PRE-SAN DIEGO BLOG EXTRA: WEEKEND

Since there won’t be regular site updates while I’m gone at Comic-Con International (there will, however, be updates here), I’m taking this week to do a little bit of advance catch-up on the large pile of books awaiting my attention. This Weekend Blog Extra brings two efforts from the folks at Del Rey Manga.

AVRIL LAVIGNE’S MAKE 5 WISHES VOL.2
Written and Drawn by Camilla d’Errico and Joshua Dysart

The concluding volume to Del Rey’s first OEL manga is a surprising one, as what you might have expected to be a pointless popstar driven lark turns out to be a shockingly dark ride to an unexpected finish.

When last we left young Hana, she had begun using the wishes provided by a nasty little demon and began to understand the concept of “be careful what you wish for.” But undaunted, she wished for everyone in the school to like her, and now that desire comes due. What she doesn’t expect, though, is how deadly her life will get in order for that to become true. Nor does she expect her home life to be destroyed when she wishes that her feuding parents would be happy again. Ultimately, Hana shows herself to be quite naive as she tries to outwit the demon; kids don’t quite know that you can’t beat the devil.

WISHES’ final chapter, though, is what it all boils down to, and where the debate about this series will crystallize. The ending is a punch to the gut; no way did I see it coming. That isn’t to say that it isn’t earned, because it certainly is, but at the same time, it’s troubling. I’d be… cautious… about putting the book into the hands of a teenager who wasn’t mature enough to understand and handle it.

If you’d told me that I’d wind up enjoying and respecting this book before it came out, I’d have laughed at you, but d’Errico and Dysart really executed their story better than you could have ever expected. I tip my cap to them.

ALIVE: THE FINAL EVOLUTION VOL.1
Written by Tadashi Kawashima and Drawn by Adachitoka

Kano lives a traditional teen existence. He goes to school, struggles with classmates, and plays guardian to his friend Hirose. But his life, and the lives of everyone else on Earth, is changed drastically on one fateful day. A wave of suicides ripples across the Earth, leaving millions dead. The explanation? A virus. But what science doesn’t know is that the virus is alive… and it has plans.

ALIVE is a stunner, immediately getting you in its grip and not letting go. Conceptually, it stands out from most of the rest of the manga on the shelves, and no one ever went broke putting out a thrilling Armageddon story. As I read it, I felt something that I hadn’t felt in a while: like I was reading the next big thing. After all, while there’s a larger, planet-level problem at play, the basic story is human enough that it keeps you grounded in Kano’s world and maintains a perspective that allows for emotional investment.

This manga is also a rarity in that it features a writer/artist team at work. Kawashima had produced a solo manga before, but his lack of speed and need for artistic growth put him together with Adachitoka. Turns out that was a pretty good idea. Exhilarating, violent, and unpredictable, I can’t wait to see where ALIVE goes; it should be an amazing trip.

See you all in San Diego!

/Mason