This book is filled with silliness from page one and features Mario characters from all different Nintendo versions of the globally famous game. Author and illustrator Yukio Sawada selected some of his favorite stories from his Japanese Super Mario-kun series and put them together in this newly translated English collection, Super Mario: Manga Mania. Sawada has been creating manga since 1980, and has recently been recognized by the well-known Japanese 65th Shogakukan manga award in 2020. Manga Mania is a black and white, space travel filled graphic novel, which is read from right to left, as you would expect from manga.
This compilation is organized just as the games are, by stages instead of chapters. This is a fitting way to title them as these stories certainly do not need to be read in order. Each stage is a short story based off of a different Mario game, such as: “Paper Mario,” “Super Mario Galaxy,” “Super Mario Sunshine,” “Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time,” “Super Paper Mario,” and “New Super Mario Bros. Wii”. This collection is full of zany fantasy scenarios with every range of humor from cheesy to absolutely gross. Sawada stays true to the basic storyline given in the games themselves, and has a short description of this at the beginning of every stage so that the reader knows what the inspiration is for that particular tale. Little side notes given by Old Yukio provide some interesting background and bonus information.
Sawada does an excellent job of drawing exactly what you’d expect from a manga comic book. When characters are happy, their entire faces shine, and when they’re sad they pour tears. No dull expressions can be found anywhere. This book has jam packed pages filled with busy manga style artwork and tons of action words popping out of the page, often followed by excessive exclamation points. Many of the action words are in a made up, silly English, like “sparkl, wggl, smak, slrrp, hrrngh”, so don’t expect this to be a great title to choose to develop spelling skills. Backgrounds have little detail, instead the panels are filled with zoomed in characters so that the focus is on the dramatic facial expressions.
Don’t take any of the stories in this book seriously, instead prepare yourself for a lot of gag humor, ridiculous situations, and overdramatic characters. I think the translator, Caleb Cook has done an excellent job of navigating the differences in not only the Japanese and English languages, but cultural differences, and different styles of humor. Younger readers who enjoy reading manga and like Mario would likely enjoy this compilation. However, older readers or those who aren’t a fan of video games might find it a bit too illogical and overly silly. There are conversations in which characters are calling each other losers or dumb, and being excessively rude to each other, but I believe it’s meant to be in good fun for the reader. The author does include a parental advisory for the last chapter, which deals with the loss of a parent. However, this section is well-done and quite sentimental, it’s not inappropriate for young readers, just could be skipped if that’s a sensitive topic. Overall, if you’re looking to add a humorous manga title to your elementary library collection this one will surely get checked out.
Super Mario Manga Mania By Yukio Sawada Art by Yukio Sawada ISBN: 9781974718481 Viz Media, 2020 Publisher Age Rating: 7-10 Series ISBNS and Order
Title Details and Representation NFNT Age Recommendation: Easy Readers (5-9), Middle Grade (7-11) Creator Highlights: Japanese Related to…: Game to Comic
In case you were unaware, Pokémon (poe-kay-mon, intended to mean “pocket monsters”) has been a cultural juggernaut since the late 90s. I should know because I was 11 when the very first Game Boy games arrived in America. Within the first day of playing, my middle school friends and I were immediately in the thrall of that world full of fantastical creatures, their trainers, and the different cities and environments to explore. Don’t take my word for it, though—there have doubtless been children asking your library where the Pokémon manga are.
There are multiple series within the Pokémon Adventures manga, each one based on a different video game, and now Viz is reprinting them in combined editions, starting with this 3-in-1 volume that collects the first three volumes of the original manga. Great news: this thick paperback represents the first story arc and reads well on its own, so even if you’re not interested in purchasing a few dozen more books in this series, you can at least stock this one and know it represents a satisfying reading experience.
Pokémon Adventures starts as the adventures of a young boy named Red with an affinity and empathy for Pokémon. He is tasked by a local Professor Oak with finding and capturing Pokémon in order to send him their data for study. However, Oak has also sent his accomplished grandson, Blue, on a similar quest, leading to an intense rivalry. Each chapter of the story, often named in a punny fashion (“…But Fearow Itself,” “A Hollow Victreebell”), centers on a different featured Pokémon and contains a lesson or challenge for Red. His eagerness to help others in danger and all-around good heart see him win the day more often than not, though there are recurring villains from the ruthless organization Team Rocket to battle.
Reading this manga for the first time, I am pleasantly surprised by how unerringly wholesome it is. Girls are drawn with the same proportions as the boys, and free of any leering perspectives. The harshest word in the text is “heck.” Early on, Professor Oak tells Red, “Do you know what it takes to be great? Knowing a lot of clever tricks? Having a Pokémon power house in your arsenal? …What counts is in your heart! That connection you had with the Bulbasaur… that feeling from deep within… that’s the key to becoming a great Pokémon trainer.” That ethos informs Red’s entire journey, along with expertise gleaned from trainers he meets along the way. As this book includes the first three volumes of the original manga, it also represents Red’s initial journey in three clearly delineated phases. He starts part one as a rough-and-tumble enthusiast, learns the ropes during part two, and is an expert in his own right by the finale.
It’s hard to interact with Pokémon stories and not notice how close the franchise comes to a sort of sci-fi dogfighting ring. Pokémon trainers carry Pokémon in tiny, spherical containers and mainly let them out to fight others for sport and profit, which leads to the impression that Pokémon are strictly interchangeable commodities. The manga goes out of its way to emphasize the importance of friendship and empathy with Pokémon, starting with Red’s backstory. His first Pokémon was a tadpole-like Poliwag that played in water with him and helped him escape bullies when he was younger. It evolved into a larger, stronger Poliwhirl in order to save Red from drowning in an accident. There is a Pokémon fan club that refuses to evolve or battle their Pokémon, preferring them to remain small, cute, and docile. There’s a through line in this arc of Pokémon performing more reliably and powerfully when they fight of their own free will and not under coercion. Team Rocket experiments on Pokémon to enhance their strength without regard for what modification does to them physically or mentally. Meanwhile, “good” trainers like Red, Blue, and the enigmatic Green are able to count on their Pokémon friends to show extra endurance and surprise enemies with unpredictable tricks because of their bond. Living things are not ends that justify any means, and Red personifies compassionate concern for Pokémon. There are a couple of chapters that note the importance of unspoiled nature and the harms of pollution.
There’s a wide variety of Pokémon in this volume, representing many different types from the original 151. Bugs, fish, bipedal humanoids, dino- and kaiju-esque monsters, and many other designs resembling real-world animals and elements burst off the page with special attacks and fighting poses. Kusaka and Mato share goals in their forewords about imagining how Pokémon live and move, and it shows: Pokémon will appear cute, scared, hurt, angry, tired, joyful, in various turns. This manga reads right to left, and the paneling is usually simple enough to not riddle anyone grappling with reading order. Action is also easy to follow, though some attacks will result in powerful beams or splashes of impact that won’t make much sense to someone unfamiliar with every last Pokémon command. Pokémon violence includes slapstick, martial arts, fantastical elemental and psychic abilities, and even some mortal danger. Humans and Pokémon alike are stomped, slashed, burned, electrocuted, frozen, drowned—what was Prof. Oak thinking to send children on such a journey?!
It is worth noting that girls take the center stage in this series, too, and they go toe to toe with the boys. Where Pokémon trainers are concerned, there’s the tomboyish Misty, elegant Erika, mischievous Green, and the menacing Sabrina. In one chapter, Red assumes the local Pokémon gym leader must be a boy, when his new friend Misty was the actual expert all along. No character is the best at all things, and everyone has their own personal strength or talent.
There are a few moments in the series where characters will check a handheld device for Pokémon information and see graphics from the original Game Boy game, a neat Easter egg that bridges the formats. This 3-in-1 edition includes some color artwork and a map of Red’s adventures after each third of the story. Younger readers may have trouble recognizing the technology of 1997, with floppy disks, desktop computers, and a buttons-only cell phone making appearances. They will not, however, have any trouble latching onto this manga, and I absolutely recommend it for children’s collections. Whether readers have already mastered the games or are learning about Pokémon for the first time, these stories have evergreen appeal.
Pokémon Adventures Collector’s Edition, vol. 1 By Hidenori Kusaka Art by Mato ISBN: 9781974709649 Viz, 2020 Publisher Age Rating: A (All Ages) Series ISBNS and Order
Title Details and Representation NFNT Age Recommendation: Middle Grade (7-11) Creator Highlights: Japanese Related to…: Game to Comic
Fans of Dr. Stone and science-themed adventures won’t want to miss Science Ninjas: Big Trouble with Simple Machines by Nathan Schreiber.
From the co-creator of the popular chemistry game, Valence, comes a book that makes learning physics fun! Set in a place far in the future, three young science ninjas test their strength and physics knowledge as they embark on a treasure hunt to find a prize that could revolutionize energy. Along the way, they must use ramps, wedges, screws, levers, pulleys, wheels, and axles to solve a series of puzzles before the mechanized drones can stop them.
The book is a great tool for teaching basic physics to tween readers. Edited by middle and high school science teachers, each chapter covers a different simple machine in addition to exploring principles of force, work, and mechanical advantage. It forgoes watering down content in favor of proper terminology, inserting plenty of examples within the storyline to make complex concepts accessible. Back matter extends these lessons with a glossary of terms and experiments readers can do at home.
If this sounds a bit too cerebral for the typical tween, rest assured there is plenty of action, drama, suspense, and humor to keep readers engaged as they learn. The dialogue is smart, and the characters are fully formed, quirky, and downright likable. The three young protagonists include a science genius and two science ninjas—genetically modified humans who are super strong, but need a bit of training at the Science Ninjas Academy to unleash their full potential. (Keep an eye out for clever names like Carlos Einstein, Dr. Eureka Fermi, and Julie Joules!)
What gives the book its personality is the deep connections between the main characters, who gradually reveal their inner struggles as the adventure unfolds. While physics may be front and center, equally important is the friendship and support they offer one another. In the spirit of physics, Carlos Einstein says it best when he explains that dealing with life’s challenges means pushing back with more force than any one of them could alone. Friendship is quite literally their very own simple machine.
Supporting characters also are a lot of fun, including a robot cat and security drones that remind me of futuristic Minions with their big, yellow heads. These little bots spend just as much time apologizing as they do policing, but the considerate “baddies” most definitely heighten the suspense level as our heroes juggle solving physics puzzles with escaping capture.
The book features bright pages with colorful illustrations in a cartoon-like style. Warm and engaging, the images create a fantasy world filled with absorbing landscapes.
From an educational perspective, the pictures also help clarify science concepts difficult to grasp from the text alone. This multi-modal approach to learning uses both text and image to teach content, highlighting important information in a way that breaks the written word up. This is a handy way to prevent readers from feeling overwhelmed as they tackle increasingly complex subject matter.
Admittedly, I had to reread some paragraphs and go over the accompanying images a few times to pick up everything. Even then, I didn’t grasp it all, but younger readers with more background knowledge and/or academic support should have a much easier time.
Overall, this book is an engaging and educational read that would fit well in a science classroom or a library’s tween section. Readers will enjoy the video-game like vibe as the characters battle mini science challenges using their knowledge of physics and a few key tools. Each challenge moves them closer to the ultimate prize, and the ending will definitely surprise.
Science Ninjas: Big Trouble with Simple Machines By Nathan Schreiber ISBN: 9781733559706 Science Ninjas, 2019
Browse for more like this title NFNT Age Recommendation: Tween (10-13) Related to…: Game to Comic
Persona 5 is a manga adaptation of the videogame Persona 5, named for being the fifth game in the Persona series and written and drawn by Hisato Murasaki. The game and all its adaptations revolve around a group of teenagers known as the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, bent on reforming society by transforming people’s hearts and causing wrongdoers to confess their crimes. The story conveys a deep need in young people to improve the world around them, as well as a rebellion against complacency and apathy.
What are the stakes, then? The plot starts with high schooler Akira Kurusu getting his own apartment above a cafe and getting ready for his first day of school at Shujin Academy. He’s on strict probation following expulsion from his previous school after he attacked a man on the subway who was abusing his girlfriend. He sued Akira, which uprooted his life. “That’s what happens when you try to play white knight. You get expelled from school and get a criminal record to boot. Butting into other people’s business will get you nowhere,” his landlord says. Persona 5 exists to tear that worldview apart and tell its audience not to settle for looking out for themselves and ignoring fixable problems.
Akira is promptly thrust into a new moral crossroads when everyone he meets at Shujin Academy seems linked to the perverted and abusive gym teacher, Mr. Kamoshida. Kamoshida dotes on and rapes female students and physically abuses male students. His coaching prowess gets the school to national championships, which gives him enough leeway among faculty and staff to act without oversight. “It’ll be real quick and easy. You just hold still and shut up,” he tells a girl who attempts suicide soon after being sexually assaulted in his office. “You’re just another loser. A waste of space. Trash like you won’t ever beat me,” he tells a boy whose track team he disbanded in order to hog the athletic spotlight.
Not hard to hate, this antagonist. What to do? Videogame logic leads the way: a mysterious app appears on Akira’s cell phone that takes him and any accomplices to Kamoshida’s “Palace,” or mental state. It’s an entire magical location twisted by the owner’s desires, and there Kamoshida is a king, complete with crown, robe, and speedo. Akira and his classmate Ryuji are powerless, but for the guidance of the catlike Morgana, who reveals the power of the Persona to them. A mask appears on their face for them to tear off and form a pact with a super-powered ghoul, or persona, that fights on their behalf. Naturally, this pact includes a costume change, with Akira and Ryuiji’s school uniforms traded in for high-collar coats and belts, as well as a massive influx of confidence and power. Persona is popularly regarded as a stylish series, so it’s good to see real-world fashions clash against the fantasy-medieval “palace” aesthetic so well. One minute Akira’s wearing a long-sleeve shirt and pants to bed, the next he’s decked out in prison stripes and answering to a fiend-eyed goblin about his magical potential. Pumpkin-headed wizards are cut in half, and sentient suits of armor batter opponents.
Persona 5 may not be a great comic, but it’s a great adolescent power fantasy about challenging selfish adults even when the odds are stacked against you. Kamoshida’s victims either can’t or don’t speak out against him for various fearful motives, but the dose of fantasy action ensures that justice still has a chance… in volume two, anyway. Persona 5 is rated OT for Older Teen, and the subject matter falls squarely in mature territory, to be sure. Sexual abuse is discussed but not shown, and Kamoshida beats students to a pulp in his “palace,” complete with a torture chamber. Violence includes some blood, and language includes some mild hells, damns, and bastards. Fans of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure will quickly pick up the “bonding with super-powered ghosts” angle, and Japanese Role Playing Game (JRPG) gamers will flock to this opportunity to give their hearts to their favorite Phantom Thieves.
By the end of this first volume, the villain is far from defeated, and a closing note from the author teases several more characters awaiting their debut. Count on picking up this series for a while, a proposal that should make your readers happy. Persona 5’s teenagers are modern-day superheroes, tearing off the masks society forces on them and taking on revolutionary roles to tear down structures corrupted by adults. I say, lead the way and transform our hearts!
Persona 5, Vol. 1 By Hisato Murasaki ISBN: 9781974711758 Viz, 2020 Publisher Age Rating: OT (16+)
Browse for more like this title Related to…: Game to Comic
Ever wanted to be able to review the art of the main characters and monsters from the Dragon Quest franchise in detail and at leisure? Or maybe love the Dragon Quest games and want to get to know more about them? Then this book is the perfect choice! Dragon Quest Illustrations is a fairly comprehensive collection of finished art, sketches, and even unused art for playable characters, non-player characters, and monsters over the lifetime of this franchise.
Dragon Quest Illustrations is part of the 30th anniversary celebration of the Dragon Quest games; as such, it contains art and illustrations from all of the games, from the very first to the most recent. The book is thorough in its coverage, as it also includes illustrations from the spin-off games, not just the main series. Content is organized chronologically, and within that the spin-offs (so the spin-off games that came out around Dragon Quest VII come after Dragon Quest VII in the book). There is thankfully a table of contents page to make it easier to jump to different games’ art as needed, because it can be hard to tell where one game begins and another ends in the early generations, other than the text at the bottom of each page stating the game.
For those interested, the start of each game’s section has package art and any promotional art, as well as what systems (computer, video game console, or handheld console) it came out for and what the title was for that release. Otherwise, there’s not a lot of text in the book, aside from the introduction by Akira Toriyama, a brief section discussing the art of each game, and a closing message from game designer Yuji Horii. This is truly an art book, focusing on the images and not discussion. The analysis section rarely devotes more than a paragraph or two to each game generation, though it has some notes of interest for fans of the games and discussion of how the art changes over time.
The book itself is quite sturdy, being a hardbound edition with lovely endpapers in a chess pattern design that has silhouettes of monsters in each square. However, because the cover is primarily white, it will show wear and tear very quickly. Dragon Quest Illustrations is not an unusually sized book, if compared to graphic novels or other art books, which tend to be larger, so it will fit fairly easily on the shelf. There is also an attached poster in the front, so that would need to be removed before circulation and possibly given to the youth services or teen librarian to then distribute or hang in their area of the library. It does have a condensed history of the package art on the back of the poster, but it is very likely to get torn or torn out, so might just be best to remove it.
However, is it worth adding to the collection? I’m not sure. It’s truly an art book, so for students of video game/character design it could be useful, and as a retrospective of Toriyama’s art over the years it has merit (particularly for fans of his work), but other than that it’s a pretty narrow group this book will appeal to, unless the population contains a lot of Dragon Quest fans. It might be worth looking into whether video game art books circulate well or if there’s a demand for such items that has been overlooked.
Dragon Quest Illustrations: 30th Anniversary Edition By Akira Toriyama Art by Akira Toriyama ISBN: 9781974703906 VIZ Media, 2018 NFNT Age Recommendation: Middle Grade (7-11), Tween (10-13), Teen (13-16)
High fantasy’s an almost common genre for comics. Great books like Nimona and Rat Queens are sterling examples. Likewise, actual-play Dungeons and Dragons podcasts are a thriving, if not dominant, genre. Critical Role’s cast of talented voice actors have produced years of stirring, funny adventures and the new arrival Dungeons and Daddies is one of 2019’s breakout podcasts. However, there’s never been a comic based on a popular actual-play RPG podcast. Until now.
The Adventure Zone is a two-time New York Times bestseller based on the McElroy family’s (three brothers and their dad) D&D exploits. It chronicles the adventures of warrior Magnus Burnsides, dwarf cleric and #1 Pan Fan Merle Highchurch, and Taako, the elven wizard who was over it all before the adventure began. Written chiefly by Merle’s player and McElroy papa, Clint McElroy, the comic is based on the improvised dialog and player errors that make the podcast comedy gold. Hovering above them all is the game’s Dungeon Master, youngest brother Griffin McElroy, whose unique approach to DMing crafted an inventive and memorable fantasy using the boys’ three idiot adventurers as his foundation.
In the first volume, Here There Be Gerblins, the story starts off with the low-level adventurers beginning a stereotypical RPG quest (in fact, based on the D&D starter kit). They’re soon beset by goblins—er, gerblins?—and travel reluctantly underground on a rescue mission. They spend some time solving problems in the most amusing ways possible, making friends with giant Bugbears and throwing wolves into fires, before getting mixed up in some seriously weird stuff. The uber-plot involves magical artifacts so powerful the boys can’t even hear their names. After the team’s missteps destroy an entire city, they accept a job with the Bureau of Balance, a secret organization in the business of destroying these world-threatening magical objects.
The second volume, Murder on the Rockport Limited, manages to get away from standard fantasy hijinks and fill out the world these weirdos inhabit. With the boys locked on a magical train with a murderer, it’s a kind of locked room mystery where magic prevails over logic. It’s cleverly written and starts to really establish the strangeness of the setting and the high stakes the boys are battling for.
Overall, these are enjoyable books, though probably more enjoyable for fans of the podcast than for readers who don’t already have these characters’ voices stuck in their heads. The books revel in juvenile characters and smart writing, reminiscent of Rat Queens in some ways. Griffin’s head hovers over the heroes, narrating with a voice only they can hear, and as a result the 4th Wall is practically nonexistent. The boys are genuinely funny, though, and it’s fun to see their relationships develop and personalities grow. Interestingly, in spite of the general atmosphere of sophomoric fun, there are moments of tragedy as well, and the heroes’ response is appropriately somber. If you’re thinking a straight, white, all male family game of Dungeons and Dragons might result in an atmosphere of brohomie you’re not wrong, but the comic’s world is actually quite inclusive. There are several queer characters throughout, including Justin McElroy’s Taako. While their sexuality is never the most important thing about any of these characters, there are three significant same-sex couples that will be introduced in future volumes. Based on the podcast, this is a series with its best stories pending, but the comic has started off well. Carey Pietsch’s artwork and storytelling are tremendous assets. She has an eye for detail that helps streamline a chaotic, partially improvised story and a gift for color schemes, visual humor, and expressive characters.
This book was written with adult audiences in mind. The profane humor and occasional gore throughout would probably equal a PG-13 rating in a film, but, overall, libraries will probably want to place The Adventure Zone in their adult collections. The book is also violent and rarely takes its violence seriously, so take that into account as well. This is an excellent addition to popular collections in public and academic libraries, especially libraries serving significantly geeky communities. The books synergize well with podcasting discussion groups and classes, and of course are bestsellers likely to reach outside the standard comics audiences. Overall, these first two volumes are winning, and promise a solid future for McElroy Family comics. This is a must-buy for libraries. The volumes do not stand alone, so collecting the entire series is recommended.
The Adventure Zone: Volume 1 and 2 By Clint McElroy, Griffin McElroy, Justin McElron Art by Carey Pietsch vol 1 ISBN: 9781250153715 vol 2 ISBN: 9781250153708 First Second, 2018 Publisher Age Rating: 16+
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Full disclosure: Before reading this comic I knew literally nothing about the Killer Instinct video game franchise, and it took me a few YouTube videos to figure out what was going on. However, I can safely say that this comic is nearly incomprehensible to anyone not familiar with the games, mostly due to the sheer volume of characters.
The comic focuses on three, though at least 10 playable characters appear in the volume. Kim Wu is a nunchaku-wielding martial artist with a dragon spirit companion; Jago is a Tibetan monk with a tiger spirit, and while his game art depicts him fully clothed, he does not put on a shirt for the entirety of the comic. Tusk is a Nordic highlander who is similarly averse to clothing.
Also there are some vampires fighting some robots but that doesn’t affect our main heroes too much.
The story begins in the aftermath of one of the games, where the heroes have defeated the Final Boss, Gargos, an interdimensional demon creature. However, the superpowered heroes find that their superpowers are fading, and go on a quest to find out why. Turns out that Gargos isn’t quite dead, and they have to defeat him without powers through the sheer force of believing in themselves… or maybe they just punch him really hard.
Once I started looking into the background lore, I found it was actually a pretty interesting setting. There are evil hi-tech corporations, genetically-engineered dinosaurs (sadly not appearing in the comic), sorcery, vampires, and everything but the kitchen sink in a superhero mishmash. However, the comic chooses to focus on the least interesting aspects. I would much rather have seen a comic focusing on a single character’s backstory in a way that doesn’t quite work in a video game. Reading the comic felt like watching someone play a video game—brief expository cutscenes interspersed between flurries of action, culminating in a boss battle rather than any sort of character development. There were more compelling character arcs in the game cutscenes on YouTube, honestly.
The fight scenes are at least well drawn, and perhaps the one area where the comic makes use of its medium. It certainly doesn’t look like an arcade fighting game in that aspect and makes full use of angles and panels to create a variety of dynamic scenes.
Most surprisingly, the Killer Instinct franchise attempts to create a diverse cast, though they fall flat on a few notes. An East Asian superheroine is cool, but does she really need the nunchucks and the dragon? However, I am intrigued by the brief appearance of a Native American character. Though he fights with a bow and arrow and has a mechanical eagle companion (and is in fact named ‘Eagle’), he comes from a specific tribe—Nez Perce—and the credits include a Nez Perce language consultant for his Nez Perce dialogue.
Overall, Killer Instinct gives you about what you’d expect from a comic based on an arcade fighting game.
Killer Instinct, vol. 1 By Ian Edginton Art by Cam Adams ISBN: 9781524106560 Dynamite, 2018
The lives and futures of two individuals collide in Agent 47, vol. 1: Birth of the Hitman. This media tie-in follows Agent 47, the protagonist of the Hitman video game franchise, and his handler, Diana Burnwood.
In Diana’s backstory, she vows to kill those responsible for her parents’ death by a car bomb. She is taken in by a woman named Savi who trains her on how to be an assassin. Diana later fails Savi’s test. What she lacks in killer instinct, she makes up for in intellect. She is able to use her savviness to steal Savi’s clients away away from her.
Agent 47’s origins are more ominous. He is cloned by what is called the Institute and is created to be an assassin. His creator, Ort Meyer, marvels at 47 as a perfect specimen. After the other clones begin to malfunction and a brain wipe is initiated, 47 is the only one to remain unscathed by the procedure. Ort Meyer’s financial backers become intrigued and ask for 47 to be handed over to them. The Professor has other ideas in mind, and assists 47 in his escape from the Institute. Eventually, these stories converge.
The story is told with frequent cross cutting between Diana and Agent 47. While Diana’s story is told in chronological order, 47’s starts off with various missions that he is assigned to. There was very little context as to what the missions were about and why certain people were assassinated. I enjoyed Diana’s character development, but I found the constant assassinations to be dull. They contributed nothing more than to show Agent 47 as being the perfect killing machine.
Agent 47’s story is told in pale greens and bright reds. The reds denoting action and violence. The violence is very graphic depictions of shots to the head. Diana’s story is filled with dark blues and the weather tends to be overcast, recalling the gloom her life has fallen into over the death of her parents. The variant covers are rendered beautifully using the color scheme of red, black, and grey. My favorite cover is of Agent 47 going down an escalator. You can see an airplane in the background. He is back-lit, emphasizing his all black suit, but you can glimpse hints of a dark red tie.
Agent 47, vol. 1: Birth of the Hitman will delight video game fans and those who like action-oriented graphic novels. I cannot recommend this title, because the story is rehashing plot points that can be found in the video game. It is not providing any new insight or motivations to these characters. Due to the graphic depictions of people getting killed this title is most appropriate for those 16 and up.
Agent 47, vol. 1: Birth of the Hitman By Christopher Sebela Art by Jonathan Lau ISBN: 9781524106607 Dynamite Entertainment, 2019 Publisher Age Rating: T+
In Maiami City, Action Duels—highly competitive games using special playing cards—are all the rage. This is not surprising, given that the whole city is wired with Solid Vision, a virtual reality system with mass, meaning the monsters, traps, and spells on played cards actually appear for battle.
When you start an Action Duel, Solid Vision reshapes the world immediately around you into a special dueling field. At the end of the duel, everything disappears.
Teen Yuzu Hiiragi helps her father run a failing Dueling School in Maiami City. She dreams of finding a star teacher who would attract new students. Enter Yuya Sakaki, a flamboyant young Entertainment Duelist. His dueling style is over-the-top, using the flair of a stage magician to turn each match into a spectacle. But there’s more to Yuya than meets the eye: he’s searching for a legendary card that could determine the fate of the world.
Yuzu, determined to recruit him as a Dueling teacher, promises to help him find it. Their search for the card is hampered by Yuya’s memory loss. To add confusion, this strange Entertainment Duelist can transform into four different people, each with a unique appearance, personality, and dueling style.
He’s also being hunted by the shadowy Leo Corporation, which runs the Solid Vision system in Maiami City. Yuzu thought Yuya was the key to saving their school, but now she and her father might be in more trouble than ever!
Considering that one of the lead characters is actually four people sharing one existence, these volumes aren’t as confusing as they could’ve been. For one thing, the overall number of characters isn’t too high. Also, characters who participate in Action Duels—which is much of the cast—tend to be especially distinct and memorable because their decks have themes that help illustrate their personalities. For instance, one young Leo Corporation Duelist plays with a deck full of cutesy toy-themed monsters that undergo creepy, twisted transformations as the game goes on.
The duels are frequent, long, and dramatic. As someone who doesn’t play the card game Yu-Gi-Oh in real life, I was still able to follow the action pretty well. The Solid Vision system can make the stakes a little confusing, however. Duels take place in elaborate themed dueling fields—specialized environments like a giant birdcage or a landscape made of candy—that appear around the players when their duel begins. Though the dueling fields, monsters, traps, and so on are all created by Solid Vision, they do seem to be able to affect people (e.g. it is implied that you can get hurt by falling off a ledge in a dueling field). In one case, by turning up the Solid Vision effects, a duelist is able to use a monster’s attack in the game to blow up the real-life building where the game is taking place. So it can be hard to know how serious the effects of a duel might be.
That said, the duels are visually interesting and fun. While Maiami City itself has a generically high-tech appearance, the monsters and dueling field environments bring a fantastical touch to the story’s visuals and give each duel a unique feel. Yu-Gi-Oh fans will likely be amused, though not surprised, to see a familiar trope: players dueling while riding high-speed motorcycles.
After two volumes, I don’t feel I know the characters very deeply. Beyond their basic motivations, little time is spent developing their personalities. The manga is more concerned with Action Duels.
Though the duels are full of battle action, they are completely bloodless. Defeated monsters simply disappear. There is no nudity, and the only sexual content is some brief joking about boobs, crushes, and “hotties.” This and the complexity of some of the duel setups may account for the manga’s Teen rating.
The most obvious demographic to recommend this series to is, of course, Yu-Gi-Oh fans. Otherwise, it may appeal to fans of other game-based manga, like Pokémon, or readers who like fantasy action where the stakes aren’t too high and scary.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V, vols. 1-2 by Shin Yoshida Kazuki Takahashi Masahiro Hikokubo Art by Naohito Miyoshi Takahashi vol 1 ISBN: 9781421587622 vol 2 ISBN: 9781421595207 VIZ Media, 2017 Publisher Age Rating: Teen
If you have ever seen the Adult Swim cartoon Rick and Morty, then you are aware of the show’s crazy black humor and zany characters. It has grown in populararity, with toys, apparel, and even mobile app games. One such game, Pocket Mortys, allows players to collect different types of Mortys and have them battle various alien players and their own collection of Mortys (an obvious parody of the Pokémon franchise). Now the game has turned into its own comic, appropriately titled Rick & Morty: Pocket Like You Stole It, introducing fans to the mobile game and bringing together the characters in yet another adventure. Illustrator Marc Ellerby and writer Tini Howard have created a story that fans will definitely enjoy, but may leave unfamiliar readers confused.
In the universe of Rick and Morty, Rick is a drunk scientific genius who goes on intergalactic and inter-dimensional adventures with his good-natured but stressed out preteen grandson Morty. In this adventure, it turns out that other Ricks from other dimensions are collecting various Mortys and training them to fight in battles. The main Morty from Earth wants no part of this and runs from his grandfather. During his travels he discovers the history behind Morty Battling, the universe he is in, and the Ricks who take part in the sport. He decides to free the Mortys from the Ricks but his heroic task becomes difficult when his own Rick hunts him down, along with other Mortys, in order to train them to defeat his enemies.
Due to the requirement of background information, this comic will not appeal to readers who are unfamiliar with the original show. They will be left scratching their heads at why there are multiple clones of the same two characters and the reason behind their behavior toward each other. However, dedicated fans of Rick and Morty and frequent players of their gaming app will find it very enjoyable and similar to a regular episode. Ellerby’s illustrations are similar to the cartoon style of the show, using a bright color palette and detailed landscapes. He captures the character’s actions and emotions very well, using comic onomatopoeia to enhance either the action or comedic scenes. Because of the nature of the comic’s universe, the illustrator has also created numerous different Mortys with very specific characteristics, which are usually shown by their wardrobe or their physical appearance. Howard’s storytelling and dialogue is also similar to the show, including Rick’s constant burps and Morty’s anxious speech patterns. She is able to copy the same humor style that can be found within the show, with plenty of adult jokes and pop culture references that audiences are familiar with. The comic also comes with Pocket Morty trading cards, created in the style of Pokémon cards, so that readers can play the game.
Rick and Morty: Pocket Like You Stole It is a great choice for Rick and Morty fans, but may leave new readers a bit confused if they are unfamiliar with the show’s universe. If there are fans within your library’s young adult (preferably those in grades 10th-12th) and adult departments, then you will want to purchase this comic for your collection. It matches the same zany and adult humor from the show, along with the same characters and illustration style that audiences are familiar with.
Rick and Morty: Pocket Like You Stole It By Tini Howard Art by Marc Ellerby ISBN: 9781620104743 Oni Press, 2018
Browse for more like this title NFNT Age Recommendation: Older Teen (16-18), Adult (18+)
This book is filled with silliness from page one and features Mario characters from all different Nintendo versions of the globally famous game. Author and illustrator Yukio Sawada selected some of his favorite stories from his Japanese Super Mario-kun series and put them together in this newly translated English collection, Super Mario: Manga Mania. Sawada has been creating manga since 1980, and has recently been recognized by the well-known Japanese 65th Shogakukan manga award in 2020. Manga Mania is a black and white, space travel filled graphic novel, which is read from right to left, as you would expect from manga. 
In case you were unaware, Pokémon (poe-kay-mon, intended to mean “pocket monsters”) has been a cultural juggernaut since the late 90s. I should know because I was 11 when the very first Game Boy games arrived in America. Within the first day of playing, my middle school friends and I were immediately in the thrall of that world full of fantastical creatures, their trainers, and the different cities and environments to explore. Don’t take my word for it, though—there have doubtless been children asking your library where the Pokémon manga are.
Persona 5 is a manga adaptation of the videogame Persona 5, named for being the fifth game in the Persona series and written and drawn by Hisato Murasaki. The game and all its adaptations revolve around a group of teenagers known as the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, bent on reforming society by transforming people’s hearts and causing wrongdoers to confess their crimes. The story conveys a deep need in young people to improve the world around them, as well as a rebellion against complacency and apathy.
Ever wanted to be able to review the art of the main characters and monsters from the Dragon Quest franchise in detail and at leisure? Or maybe love the Dragon Quest games and want to get to know more about them? Then this book is the perfect choice! Dragon Quest Illustrations is a fairly comprehensive collection of finished art, sketches, and even unused art for playable characters, non-player characters, and monsters over the lifetime of this franchise.
High fantasy’s an almost common genre for comics. Great books like Nimona and Rat Queens are sterling examples. Likewise, actual-play Dungeons and Dragons podcasts are a thriving, if not dominant, genre. Critical Role’s cast of talented voice actors have produced years of stirring, funny adventures and the new arrival Dungeons and Daddies is one of 2019’s breakout podcasts. However, there’s never been a comic based on a popular actual-play RPG podcast. Until now.
Full disclosure: Before reading this comic I knew literally nothing about the Killer Instinct video game franchise, and it took me a few YouTube videos to figure out what was going on. However, I can safely say that this comic is nearly incomprehensible to anyone not familiar with the games, mostly due to the sheer volume of characters.
The lives and futures of two individuals collide in 
In Maiami City, Action Duels—highly competitive games using special playing cards—are all the rage. This is not surprising, given that the whole city is wired with Solid Vision, a virtual reality system with mass, meaning the monsters, traps, and spells on played cards actually appear for battle.
If you have ever seen the Adult Swim cartoon Rick and Morty, then you are aware of the show’s crazy black humor and zany characters. It has grown in populararity, with toys, apparel, and even mobile app games. One such game, Pocket Mortys, allows players to collect different types of Mortys and have them battle various alien players and their own collection of Mortys (an obvious parody of the Pokémon franchise). Now the game has turned into its own comic, appropriately titled Rick & Morty: Pocket Like You Stole It, introducing fans to the mobile game and bringing together the characters in yet another adventure. Illustrator Marc Ellerby and writer Tini Howard have created a story that fans will definitely enjoy, but may leave unfamiliar readers confused.
