Deadpool Samurai Volumes 1&2 Manga

 Title-Deadpool Samurai Vols 1&2

Publisher-Viz Media

I had heard that Marvel was licensing out some of their caped heroes to a manga company in Japan. But never heard who it was or when it came out. Then early in summer I found these 2 volumes on sale. Want to say I paid 5 bucks each. Not bad.

VOL 1

Deadpool is in Japan and after running into what is basically Japan's version of Spider-man (Sakura Spider) he gets recruited to form an Avengers team in Japan. 

So you got Deadpool,Sakura Spider trying to find more members. No idea why none of the normal Marvel 616 Japan based heroes/heroines appeared. But we do get an Idol singer who just so happens to have a Symboite that she has control over. Yep a Japanese Venom... And Sakura Spider is a huge fan of the Idol Singer.

After setting up this 3 person team the rest of the volume is them facing Thanos. Yep Thanos... I know way to powerful to face this trio. But the writer makes it work.

Want to take a second to point out 2 things. One is that I have never given a shit about Deadpool. Read him when he first appeared and was just Marvel's clone of Slade Wilson. And read some of the later stuff that made Wade the 4th wall breaking Spider-man that kills. So  not really sure why I bought these two manga volumes about Deadpool. Might be that I will pick up any cheap comic I find locally hoping this will get the store to order more. Second thing is the writer of this manga is great at making Wade Wilson pointing out all the Manga Tropes.  Sure I haven't read much  Manga since the late 90s, but for about 8 years I wwwas reading piles of it. And even being disconnected from modern managa the tropes havent changed.

Overall this first volume was so  much fun. I started reading it  one night  while waiting on my sleep meds to kick in. Normally I can read for 10 to 20 minutes then get sleepy. Well I got sleepy but was so into this comic I had to finish  it. And it was hard to not just go ahead and read the second and final volume. 

The art is really well done.With Deadpool and the other Marvel properties appearing in  an art style that feels like a mixture of manga style plus that kind of IMAGE CLONE style Marvel was asking  artists to do back in 96.

Writing wise this was a fun fast read. Never did I have to go "wait what the fuck is he talking about". And besides the  normal getting use again to going from back to front,right to left,reading style manga uses this was a easy  read.

Also this volume 1  tpb contains a few pages that are exclusive to the tpb. 

Deadpool Samurai vol 2

Viz

Now Deadpool has his team,bootleg Venom and bootleg Spidey. They  won the  big fight in the first volume. But here in volume  2 they must face a villain so powerful that he caused the Avengers to form back in the 60s.

Yep Loki is the big bad guy in this volume. I love how Loki is drawn. Oddly unless I forgot I don't remember sseeing Thor show up in  this volume,not even near the end when the Avengers show up.

Not sure if the same artist/artists handled the pencils and inks on this volume. Because the art to me is more detailed and  has the appearance of thicker lines. 

Nothing really new in  this volume. Deadpool and his teammates face off againt a super powerful villain. And thanks to Deadpool's mouth they win. Yep Wade's smart aleck mouth defeats Loki.

Where as it took me close to 25 minutes to read vol 1 I got vol 2 read in like 15 minutes. But there was way  less writing and more battle scenes. Lots more 2 page spreads.

Seems these 2 volumes appeared in the weekly Shonen Jump comic. I  don't think this gets published physically anymore in the States,I did read it for close to a year in 2008. But I know it gets a digital release in the states. I do like how the art is bigger in  Shonen Jump,which is easier on my eyes. But It is way way cheaper to just buy the 2 volumes. And I never mentioned it but this series is only 2 volumes. Which is good. Most Manga seems to run FOREVER. So I hate starting in the middle of a series and  hate knowing the series might not get a proper ending. But with Deadpool Samurai you  got two volumess to buy.

Looked and these are $9.99 a volume. So 20 bucks to get the  full story,even though each of them can be read withut  reading the other. And keep in mind  I am not a fan of Deadpool and not  really that much into Manga.But if you  are a fan of either this is easily worth the cover price. And for someone that isn't,this is still good and if you can  find the two volume lot for say 13 bucks or less it is worth the cash.

Deadpool Samurai vol 1&2 Gets a B.

2016 Comic Challenge 131 Captain Harlock #02

TITLE-Captain Harlock #02
PUBLISHER-Malibu Comics/Eternity Comics

Long before the 2000's manga boom there was a small explosion of manga into US comic shops. Back in the mid to late 80s various indy publishers got the rights to reprint various manga in the states. So when on a trip to a not so close junk store and I found 2 issues of Captain Harlock I just assumed it was reprints of the manga. Turns out I was wrong.

Written by Robert W. Gibson and art by Ben Dunn,Captain Harlock is an Americization of the manga. Ben Dunn is obviously a big fan of Anime and manga. And this is the second comic I have read where he took an manga and adapted it for the US audience.

Since I have never read the original Harlock manga or seen any of the anime I can't tell ya how closely this adaptation follows the original material. I can say I did enjoy the story. And the art looks pretty decent.

Captain Harlock #02 gets a borrow.

2015 Reading Challenge Book 066 Stolen Hearts volume 01

TITLE-Stolen Hearts volume 01
AUTHOR-Miku Sakamoto
FORMAT-Trade paperback
FIRST TIME READING-Yes
PRICE-$1

I grabbed this in a lot of comics last month. Flipped thru it and saw it is a romantic/comedy aimed at teens. So kind of  put off reading it.

Our lead is the girl on the cover in the red kimono.Who ends up dating the tall guy on the cover. And of course the guy has no clue she has any interest in him. Just like she doesn't realize the same thing.Every trope of romantic comedies is here. Plus way more info than I ever needed on kimonos.

Yeah I get I am not the target audience for this. And while the story didn't appeal to me,the art is decent.

Stolen Hearts volume 01 gets a 1.96 outta 5.

2015 Reading Challenge Book 058 Gigantor volume 1

TITLE-Gigantor Volume 1
AUTHOR-Ben Dunn and Fred Ladd
FORMAT-Trade paperback
FIRST TIME READING-Yes
PRICE-25 cents

I discovered Gigantor when in the early 90s Sci Fi was showing the old b/w cartoon early in the weekday mornings. I would watch it while having breakfast and got into the show.

I had heard there was some manga based on the show. So while at a local junkstore I found this trade. And had to get it. Worked out a bundle deal with the owner.

It wasn't until I started reading it that I found out it is American made manga. With Ninja High School creator Ben Dunn doing the writing,with some assistance from Fred Ladd. Who I think had something to do with the old cartoon when it was brought over to the states.I love all the parodies and inside jokes about American comics Dunn put in this book. Like his parody of DR Doom.

We get Gigantor's origin.Which I do not think was every told on the cartoon. And finally it is explained why such a deadly weapon was put in the hands of a 10 year old boy.


The artwork by Ben Dunn,David Hutchinson and Ted Nomura looks just like the cartoon. The shading,which is super important for a black and white comic,is very well done. And adds so much depth to the art.

Gigantor Volume 1 gets a 3.86 outta 5.

Comic Haul from the 84 Mart April 9th 2015

We got a junk store out near my home. The owner is the father in law of one of our neighbors. And when it first opened I was in there almost every month. But they were never getting in much of anything I wanted. So I stopped going.

A few hours ago I was heading to Dollar General to grab a drink,some moth balls and allergy meds for my dog. On my trip back something told me to make a stop at 84 mart. I walked in saw a few comic trades,asked the owner want he wanted for them. Got told the price per issue or if I grabbed all he had I got a huge discount. Saw that I wanted about 60% of what he had so went for the buy them all deal.

Got 8 issues of SHonen Jump. Most of them still in the mailer bags. All but 2 of them from 2010. Will end up reading a few stories from each then giving them to my cousin's son.

I remembered that most issues of SJ came with some kind of CCG card. Got these four. All of them got some amount of foil on them. Will end up using them as bookmarks.

Never heard of this series before. From CMX it is the first volume of what is labeled as a romantic comedy. I will give it a shot.

This right here is a major reason why I wanted the lot. I got into Gigantor when in the early 90s Sci FI Channel was showing it each morning. Didn't know there was comics published over here about him. Seems Ben Dunn of Ninja High School fame wrote this. So I guess it is what I have heard called American Manga. Still it is Gigantor.

From 1975 here is Super Goof 35 published by Whitman. I loved this series as a kid. And when I find issues cheap I will buy them.As you can see it is a reader copy.

And also from 1975 here is Tor #4. Published by DC.I have read scattered issues of this Joe Kubert creation.Again it has cover damage,but the issue is complete. Which makes it a reader copy.

I love the various horror and science fiction DC anthology titles. If I find issues cheap I always buy them. This issue is from 1969. The Unexpected #114,I figured it had to be late 60s or early 70s after seeing the 15 cent cover price.Flipping thru it there is no names working on stories that I know.

From 1978 here is issue 53 of the Gold Key/Whitman Star Trek run. I love the painted covers on this series. And for the cheap price I had to grab it.

Published by Harvey Comics in 1978 here is issue 101 of Sad Sack and the Sarge. I love the 70s and early 80s Harvey humor titles. They are what I was reading when I first got into comics.

Issue 106 of Conan the Barbarian's run at Marvel. This is another series I am collecting slowly. Mostly because I don't want to pay more than a buck an issue. Since this is from 79 Buscema and Ernie Chan are doing the artwork.

A few years back I got issue 4 of the Giant Sized Conan series. It is the last issue of that run. Well found issues 2 and 3 today. Sadly 3 had a huge sticker on the cover that did a bit of damage when I peeled it off. I love how on the cover of issue 3 it says "special ACADEMY AWARD issue,Featuring "Devil Wings over Shadizar". I don't remember a REH story with that title,so I am assuming this is either an original story or adapted from the non REH written stuff. Still 2 issues of Giant Sized Conan for less than a fourth of cover price is a good deal. Now just need the first issue to complete the run.

When I saw this I knew I wanted the lot. Sure it isn't mint. But it is in decent shape. And I know enough Star Wars geeks to be able to sell it and either make back what I spent on this lot,or more than likely make a small profit. Didn't notice until I was home that it is a reprint. Still I paid almost nothing for this. I think I read the reprints of the first 3 issues,but never the original issues. And gotta love that green Darth Vader drawn by Howard Chaykin on the cover.

I use to have to go once a week to another elementary school for my "gifted" class. Yeah they called it that back then. And I was always jealous of the kids at that school. They got the scholastic catalog each week and got to order great stuff like Dynamite and Bananas magazines. I saw this issue and had to grab it. Bananas for those that do not know about it,was a kids themed version of Mad magazine. Back in the 70s and 80s Mad was in some areas thought to be too adult themed for kids. I think some of the main artists and writers from Mad worked on Bananas.Flipping thru it I see the interiors are all in color. And they are doing Mad style parodies of various popular late 70s TV shows.

Crazy was Marvel's version of Mad. I never saw issues of this anywhere. Hell didn't know it existed until a few years back. The X-men themed cover of this issue from 1982 is what caught my attention.I do know that Crazy had it's own mascot.Like how Mad had Alfred E Newman and Cracked had that Janitor dude.Crazy had Obnioxo the Clown. Who sometime in the 80s got his own one shot comic. Where he crossed over with the X-men.

So that is my haul of older comics from 84 Mart. I might start checking in there more often.

2015 Reading Challenge Book 050 Bat Manga

TITLE-Bat-Manga!
AUTHOR-Chip Kidd
FORMAT-Trade Paperback
FIRST TIME READING-No
COST-$15

I discovered manga with Eclipse comics Mai the psychic girl series.Since then I have read a few manga series.Mostly Battle Angel Alita,Akira and Ranma 1/2. So when I first heard that a book reprinting some 60s era Batman manga stories I was pretty excited.

Seems the Batman explosion into mainstream pop culture after the Adam West tv show started wasn't just a North American thing. Over in Japan once the series started airing the Japanese went Bat-nutz.Not only did they have a weekly manga series,but there was so many great toys made.

So enough history ,how is the book? Chip Kidd talks about how hard it was for him to find copies of the Batman manga stuff. So we only get two complete story lines in this trade. There is IIRC 6 story lines reprinted in here. Of course it reads back to front and right to left like all manga should. Before re-reading this I hadn't read any manga in a decent amount of time. But after a few pages I was use to reading it "backwards"To fill in the dead space on pages Kidd has so many great pictures of all the Batman toys that came out in Japan in the 60s. Most of which are made of metal. Which is nice to see,by this time in the states the switch over to plastic was already happening.

So how is the Batman manga stuff? Now you gotta remember the source material they used wasn't in the best shape. So there is some flaws in stuff. The artwork is good. It is fairly simple,But still looks good. The stories are as good as the stuff DC was putting out at the same time. With it being a weekly publication of course every 6 pages or so there is a cliffhanger. But that to me just makes it feel more like the Adam West TV show.

Overall this is a good book. My only complaint is the binding. I get the feeling that after heavy reading it might come loose. There is a hardcover version,which I am sure has better binding. But it is also $40.

Bat-Manga! by Chip Kidd gets a 4.85 outta 5.

2015 Reading Challenge Book 009 Arkham Woods

2015 Reading Challenge Book 009 Arkham Woods written by Christopher Rowley and art by Jhomar Soriano

BOOK TITLE-Arkham Woods
AUTHOR-Christopher Rowley
FORMAT-Trade paperback
READ First TIME-No
COST-$1

Well folks insomnia has flared up again. So in less than 24 hours I have finished 3 books. This one being the only one I started and finished in those 24 hours.

Back in the mid 80s until around the late 90s I was somewhat into manga. Reading stuff like Mai the Psychic girl,Ranma 1/2,Lone Wolf and Cub and my favorite Battle Angel Alita. This was back when most manga was printed in the American standard of 32 pages published once a month in what is now commonly known as the floppie format. Sometime after I quit reading manga and most comics the companies that published translated manga in the states switched over to the trade paperback format. These trades are slightly taller and wider than a normal paperback novel you grab at the grocery store or whatever. And they don't come out monthly. Since this switch over happened it seems to me like the popularity of manga in the States has sky rocketed.

I was in my local Dollar Tree. Grabbing batteries,Garbage Pail Kids trading cards and as always looking through their selection of books. I saw the cover of this manga and thought "What the hell it is a buck. Seems to be at least partially inspired by H.P. Lovecraft. I read the plot blurb on the back cover and noticed it was rated for older teens.  "Cool if I don't like it I can always give it to my younger cousin." Who at the time was huge into manga. After reading the book I realized that it wasn't apropriate for a kid of the age of 11. Because even though it had a rating for older teens,there is lots of implied tenticle rape. And the book has an overall sleazy feel.

The story is about a teenage girl that moves into an older house her mother owns. The mother has some kind of condition that is causing her to lose her eyesight. And with her being a slowly rising artist this means her career might be over before it really got started properly. The daughter has some friends over and in the basement they found out the house has   a deep dark tenticle rapey secret.

After finishing the book,I looked it up to see if there was a second volume. There doesn't seem to be one,even though the first volume ends in a way that they could easily make a sequel. Also found out that this is what is sometimes referred to as "American Manga". Neither the writer or artist are Asian. And it is pretty much a normal horror comic story,but the artist draws it using all the stylistic touches of manga.

Arkham Woods gets a 1.5 outta 5.