The Eastern Edge

Interesting new comic out of Japan that just started serialization last week in Weekly Morning by the 20th Century Boys and Monster creator, Naoki Urasawa.
It's called Billy Bat.

What makes it interesting, other than the fact that it's done by one of the best creators in Japan, is that both the art and story are distinctly NOT typical "manga" style. The art, in fact, doesn't even look anything like Urasawa's usual (but always awesome) style.
Billy Bat is a comedic tribute to the old hardboiled American comics, from Dick Tracy to Batman, but drawn with a Felix the Cat feel to it.
This is something from way out of left field by a master, which is very refreshing considering the ridged, repetitive and predictable style of serial comics these days. It's really cool to see a true artist who has made it big, and has the confidence to stray from his bread and butter and do something completely new instead of trying to recreate pass success.
Way to go, Urasawa!

I read the first chapter of Billy Bat last Thursday after my Vagabond fix (they are both serialized in Weekly Morning) and my first impression was Sin City meets Disney.

I hope people like Naoki Urasawa and Takehiko Inoue can help bury the dried-up piece of poo that is the modern serial manga mold and open a path for real creators to shine though over the commercial formula hacks and their stuffed shirt editors who continue to choke the life out of comics over here (Phew, run on sentence. Take a breath), but either way this new comic looks like it's going to be really fun.

If you can read Japanese, check out Billy Bat. If not, don't worry. An English edition can't be too far down the road.