Manga Xanadu

What wonderful news to come home to! Viz Media has licensed Master Keaton the one manga from Naoki Urasawa that I’ve wanted ever since I first heard about it. It combines two of my most favorite things in the world into one title; mysteries and archaeology! I mean, how awesome is it to have a detective who can solve cases and is an archaeologist, always struggling to uncover the truth. I didn’t think we’d ever get this title licensed in English. It had a few hurdles to get over for licenses today; it’s from the 1990s and is over 10 volumes. Then there was a disagreement over credits for the story, which actually sounded pretty petty of Urasawa to demand his name appear bigger than the original writer. But it looks like that problem has been solved, and Urasawa’s name is now known in the US. His work will sell no matter how old it is. Another thing that will make this a big seller is that it hasn’t been scanlated by anyone beyond the first few chapters. Trust me, I’ve looked. The only way to enjoy this series previously was the anime licensed by Geneon back in 2003-04. I…

In an ideal world where man and robot coexist, someone or something has destroyed the powerful Swiss robot Mont Blanc. Elsewhere a key figure in a robot rights group is murdered. The two incidents appear to be unrelated…except for one very conspicuous clue – the bodies of both victims have been fashioned into some sort of bizarre collage complete with makeshift horns placed by the victim’s heads. Interpol assigns robot detective Gesicht to the most strange and complex case – and he eventually discovers that he too, as one of the seven great robots of the world, is one of the targets. By Naoki Urasawa Publisher: Viz Media – Viz Signature Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Mystery/Thriller/Sci-fi ISBN: 9781421519180 Price: $12.99 Rating: I had read the first two volumes of Pluto back when it came out in 2007, and absolutely loved them. But the time it took for me to collect the rest of the volumes and newer, shinier titles put reading it on the back burner. Thankfully, this month’s Manga Movable Feast gave me a good excuse to finally pull them out and read them. I’m glad I waited until I had the whole series before I read them….

In the last years of the 20th century, a cult has been growing in power and popularity, led by a mysterious man known only as “Friend”  This has little bearing on convenience store owner Kenji, until a childhood friend of his seemingly commits suicide.  A closer look into it reveals that there may have been more to it, and it could have something to do with the cult.  As Kenji looks further in, he finds that the cult and it’s leader is following a story he and his friends wrote when they were just kids, about an evil power trying to take over the world and the heroes who stop them.  Kenji decides to try and stop The Friends with only the help of his childhood friends. By Naoki Urasawa Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Mystery/Thriller Price: $12.99 Rating: [May contain spoilers] 20th Century Boys is a mystery/thriller story, something of a specialty for it’s creator, Naoki Urasawa.  The story spans 45 years, from 1969 to 2014.  These first five volumes cover mostly the 1969-1997-1999, and only touch on 2014 at the end of the fifth.  The story isn’t told linearly.  It jumps from 1969 to 1997…