Why is Vandal Savage robbing banks?
corey | Email | 03.24.08 - 1:52 am | #

I'm gonna go with "mesmerollini" for this guy
Dumma | 03.24.08 - 2:16 am | #

Au contrare, Corey. Vandal Savage is robbing SUPERmarkets. A-ha. Ha. ha. sorry.


Mikester - might I suggest something in the way of Osamu Tezuka? Any of the Vertical Publishing editions of his stuff. Always thought provoking.
Todd Gray | Email | Homepage | 03.24.08 - 2:18 am | #

Judging from the books you cited, you'll probably dig Tezuka's Ode to Kirihito.
Jeffrey | Email | Homepage | 03.24.08 - 3:39 am | #

not a big manga guy either and I tried the real thing while in Japan in the early '80s.
The ONLY manga series I've ever really loved was Mai the Psychic Girl.
I did try Ranma1/2 when it first appeared here but tired of it quickly.

I started to buy the comics but then stopped and later bought a 4 volume collection that I have treasured. for over a decade at least.

Having said that I really don't like what passes for manga on the cartoon network.
I'll stick with classic Jonny Quest but I do like the Venture Bros.
jettblackberryx | Email | 03.24.08 - 3:46 am | #

Having read issue 4 of Daredevil the other day, let's call our Italian friend "Uomo Viola".
Bryan | 03.24.08 - 5:49 am | #

That bankrobber guy looks like DC's Dr. Psycho:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Psycho
CW | 03.24.08 - 5:50 am | #

I once suggested "The Hindley Bunch" as the name for a band. You might have to be English to get that that's a very tasteless joke.
Joe S. Walker | 03.24.08 - 5:59 am | #

I have also dipped my toe into the manga, and I don't know if suspense is your bag but, Urasawa's Monster series is really good one, too. The writing, pacing, and art are top notch, and I've really enjoyed it.
sterg | Homepage | 03.24.08 - 6:09 am | #

That's not Susan Olsen, That's Betty White!
The Mutt | Email | 03.24.08 - 6:16 am | #

Really, when it all comes right down to it, don't we ALL forget about the elves?
sallyp | Email | Homepage | 03.24.08 - 6:37 am | #

Even though I have a blog dedicated to Golgo 13, I'll be the first to tell you that it is an... ahem... ACQUIRED taste...

That is to say, there's plenty of crap G13 stories. If the amorality of Japanese manga writing appeals to you, this is worth a look-see. G13 is essentially a Japanese version of James Bond, where Bond is a ridiculously good shot and a mercenary assassin for hire.

I, too enjoyed Death Note profusely. Kurosagi isn't bad, but I picked it up after reading, "Mail." Which meant that the formula/pattern of that author had gotten a little old to me.

Now that I think about it, you may enjoy Dark Horse's "Mail." Some *Very* creepy artwork in that... even if the stories sometimes test your suspension of disbelief.

If you liked Gyo, Uzumaki is in a similar vein. You may also want to head over to Samehat.blogspot.com (and or Rapidshares) to jump on the Shintaro Kago bandwagon of pure scanlated awesomeness.
g23 | Homepage | 03.24.08 - 7:04 am | #

The villain's name could only be ... Maestro!!
In issue 2 he'll acquire a bulked-up fascist sidekick named Muscle-ini.
Rick | 03.24.08 - 7:26 am | #

Count Danté is robbing banks? With hypnosis? What happend to his bad karate moves?

Be sure to read you some LONE WOLF AND CUB too, Mikester. That's the good stuff.
Matt M. | Email | Homepage | 03.24.08 - 8:07 am | #

I recommend The Drifting Classroom. It's schoolchildren doing a sci-fi Lord of the Flies, from Viz Signature. That and Death Note are the two manga I read (so far).
steve canadian | 03.24.08 - 8:45 am | #

I'm not a big manga reader but I would highly suggest Planetes. It is true "hard" science fiction in the vein of Henlien and Clarke.

The main characters are a crew who's job is to remove debris from the Earth's orbit. All the junk that got left behind (broken satellites, rocket boosters, etc) to keep the pathway clear between the earth and the moon colonies.

There is so few technically correct Sci-Fi of that vein in comics. I honestly can't think of a single thing that doesn't stray into the stock Strange Adventures, Mystery in Space type sci-fi that I've ever read except for this series.

BTW: Whomever had the Golgo 13 site, put that URL on here. Golgo 13 was the very first Manga I ever read at a very young age. I would buy anything I found on a newstand that wasn't Marvel or DC just to try it. How a copy of a translated Golgo 13 book ended up in a gas-station rack in Iowa in the early 1980's I'll never know but I read the hell out of that book. Picked up a few of the Manga recently and enjoyed them also.

Mike Nielsen
Mike Nielsen | Email | 03.24.08 - 10:09 am | #

Cartoon Alice looks like Enid grown up after leaving "Ghost World."
jack ruttan | Email | Homepage | 03.24.08 - 12:07 pm | #

Whoever lettered The Brady Bunch wasn't really concerned about his spelling and no "arguement"! And,yes, I got The Hindley Bunch reference cos' I'm English.
John Parker | Email | 03.24.08 - 12:33 pm | #

John P. - Yeah, there are a few examples of creative spelling in this comic, but I didn't feel comfortable pointing them out given my own track record here on the site in recent weeks!

That said, I think it may have been a young Mr. Quayle doing the lettering, since "potatoe" made it into the book.

Yes, that's right, Dan Quayle jokes. Welcome to 17 years ago!
Mikester | Homepage | 03.24.08 - 12:51 pm | #

Via Babel Fish:

Il Hypnotist Barbuto!

Mmm, doesn't really roll off the tongue. But it's better than Terrore Del Deposito Di Convenienza! Right?
Mike Walker | 03.24.08 - 1:00 pm | #

The modern manga market really annoys me with its insistence that everything be unflipped. Yeah, manga fans, I'm positive that everyone holding things in the correct hand is more in line with creator intent than how the word balloons and panels flow.

Still I would recommend Monster. Like Death Note it's a series about moral complications and responsibility. It's like The Fugitive with Hannibal Lector as the one-armed man and Richard Kimble feeling directly responsible for Lector's killing sprees.
Just Some Guy | Homepage | 03.24.08 - 1:10 pm | #

You seem to be going for horror/suspense manga, so in that genre I'd recommend, for starters

Uzumaki--also by Junji Ito, but much stronger than Gyo. Lovecraft + body horror

Monster--straight-up manga crack like Death Note. A very addictive suspense serial, with rock-solid cartooning

Mail--by the artist of Kurosagi. Very solid, self-contained horror stories; one of the few horror manga that have genuinely creeped me out

Dragon Head--intense, claustrophobic post-apocalypse horror

Drifting Classroom--batshit craziness; kids get crucified, eaten, tortured, decapitated etc. while SHOUTING ALL THE TIME!!! Kind of an acquired taste, but you might dig it, since you enjoy ASBAR so much.

...but why listen to any of us? Jason Thompson's "Manga" gives helpful and pretty reliable ratings.
Jones, one of the Jones boys | Email | Homepage | 03.24.08 - 1:51 pm | #

The only manga series I've read that really tickled my pickle were BATTLE ROYALE and CROMARTIE HIGH. BATTLE ROYALE was good, but I friggin' love CROMARTIE.
Eric L | 03.24.08 - 1:51 pm | #

Is comic book Alice a Vulcan? It's like they had leftover Star Trek pages and drew glasses on the high priestess T'Pau or whatever her name was.
Bill D. | Email | Homepage | 03.24.08 - 6:01 pm | #

He looks like a "The Great Sopracciglio" to me, but it's possible that Peter Gallagher is already credited thusly in Italy.
Leigh | Homepage | 03.24.08 - 9:34 pm | #

Mike, I know you're getting hit with a ton of Manga recommendations, but you have to try Akira.
Joe Gualtieri | 03.24.08 - 10:46 pm | #

YOU mention Akira
I read Akira too...I also liked the movie a great deal.

I enjoyed many Japanese anime films in the 80s but since the 90s and beyond the genre lost me.
Dragon Ball Z? Ugh!
Zach Bell? (sp?) Horrible.

I have read the Lone Wolf and cub adaptions; again, older material.
'
Alan
ALAN | Email | 03.25.08 - 4:57 am | #

"Dragon Head--intense, claustrophobic post-apocalypse horror"

I just started reading this one. Volume 1 & 2 have been great.

I'll echo recommendations for Akira, Lone Wolf & Cub, and the absurd humor of Cromartie High School. The Cromartie anime is pretty awesome too, if you listen to the Japanese dialog with subtitles. The english voiceover is pretty lacking.
Fnord Serious | Email | 03.25.08 - 9:50 pm | #

I haven't updated it in a while, but my G13 blog is located at: http://golgo23.livejournal.com/
g23 | Homepage | 03.26.08 - 7:27 am | #

I might be wrong, but that cartoon Alice looks suspiciously like a Kurt Schaffenberger drawing pasted over top of another face. The head's such a weird-ass shape! Anyone else see this?
Rod Keith | Email | 03.26.08 - 7:52 pm | #

Am I too late?

Dr. Slump! Read it. Love it!
philip | Homepage | 03.27.08 - 9:00 am | #