten?

Like a sitcom that's run a few seasons too many, Batman has had more Robins that a bird sanctuary, and more spin-offs than Dr. Who. He even has a stereotypical demon seed son with the stunningly creative name, "Damian".
In the latest crisis to befall the Caped Crusader, poor Bruce now has to star as a historical dress-up doll in the conclusion to the cop-out story of his "death", which occurred only a short time ago.
I've stopped even trying to make sense of it.

So, while Bruce Wayne regains his memory and finds his way through history in in incoherent continuity, and DC publishes pointless stories of Dick Grayson babysitting the real Batman's bastard son as well as his tattered legacy, I'm going to read other comics and wait until what's left of Bruce Wayne's comic book integrity has found it's way out of this abyss of science fiction and psychobabble bat-shit, and back into interesting, maybe even fun, storylines.
With any luck Batman's historical journey through time will take a sharp turn and lead him back to Year One so we can try this again, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

Until Christopher Nolan's next movie makes you cool again, or until Frank Miller comes back and f*cks with you in style; I give up, Batman!

Yes, your parents are (we think) still dead. If only you could have been lucky enough to stay dead for a while more too.

So long for now, Batman.
And Merry Christmas!

How many "manga" readers out there who are not happy that manga have been left off of so many of the year end & decade end "best of" comics lists, also think that manga and comics are different?

I can sort of understand how people who read all kind of comics may be upset that some of their favorite Japanese ones have been ignored. However, people who insist that "manga" are supercalifragilisticexpialidocious and shouldn't even be spoken of in the same breath as lame American comics have no right to complain. You'd think they'd be happy to be kept separate!

More than that, though, the fact is that "manga" are Japanese comics that have been translated into English. They are foreign imports. How many best of lists in Japan do you think include comics from outside their own borders? The fact that there are almost no foreign comics in Japan is, ironically, both beside the point and the exclamation mark after the point!

What’s wrong with separate lists for manga? In fact, how many "best of" lists anywhere mix foreign and domestic products anyway?

I don't think Japanese comics are getting disrespected as much as I think they are just being treated like any other foreign import. There is "Car of the Year", and then there is "Import of the Year". Academy Awards go to American films, with foreign films in their own category. Same goes for just about everything else.
Japanese products may dominate many people’s lists of the best international comics in the U.S., but why should they be included with American comics only when it comes time for accolades?

Which one is it, manga? Are you comics or not!? Are you "manga" and therefore different, or are you asking Americans for a green card so you can move into the mainstream with the other comics? Are you going to join in the reindeer games, or do you just want to lead Santa's sleigh and fart in the face of Dasher and Dancer once a year?
If you aren't comics, you don't get comics awards or recognition - you get "manga" awards and recognition.

You can't have it both ways!

So, are you comics or not!?!?

Whatever you are, manga, this year I hope Santa finally leaves an identity in your stocking and great big reality check under your tree. You look lost and your fans are confused.

For the fans who still think that the cosplay diplomats of Cool Japan are taking over the world, I hope Santa leaves you each a parachute. For the sake of all the cool Japanese comics already translated and those that have yet to reach your shores, please remember to swallow your pride and pull the ripcord BEFORE you hit the ground!

Now, it's time for me to go read the latest Vagabond again and forget that, sadly, the rest of the world barely knows it exists.

INCARNATE Issue # 3 (3 of 3)

Synopsis:
From Nick Simmons, son of rock legend Gene Simmons and star of A&E’s GENE SIMMONS FAMILY JEWELS, comes a revolutionary new take on the undead.

They cannot die. They feel no pain. They hunger for human flesh. They are Revenants. Centuries ago, the Revenant known as Mot was worshipped as a God. Now, he walks the Earth in search of a purpose to his immortality – but when a secret society discovers a way to kill Revenants, Mot and his fellow immortals must make a choice: Hunt or be hunted. Nick Simmons’ breakout American Manga title reveals a world that challenges even the imagination, planting its tongue firmly in cheek, then biting it off...And swallowing it.

Issue #3 - On sale Dec.9th

Mot is down for the count, with Ripley and his followers moving in. Sibyl is helpless. With eyes full of dark intent, Ripley utters the words, "Break his bones, and take him with us. Do what you want with the girl." Meanwhile, Connor isn't doing much better against Dorian, the grotesque, chimeric Revenant with a cannibalistic hunger. With Connor lacking the ability to transform his body, how will he manage to defeat, or even get close to the multi-limbed monstrosity that is Dorian? Will Ripley manage to convert Mot to his cause, or will his followers convince him to kill Mot at long last? And what of the mysterious masked Grynn, whose careful words orchestrated this chaos in the first place?

Creator: Nick Simmons
Writer : Nick Simmons
Penciller : Nick Simmons
Cover Art : Jo Chen
Inker: Matt Dalton
Colorist: Brian Buccellato
Assistant Artists: Nam Kim, Ben Harvey, Shi Hua Wong of STUDIO IL
Letterer : Rob Steen

60-Pages, Full Color

"Incarnate" series url @ Radical Comics

Eastern Edge review:
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I was expecting Incarnate to be an Underworld-type, dark, brooding, more gothic-style comic. But only a few pages into issue number one I realized that what I was getting is something a little more interesting than that.

Truth be told, just reading the synopsis of this title might make you pass it over because it sounds familiar. However it's got a more diverse set of influences than you may think, especially in the art, and they all come together surprisingly well.

The Japanese comic influence in the art (Deathnote in particular) is obvious, but some parts also reminded me of One Piece and other things so I wasn't sure how seriously to take the story. It turns out that's a good thing because, while the story premise is fairly dark, serious, and sometimes gruesome, it may have ended up seeming like a hodgepodge of a number of other things that are all too familiar if it wasn't for the feel of the main character. Mot is not what I had expected at all and as I read through the story, the cartoony, playful art style, which seemed like a mismatch for the story at first, began to make more and more sense. The brighter, more washed out, colours also made this story feel a little lighter, even in the gruesome bits. The "manga influenced" signature exaggerated expressions and over the top action also serves to brighten up the feel. The action sequences in particular are very Japanese influenced in their panel layout and style, where background art is dropped for emphasis on the action with lots of negative space and speed lines. I had expected a slightly slower paced, darker, heavier feel with dense artwork and colours, so the simplicity and energy is refreshing.

The main character, Mot, is what carries the story in Incarnate, and creator Nick Simmons, who is only 20 years old himself, has done a good job of portraying youthful attitude that is authentic but not shallow, which gives the character appeal.

There are lots of people getting bitten, sliced up and shot in the face, but the light, cartoony art and ample, but very stylized blood, keep it Kill Bill-ish fun instead of gruesome like it could have been. It's closer to Saturday morning cartoons than horror than I expected which, again, is a nice change from so many dark, adult comics out there. Incarnate is definitely for adults, though, even though it may seem a little familiar to older fans of this type of story. However, what the series may lack in maturity, it definitely makes up for in youthful energy and fun.

I enjoyed this series and look forward to seeing what Nick Simmons will come up with next.

Review copies of “Incarnate” provided courtesy of Radical Publishing.

On a cheery yearend note, it looks like I'm finally not the only one saying the comic and animation industry is eating its own and killing the art over here in Japan. This has been the case for a very long time and anyone who's had an opportunity to look behind the curtain knows that "Cool Japan" has been smoke and mirrors for about a decade now, if not longer.

Well, the Comics Journal has a post from yesterday by Roland Kelts which quotes Frederik L. Schodt as saying, “The structure of the industry has sucked the life out of it,” Fred continued. “Manga and anime are dead.”

Thank you! Now I can quote you when I talk about what I've seen and am accused of being hater.

However, as much as I agree and I think it's about time someone with clout told the enthusiastic Japan-fan 'otaku' out there that the party is definitely over, I would suggest that he's pronouncing the patient dead before the heart has really stopped beating. I’m not known as an optimist when it comes to Japanese comics and animation lately (and for good reason!), but I would argue that Ghibli is the real heart and soul of Japanese animation now and it’s beating strong as ever, despite the struggles of other studios and the industry as a whole. As for comics - and this goes for animation too - I think there is plenty of suppressed creative energy just waiting to break the shackles of an oppressive, soulless industry as soon as they are shown a glimmer of hope.

Comics and animation, or manga and anime if you prefer, are definitely in critical condition and showing no signs of improvement. But blaming downloaders and the recession is akin to treating congestive heart failure with chicken soup. Many industry insiders can’t see the forest or the trees from the inside of their panic rooms either, and the quack industry doctors who think fansubs, scanlations and broadband internet is what’s killing their patient are missing the underlying illness. Crackdowns on pirates may be the ventricular assist device of choice right now, but what the industry really needs is a heart transplant. The sooner the better, too.
No amount of lame government “Japan Cool” promotions, or overseas fans gushing about the latest J-whatever on their blogs, will get enough blood pumping to revitalize an art form whose own industry is in the later stages of closing the deal on sale of its soul.

I don’t think animation and comics in Japan are dead yet. I, for one, can still feel a pulse. But if and when they do start flatlining - and at this rate it’s next to inevitable - if you ever really cared at all you have got to at least charge up the paddles and zap it a few times before you stick it in formaldehyde for the pop culture museum.

It certainly does look terminal, but I’m not ready to pronounce the patient dead yet. My hope is that enough people realize how critical it is before we get to that point. Looking back nostalgically at things from an era long since past and blind optimism for the future will only result in not seeing the sucker punch coming. It’s time to take off the sakura-coloured glasses and see manga and anime as they really are today – before it’s too late.

This past Thursday saw the last chapter of Vagabond for this year in Weekly Morning magazine. That chapter also had my personal manga moment of the year!

I use the word 'manga' instead of comic here mostly to preserve the alliteration in the title, but also because it sounds better than 'comic moment', which may have other nuances in meaning, and because I'm talking about Japanese comics specifically.

Anyway, this moment is one I've been waiting for since I first picked up Vagabond ten looooong years ago. It's been a long wait, but the absolutely incredible progression in Takehiko Inoue's storytelling and art - especially his art! - over the last decade has made me glad that it took this long because it's nearly perfect, right down to the sword grip!

I didn't even see it coming until I turned the page, and then there it was in all its glory!

Yup, that's the legendary tsubamegashi, or 'Swallow Return' (aka 'Swallow reverse' or 'Swallow counter'). The story goes that it was named this because the cut mimicked the motion of a swallow's tail during flight.
Kojiro may not have done it with his famous Nodachi in this scene, but you never know what Inoue has up his sleeve and Kojiro just might get his hands on the famous “drying pole” before the end.

Vagabond just keeps getting better as we get closer and closer to the final duel between Musashi and Kojiro!

HERCULES: THE KNIVES OF KUSH #4 (of 5)

Synopsis:
The electrifying battle you’ve been waiting for! Hercules, son of the Thunder God, Zeus, versus Khadis, Lord of Lightning! When Autolycus and Iolaus return from a vital reconnaissance mission, King Seti rallies his troops for an all-out assault on Amenmessu’s forces. While the Egyptian King gathers his army, Hercules and his companions continue their search for the traitor within the palace walls. But when the thunder and lighting rain down upon the battlefield, Hercules must summon the strength of his father and defeat the Lord of Lightning – no matter what the cost.

Writer: Steve Moore
Artist : Cris Bolson
Colorist: Doug Sirois
Letterer: Todd Klein

Featuring covers by Clint Langley and J.P. Targete.

28 pages, Full Colour, $2.99

"Hercules: The Knives of Kush" series url @ Radical Comics

Eastern Edge review:

This is going to be a string of firsts. This is my first ever review, my first comic from Radical Publishing, and the first comic I've ever read starring Hercules.

I should say right off the bat that I am picking this up at issue number 4 and jumping in not knowing much about the characters and the story they are telling. So, instead of scouring the internet to get up to speed and faking my way thorugh this by gauging things through blurbs and other people’s opinions, I'm doing this from the stand point of someone who just happened to see this on a comic book store shelf and picked it up. Truth be told, the Clint Langley cover probably would have made me do just that. It’s fantastic!

Both covers are awesome but, awesome covers aside, in cases like this the question is whether or not this comic would grab my attention enough to make want to go find the back issues and read the conclusion.

Well, first things first. Art! Comics are a visual medium and art always has the biggest impact on my first impression, particularly in cases where I'm going in knowing nothing about the story or creative team and have no preconceived notions. While I've heard of Steve Moore from his Marvel UK work, I don't think I've ever read any of his comics, and this is also the first time I've come across Cris Bolson.

While the art is solid and dynamic in the action scenes, and I really like Doug Sirois' colours, I found the layouts a little difficult to follow in one or two places. I had to glance back a panel or two occasionally to get my bearings. There is also a hiccup or two where the art and writing seem slightly out of sync, but overall the art is very solid. There is a lot going on in only 28 pages and I think Bolson did an admirable job with the space he had. I'm also a big fan of the painted look and I love the amount of detail in each panel, especially in the backgrounds. I really appreciate the attention paid to giving us the full visual experience of the time and place in which the story is set, especially when the places and cultures are ones that actually existed. Full marks to Bolson, colourist Doug Sirois, et al for that!

It’s hard to talk much about the story because I’m not up to speed yet, having only read this issue, but one common difficultly with many period pieces is striking a balance between modern speech and ‘periodish’ language to create atmosphere. I found some of the speech patterns in the dialogue a bit muddled in a couple places, and the use of ‘highness' and ‘majesty’ interchangeably was odd, but that didn’t distract enough to take away from the overall feel. I liked the narration and the overall storytelling - in particular, one scene that juxtaposes dialogue from a pre-battle strategy meeting with captions of Hercules reminiscing about the good old days when they didn’t bother with meetings and just got straight to bashing faces in. I would have liked more scenes written in that style, but not having read the rest of the series yet I don’t know that there isn’t a lot more where that came from. Steve Moore has each page covering quite a bit of ground as he moves the story along toward the final conflict, but doesn’t appear that he's sacrificed depth for the sake of speeding things up to fit everything into five issues.
The story seems well researched and I like the cultural nuances and differences that are mixed in to add depth, while not appearing to make any underlying judgments. The story also made me interested in looking a little into the actual history of Kush and the cultures portrayed in this story. Combine that with the artistic detail I mentioned earlier, and you have a comic that pulls you into it’s world and makes the whole experience a lot more fun.

But in the end, the action is really what it's all about, isn't it?
And there is no lack of action here! Action sequences are dynamic and Bolson doesn't shy away from showing us the kind of damage an arrow through the head would do. But the art is also stylized enough so that it doesn’t take itself too seriously either. It's a nice balance between realism and cartoony creative license that comic books should have.

Maybe it's just me and my personal preferences, but while I liked everything overall, I did find a slight lack of dramatic tension and build up to the big battle at the end. I like a little more build up to a major battle, especially when it's the one that everything has been leading up to. I also didn’t get a real sense of the passage of time when the battle began, so when the tables turn suddenly a couple of times, these massive armies seemed to rout and then rally much too quickly. In fairness though, you can only spend so much time building up and transitioning from one event the next, especially in a limited series. The armies, after all, are merely window dressing to set up the scene where Khadis starts to own the battlefield with lightening strikes and Hercules steps up to even the score. The art, especially the colours, really takes over here and in the end it was probably a good thing that build up was sacrificed so as not to short change the money scene.

My first thought about Hercules vs. Khadis was that using lightening against the son of Zeus ‘the thunderbolt thrower’ didn’t seem like a very good idea. I was sure Herc would own this fight easily. But Herc is half human after all, right?! The issue ends with a nice cliffhanger.

I didn't get to see Herc throw-down with the giant club he mentions in the dialouge and that's pictured on the cover variant, but the lightening battle was cool and I'm sure Herc will get plenty busy in the conclusion.

So, did this comic catch my attention? Yes, it did! I like this new take on the Hercules character. It was a fun read with solid art and it made me want to check out the back issues for the full story before the conclusion in issue #5.

I’m looking forward to that and more comics from Radical.

Hercules: The Knives of Kush #4 was released today and it's definitely worth checking out.
Btw, Comicbook Resources has a review and a nine page preview of issue 4, and you can get all the other details from Radical's series website

Preview copy of “Hercules: The Knives of Kush #4” provided courtesy of Radical Publishing.