Hellsing volume 1

Hellsing volume 1
Dark Horse Comics
by Kohta Hirano
BW, 208 pgs, $13.95 US / Higher in Canada

This action and gore-packed horror comic has just enough sly humour to take the edge off the guts and guns, putting this manga in the same territory as Trigun and Scryed. Both of those manga use both action and humour just like Hellsing, but those two series failed to put any sort of smile on my face. So, what’s the big diff, you wonder. Hellsing has two things going for it that those other two manga did not: 1. Outstanding art; 2. Wildly entertaining storytelling. Kohta Hirano is responsible for both.

Satsuma Gishiden volume 2

Satsuma Gishiden volume 2
Dark Horse Comics
by Hiroshi Hirata
BW, 280 pgs, $14.95 US / Higher in Canada

In my review of volume 1, I neglected to mention Hiroshi Hirata’s artwork. It is detailed and always ferocious, with strong inks, haggard characters, harsh landscapes, lived in locales and brutal bouts of violence.

Satsuma Gishiden volume 1

Satsuma Gishiden volume 1
Dark Horse Comics
by Hiroshi Hirata
BW, 264 pgs $14.95 US / Higher in Canada

Satsuma Gishiden volume 1 opens with an action sequence that grows in both intensity and violence as it progresses, a fight between a convicted criminal and samurai of the Shimazu clan, the criminal as good as naked on a horse and the samurai in full combat attire, armed to the teeth and lusting for blood in this traditional contest. This bloody action introduces the overarching topic of Satsuma Gishiden, which isn’t bold samurai in bloody battles. No, the topic is what do warriors do when there is no war.

Gunsmith Cats Revised Edition Volume 1

Gunsmith Cats Revised Edition Volume 1 Dark Horse Comics (w) Kenichi Sonoda (a) Kenichi Sonoda B&W 464 pgs, $16.95 US / Higher in Canada A fresh look at a great series. There are fast muscle cars; precision guns and numerous panty shots abound in Kenichi Sonoda’s masterpiece manga Gunsmith Cats. Dark Horse has brought back [...]

BERSERK volume 1: The Black Swordsman

Berserk volume 1 introduces Guts, the Black Swordsman, a feared warrior and bearer of a gigantic sword, an iron hand and the scars of countless battles and tortures. He wanders countryside reminiscent of medieval Europe, searching for someone or something. He’s a mystery for the better part of the first volume, and while we do get glimpses into his past and the motivation for his travels, there is still plenty we don’t yet know by the time this volume ends. This sense of not yet knowing but needing to know is what will draw me further into this series because volume 1 didn’t offer much else.

Hellboy: The Wild Hunt #5

Hellboy: The Wild Hunt #5 Dark Horse Comics (w) Mike Mignola (a) Duncan Fegredo FC 32 pgs w/ ads $2.99 US / Higher in Canada We are five issues into Hellboy’s latest mini-series and Mike Mignola drops one heck of a bombshell in this issue. Seriously! I won’t spoil it but there’s a hint on [...]

BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL volume 2

“Cry of the Worm”, the second collected volume in Hiroaki Samura’s punk samurai epic, contains two stories for the price of one. For my money, the first tale is the best. It’s the shorter of the two; a sword fight nestled between two very telling moments of character development.

Rin has come face to face with an artifact from her past. A Chinese sword that used to belong to her grandfather is now in the hands of one of Anotsu’s kenshi. (For those of you who are new to Blade of the Immortal, Anotsu and his Itto-ryo sword fighting school have been destroying other sword fighting schools, including the one run by Rin’s father.) When Rin tells Manji about the sword, he offers to return it to her. She tells him not to do so because she wants to start putting the past behind her. She feels it is time for her to start growing up and move on with her life. Her thirst for revenge will only die with Anotsu, so going after his minions is pointless.

Empowered volume 1

Empowered volume 1 Dark Horse Comics Writer: Adam Warren Art: Adam Warren BW, 248 pgs $19.99 CAN / $14.99 US Adam Warren returns to creator owned work by Shane Hnetka “Bahh. Like all too many females, the alpha wench fails to appreciate a well-timed movie quote!” Adam Warren was writing and drawing manga before it [...]

Ohikkoshi

Blade of the Immortal was the first manga I read. It was my introduction to manga, showing me Japanese comics weren’t all big hair, big eyes, and big robots. It took me three volumes before I really got into the samurai / punk storytelling, but Hiroaki Samura’s artwork had me hooked from the very beginning. I knew going into Ohikkoshi that the stories within were going to be very different from Blade of the Immortal. This is a collection of early Samura creations, each told in “modern” Japan.

Cannon God Exaxxion: Stage 1

Ten years ago the planet earth made contact with a technologically advanced alien race called the Riofaldians. They approached the humans as friends and traded their advanced technology in exchange for human culture. Not a bad trade at first glance one would think, but the aliens came to earth for more than simple top 40 music and animated cartoons. The Riofaldians slowly integrated into human society and weaseled their ways into high positions of government and industry. Every bit of technology was laced with the Riofaldians’ and when they finally showed their true purpose to the planet earth it was too late to fight back.