Review by Ed Sizemore

Maria Holic Book 1

Maria Holic Book 1
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by Minari Endou; adapted by Clint Brickham; Tokyopop, $10.99 US

Kanako Miyamae is a high school sophomore transferring to Ame No Kisaki, an all-girl missionary school. Kanako is a lesbian, but she isn’t comfortable enough with her sexuality to be tell others her orientation. She transferred with romantic visions of meeting her soulmate. While there is no shortage of attractive girls, Kanako is discovering that a pretty face doesn’t mean a beautiful soul.

Maria Holic is meant to be a farce, a broad stroke comedy that satirizes the tropes found in shojo and yuri manga. However, it reads like a bigot openly mocking people who aren’t ‘normal’. Lesbians, transvestites, tomboys, and such are all targets of ridicule.

Not surprisingly, all the characters in this book are one-dimensional. When you’re mocking someone, there’s no need to understand them or cast them in a sympathetic light. Kanako walks around ogling her classmates and falling in love based on the most superficial reasons. Her classmates don’t figure out she’s a lesbian simply because it’s not convenient to the plot. It’s certainly not from a lack of clues.

The artwork is the only likable part of the book. It’s competent. The character designs are nice. The page layouts are well-done. It does have a feature that I don’t think I’ve seen before in manga: panels of just word balloons. There aren’t many, but it’s still unusual.

Maria Holic is odious. I had to force myself to finish the last quarter of the book. Turning each page seemed to become more of a chore the closer I got to the end. Avoid this book and its condescension. Comedy shouldn’t make the reader feel tainted and disgusted. Comedy is meant to uplift us.

Samurai Harem: Asu No Yoichi Book 2

Samurai Harem: Asu No Yoichi Book 2
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by Yu Minamoto; adapted by Hope Donovan; Tokyopop, $12.99 US

Yoichi Karasuma spent the first seventeen years of his life in a remote mountain dojo learning swordsmanship from his father. Now he is living with the Ikaruga sisters at their family dojo, where he is learning how to be a member of modern society. The hardest part is behaving properly around women. Two attractive female assassins show up to kill Yoichi. Yet another obstacle as he’s trying to just fit in.

The setup is derivative of Ranma ½ and Love Hina, which is indicative of the general lack of imagination found in Samurai Harem. The series is a harem comedy that focuses on the creepy aspects of the genre without any attempts to include the charming counterbalancing elements.

The best example of the disturbing nature of Samurai Harem is how the fan service specializes in crotch shots. Not panty shots, but in between the legs, focusing on the pubic region of girls and women. Just when you think the book might be showing some character development or emotional warmth, there is a crotch shot with a sound effect coming from the girl’s genitalia. The series is shameless in its tastelessness.

The artwork is very well-done. Minamoto is a master of cheesecake drawings. The loving details given to the female character designs and fashions only make the series that much more lecherous. Such talent should be used to illustrate a good romantic comedy, not banal fan service.

Only fans of unapologetic T&A manga will enjoy this series. The plot is rice paper thin. The characters are one-dimensional. Readers are advised to steer clear of Samurai Harem.

Zone-00 Book 1

Zone-00 Book 1
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by Kiyo Qjo; adapted by Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane; Tokyopop, $10.99 US

Ango Shima is an exorcist who has just moved to Tokyo. He is aided by his two assistants: Sharaku, also his butler, and Hanabusa, his maid. It turns out his very odd classmate, Saburo Kujo, is a leader of the Tokyo creatures (demons). Ango has come to destroy all the creatures but discovers he must team up with them to hunt down a common enemy. Someone has created Zone-00, a drug that turns humans into mock creatures.

Zone-00 is a mess, starting with the artwork. The panels are busy and often crowded. Qjo is trying to make the art feel energetic, but instead it’s chaotic. The page layouts suffer the same clutter problems. All the characters have unruly hair that like kudzu appears everywhere. The book is eye-straining to read.

Unfortunately, neither the characters nor plot are any improvement over the art. None of the cast is interesting. Everyone seems to spend a lot of time in inane conversation. They all want to prove how cool and sophisticated they are. However, it all comes across as silly and pretentious.

The plot moves at a glacial pace. They spend more time at bath houses and beaches then actually tracking down the drug dealers and manufacturers. For someone committed to the destruction of all creatures, Ango gets chummy quickly with his sworn enemy.

Zone-00 is victim to its own excesses. The art and storytelling need to be streamlined. Lost in all the muddle appears to be the makings of an interesting story. However, potential for a better story isn’t sufficient reason to recommend this series. Readers should skip Zone-00 in favor of a manga that is more focused.

Momogumi Plus Senki Book 1

Momogumi Plus Senki Book 1
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by Eri Sakondo; adapted by Rachel Brown; Tokyopop, $10.99 US

Yuuki Momozono is cursed with Disaster Attraction Disorder. This means that calamity haunts everything he does. He has just found out that he is the reincarnation of Momotaro (Peach Boy) from the famous Japanese folktale and inherited a demon curse from his previous life. He must break the curse causing his misfortunes before his eighteenth birthday or he will die. The school he has begun to attend is filled with students who are also reincarnations of various folk figures. There among his schoolmates is the chance to free himself of the curse.

Momogumi Plus Senki is an enjoyable light read. Sakondo has created a likable cast of central characters with Yuuki and his three companions: Sawa, Masahiko, and Yukishiro. Yuuki’s friends are all good-natured and readily accept their past lives without any conflict. Yuuki himself starts out as a depressed person, but the warmth and optimism of his new companions quickly win him over.

Part of the charm of this series is its sense of humor. Sakondo doesn’t allow any of the characters to take themselves too seriously. Sankondo also has fun with the personality of the cast. Masahiko is the reincarnation of Momotaro’s dog. He has the loyalty and affection of a puppy. He can let his canine enthusiasm get the better of him sometimes.

I also like how amenable the other students are to Yuuki’s bad luck. They know when he gets called on to answer questions, baseballs are bound to come soaring through the windows. So all the students sitting next to the windows have umbrellas to protect themselves from flying glass.

The art is well-done in this series. Sankondo does a good job conveying emotion. The action sequences are quick and lively. The humor has a nice subtle quality to it. The art complements the storytelling perfectly.

Momogumi Plus Senki is not a must read by any stretch of the imagination. However, it is a pleasant, upbeat series. It can serve as a break from heavier fare or just a good distraction. The way Sakondo plays with Japanese folktales makes me want to go read the originals. Readers already familiar with the folktales might enjoy seeing Sakondo’s fun twist on them.

(The publisher provided review copies of all books.)

I don’t know who writes for doomkopf.com, but whoever he is, he had an interesting response to my Thought of the Day post and others who commented on the “getting your female significant other to read comics” idea. He compares the problems finding Western comics that interest women to the issues he’s had getting into manga:

I started looking at the various manga blogs and websites for recommendations. The majority of which were written by women. Understandably the recommendations leaned towards female interests which left me frustrated in trying to find titles that suited my interests. I suddenly understood what it is like for women new to comics having men recommend things to them. It quickly becomes confusing and overwhelming.

I think you can maybe take the idea “a woman recommended this, so it’s geared to female interests” a little too far — I know female manga readers who love books that are supposedly aimed at males (based on the original Japanese publishing plan) — but I do think that risks being true at this site. I mostly read “girly” manga, because that’s what I enjoy, but that’s why I am so glad to have Ed Sizemore’s contributions, to balance me out and provide a more well-rounded view of the format.

And for Mr. Doom, if you’re looking to step from superheroes into manga, you might start with Rurouni Kenshin, a historical samurai story with lots of people with exaggerated abilities. Or Wolverine: Prodigal Son, a manga take on the superhero character.

Review by KC Carlson

I was very pleased to see another go-round of Warner’s Saturday Morning Cartoons compilations. They make very interesting samplers of what was happening in kid-vid in both the 1960s and 1970s, so they’re prime fare for baby boomers like me. Although you have to keep in mind that it’s not a complete snapshot of the era. Due to licensing restrictions (or possibly availability), the selections are pretty much limited to properties that Warner currently controls, represented here by the Hanna Barbera, Warner Bros., and MGM cartoon libraries.

Actually, I was both pleased and somewhat disappointed. Although there is a lot of good stuff on the sets, most of it is just additional episodes of the same series that were on Volume 1. And some of the better series from the first discs have been replaced with somewhat lesser series. So let’s break it down, beginning with…

1960s: Volume 2

Saturday Morning Cartoons:
1960s Volume 2
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Following up on some of the great series that were included on Volume 1, this new set has more

• Quick Draw McDraw (2 episodes. Yay!)
• Porky Pig Show (1 episode. Yay!)
• Atom Ant (1 episode. Yay!)
• Peter Potamus (1 episode, OK)
• The Jetsons (1 episode, not a great one)
• Magilla Gorilla (1 episode, OK)

In addition, there are a couple more Warner Bros. compilations (The Bugs Bunny Show and The Road Runner Show), both extremely popular, but both kinda redundant here as Warner has done a really good job of compiling Bugs Bunny and friends elsewhere on DVD (except for no collector set this year — hope they get back on track for next year). It is, however, really great to see and hear the original opening sequences and theme songs for the shows — especially that quirky only-of-its-era Road Runner song (“Road Runner goes Beep Beep!” and “That coyote is really a crazy clown!”). Some of the original between-cartoon bumpers are also shown, which is a nice touch. Later, both shows were combined into the mega-length Bugs Bunny Road Runner Show (see the 1970s Volume 2 collection, although it actually began in 1968).

Also on this set is The Tom & Jerry Show, making its first appearance in these compilations, and best known for appearing on Sunday mornings, although the show began on Saturdays in 1965 before moving to Sundays in 1967, remaining there until 1972. While it is great to see it represented here (especially with some of the Chuck Jones bumpers included), the Tom and Jerry cartoons have been endlessly repackaged by Warners for the last several years.

There are some new things here — although I have to admit that as a kid I seldom watched any of them, as I was watching something else on some other stations (in those long-ago days before recording VCRs and DVDs or time-shifting DVRs).

Lots more after the jump.

Amazon.com has available a bunch of discount DVDs — over 400 titles at $5.79 each. There are classics (The Big Sleep, Suspicion), scifi cult faves (Ladyhawke, Clash of the Titans, Soylent Green, Westworld, Logan’s Run), and personal favorites (Dangerous Beauty, Singles, Pump up the Volume, The Iron Giant), plus a whole lot more.

Scarecrow and Mrs. King:
The Complete First Season
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Meanwhile, Warner Archive has a bunch of new-to-DVD 80s and 90s films at 25% off, which makes them under $15. I’m tempted by Under the Rainbow, and after seeing it too often on cable as a kid, I kind of want to see an unedited So Fine. Rob Lowe’s in Oxford Blues, and I know some readers will want Penn & Teller Get Killed.

But the most exciting news for me this week is the announcement that Scarecrow and Mrs. King is coming to DVD in March. List price is $40 for 21 episodes on five discs. Kate Jackson was a single mother who got caught up in capers with Bruce Boxleitner as the spy code-named Scarecrow. I adored this show for its combination of spy adventure and hints of romance. What a nice hit of nostalgia.

Sarah Kuhn has written a short novel featuring characters and settings of interest to many readers here.

One Con Glory is the story of Julie, a geek journalist covering a huge comic/sci-fi convention. She’s bitter and jaded, with few friends, and those she hangs out with are likewise media types, nerdy enough to fit in but feeling set apart by their glimpse behind the curtain. The title comes from Julie’s love of Glory Gilmore, a lesser-known superhero team member and inspiration for a rare action figure being auctioned off at the show.

The story is realistic (in terms of characterization, anyway — the plot’s got more than a little wish fulfillment in it, which is what makes it fun) and the cast will be recognizable to anyone who’s attended a few large cons. I enjoyed the story of Julie’s coming-of-age/acceptance of herself through a convention romance with a TV star. I did have a few quibbles — the level of profanity surprised me, now that I’m becoming more prudish in my old age, for example. More significantly, I regretted not seeing more of Julie and her love interest, just the two of them. Most of their interactions described in the book are either in public or consist of sparring with each other. I wanted to see the two accept their romance together in private. A little more sweetness together, a little less hostility.

That’s just me wanting to put focus on something different from the author’s choice, though. The book is still worth reading and thinking about. You can buy it from Alert Nerd Press or read an online excerpt.

There are some interesting books in the latest Previews catalog I wanted to bring to your attention. In most cases, these graphic novels will be available in January 2010 or later. Orders are due at your local comic shop by Saturday.

Blacksad Buy this book		Showcase Presents Secrets of Sinister House Buy this book
Blacksad (NOV09 0041, Dark Horse, $29.99) is like Philip Marlowe with furries. I really enjoyed the first two books when they were put out by the now-defunct ibooks five years ago. This hardcover reprints those with a new, never-before-translated third.		Showcase Presents Secrets of Sinister House (NOV09 0181, DC Comics, $17.99) is a black-and-white cheap paper collection of DC’s gothic romance title. And I’m glad to see this available at a budget price, since romance comic back issues go for too much for my budget. This should be a fun wallow. Remember, the series was first titled “The Sinister House of Secret Love”, which just cries out for appreciation.
Meanwhile Buy this book		Hicksville Buy this book
Meanwhile: Pick Any Path. 3,856 Story Possibilities. (NOV09 0577, Abrams/Amulet Books, $15.95) Jason Shiga’s comics are amazing explorations of mathematics and formalism. I’ve seen a minicomic version of this, and it’s great fun to play with. I find his work brain-expanding in unexpected ways. Definitely one to experiment with.		Hicksville (NOV09 0750, Drawn & Quarterly, $19.95) is one of the books on my Comic Classics list, my take on a comic canon consisting of graphic novels everyone should be familiar with. This is a life-changing read. Bless D&Q for bringing it back into print, even if they’ve put in a “new 16-page drawn introduction by Dylan Horrocks” to annoy those who own the previous version.
		Little Nothings: Uneasy Happiness (NOV09 0881, NBM, $14.95) is the third in the series of Lewis Trondheim’s journal comics. Read book samples at the NBM blog. Funny, well-observed, excellently cartooned stuff.

Kate Dacey asks why the most recent of those “trick your woman into liking comics” (as she puts it) columns didn’t include any comics created by women or any manga. There’s a simple answer to that.

Most of the guys who ask and answer “how do I get my girlfriend to read comics?” don’t really mean it. What they’re really asking is “how do I get my girlfriend to like the comics I like?” So of course they’re not recommending manga — they don’t read it themselves. And they don’t want the girl they like to know about comics they don’t understand.

I think there should be a new rule: any such “how do I get a woman to like comics?” column MUST be accompanied by a matching column about “how do I get a man to like knitting/ scrapbooking/ quilting” or other feminine craft of your choice. Yes, it would be about as pointless, but reading about a geek trying to crochet a Transformer would amuse me.

Update: I forgot to say, although it shouldn’t need saying, that the main reason those articles are silly is that there is no magic comic everyone female likes. Some read Sandman, some read Witchblade, some read Strangers in Paradise, some can’t stand any of the above. The best way to introduce anyone to a new medium is to figure out what other entertainment they like and go from there. Consider what movies or TV shows or books someone enjoys, and then target your individual recommendations appropriately. In other words, think of them as a person, not a gender.

Review by KC Carlson

Out today is Justice League: The Complete Series, and I can’t think of a better gift for any superheroic animation fan — even if it’s a gift that you give yourself. The set features all 91 episodes of both Justice League and Justice League Unlimited on 14 DVDs, plus ALL the Special Features that appeared on the previous DVD collections — all wrapped up in a nifty little collector’s tin slipcase. Plus there’s a bonus 15th disc, featuring a brand new 17-minute documentary: Unlimited Reserve: A League for the Ages, featuring all the key figures that worked on the show reflecting on the creation, history, and impact of the series.

Justice League: The Complete Series
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The Justice League cartoons originally ran on Cartoon Network from 2001 to 2004 and are based on the popular comic book which has been running (in various incarnations) since 1960. The first two seasons of the animated show were based around the adventures of the “Big 7” JLA members — Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter J’onn J’onzz, and Aquaman — although for the cartoon, Hawkgirl replaced Aquaman (who occasionally guest-starred) and this particular GL was John Stewart. Most of the episodes in the first two seasons were two-parters. They were usually first shown back-to-back, effectively making the series an hour-long show. This allowed the creators the luxury to spread out their stories, with plenty of airtime for the relatively large cast of characters. Also, the hour format allowed for some spectacularly choreographed super-heroic action and multifaceted battles. Having already developed (and completed) critically acclaimed animated series for both Batman and Superman, the show creators poured everything they had learned on those two shows into the creation of Justice League, ultimately making it one of the very best superheroic animated shows in history. But the best was yet to come.

Originally thinking that the series was done following the wrap-up of Season Two, almost everybody was surprised when Cartoon Network renewed the series for Season Three. However, there were two major conditions for the renewal: The network asked that the show be “rebranded”, and there were to be no more two-part episodes. In essence, the network was looking to simplify the program. The creators had other ideas.

Thus was born Justice League Unlimited, a far more complicated show than the previous two seasons. The cast expanded to include any and all characters in the DCU (not all in the same episode, but there were more than a couple that attempted it). The writers adapted to a seeming “done-in-one” episode structure, but fans quickly picked up on the fact that several ongoing plot threads crossed over from episode to episode, ultimately culminating in what seemed like season-long story arcs. It was one of the more amazing juggling acts in TV animation history. What was even more amazing that there was even more characterization packed into these episodes than in the previous two seasons — and those were no slouch in characterization department either.

The series also became slightly less majestic in tone than the earlier seasons, as Justice League Unlimited is sprinkled with crazy one-shot episodes, like the one where Wonder Woman is turned into a pig by Circe and B’wana Beast is enlisted to help capture her, while Batman and Zatanna must sing torch songs in a mysterious nightclub. Or the episode where Lex Luthor and The Flash exchange minds. Or the one (written by Gail Simone) where Green Arrow and Black Canary and The Question and Huntress are both on separate dates that bring them into conflict with each other. And that bizarre Warren Ellis-scripted episode starring the Atom dealing with nanotechnology, which I still haven’t figured out.

Many of the characters received significant attention throughout the series. The heart and soul of the show are the journeys that both John Stewart and Hawkgirl are involved in, both together and apart (with a remarkable revelation!). Hawkgirl also has a very touching relationship with the childlike Solomon Grundy which plays out over the entire series, while Batman and Wonder Woman seem to develop a more-than-friends interest in each other. J’onn J’onzz grows as a character, showcased in a wonderful Christmastime visit to Ma and Pa Kent’s farmhouse, and later makes a life-altering decision. Other, more minor characters shine — such as The Question in the latter seasons, and Supergirl making a couple of key appearances. The meeting between Superman and Captain Marvel in the final season is also amazing and pivotal — as is the entire last season story arc featuring the Secret Society of Super-Villains. (If you look closely and squint, you’ll see some clever references to the original Legion of Doom from another generation’s JLA show: Super Friends!)

If you don’t already own the Justice League on DVD, now is your chance to pick up the entire series in a very nice collector’s pack. If you already have the four previous season sets, I’m not sure if this new Collector’s Set is exciting enough to upgrade (although the tin is pretty nice!). But whatever format you decide on — get this series! It really is beyond amazing, and it’s the linchpin to the animated DC Universe. It might just be the best animated superhero series of them all!

(I just got this set, via studio review copy, a couple of days ago, which is not nearly enough time for me to plow through all 2062 minutes of Justice League goodness in one weekend. I’m gonna take my time and watch this great series all over again from scratch (and take notes!). So I’ll be back in a couple of weeks to share some more thoughts on this classic series. I’ve been wanting to watch these shows again for a long time and this new set is the perfect excuse! See you soon!)