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it seems that after I did my most recent post, the review of the last two volumes of the Death Note manga life had a little suprise in store for me...
Fortunately it wasn't Swine Flu or any other form of influenza but it was something debilitating nonetheless. I lost my appetite and was effectively bed ridden for two whole days. So this meant I was unable to watch much of anything, or read anything - just didn't have the energy to do anything other than recharge the batteries. It was a bit of a bummer really as I had planned to take in a movie or two as I'm on a bit of break from tech - alas that was not to be.
Now however I've managed to regain a little bit of juice in the old cells and will hopefully back to speed over the next few days.
Hope all of you out there are in good health...
Story by: Tsugumi Ohba
Art by: Takeshi Obata
Translation & Adaptation: Tetsuichiro Miyaki
Touch up art & Lettering: Gia Cam Luc
Design: Sean Lee
Cost: AU$12.95/US$7.99/CAN$9.99/UK£ 5.99
And so we finally come to the conclusion of this saga, the story of a new world order being forged solely through the efforts of one individual. It has taken me some time to get this point, though this is more due to the fact that I know that the local library had the entire series of Death Note but I have never managed to get my hands on these particular volumes
until now. Now when I did manage to get my hands on the penultimate concluding volumes of what I have found to be a finely crafted saga the first thing I did after taking the time out to set up the Mens Club was head to local hostelry, enjoy a cold glass of that places finest and a bag of chilli & sour cream flavoured crisps in a comfy spot and sat down and read for a while. Ah bliss
If the Death Note manga has a flaw its the fact that you just cant empathise with the primary character, Light Yagami, a genius intellect who has taken up the mantle of L, the legendary detective who is intent on brining mass murderer Kira to justice. Of course it doesnt help that Light is Kira as well as being L so perhaps this is what makes things just a tad bit problematic. When the main villain in the tale is also the primary protagonist it makes you wonder whether or not there is anything redeeming to the character whatsoever in the manga it seems as their isnt although after having seen the movies I must say that Tatsuya Fujiwara who plays Light gives the character some much needed humanity that is lacking in the manga.
Assuming that you have no idea what Death Note is about and have never read any of my previous reviews on this series Ill take time out here to give you a brief fill in on what the whole series is about. Essentially a bored Death God or Shinigami as they are referred to drops his death note into the mortal world, a death note is a note book that a shinigami writes down the names of people so that they will die and provide the Shinigami with a further extension to their own lifespan. Light Yagami picks up the death note of the Shinigami Ryuk and immediately senses the potential this thing can have for changing the world. Thus as soon as he starts writing names down in the book it all becomes a case of power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. Now Light gains no benefit to killing people via the death note and one has to wonder what Ryuk gets from it all simply enjoyment, his own world is a place of stagnation and mind numbing boredom, he has committed this simple act as a means of alleviating the mindless tedium.
Naturally knocking off a lot of people day in day out is going to attract attention, even if they are some of the most reprehensible criminals known to man. Murder is still murder regardless of the nature of the person who has died; its something that the various law enforcement agencies of the world cannot tolerate under any circumstance. So Kira, as this mass murder swiftly becomes known, is a key target for both the Japanese National Police Agency (NPA) as well as the International Council of Police Organisations (ICPO) if they are unable to capture this criminal then they are certainly going to look very foolish. Of course rather than flooding the world with police operatives they opt to call upon the services of L, the worlds greatest detective as well as being the second and third best detectives as well.
Unfortunately though L proves to be no match for Kira, he ends up falling to his enemy. Upon Ls demise Light Yagami becomes L and is an integral part in the Japanese task forces operation to catch Kira which is exactly how Light wants it to be. What Light had not taken into consideration is the fact that L had a fallback position, upon his death someone would take up the mantel of L and continue on the fight against Kira. Unfortunately of the two potential candidates who could become L there is no agreement on who will assume the role, instead Near and Mello, the potential successors both opt to go their own unique ways in order to attempt to bring Kira to justice.
So now we have a situation where both Near and Mello are closing in on Kira, in fact Near is fairly certain that Light Yagami who is the current L is also Kira, although he has no definitive proof to back up his case. Of course finding that particular evidence is going to be something of a hard slog, it will be no cake walk; yet the young Near and his comrades in the SPK (Special Provision for Kira) taskforce are well aware of this very fact. And so in essence the drama that unfolds in these two volumes of this twelve volume saga are almost akin to the finishing moves of a game of chess played at the grandmaster level. But one of the players in this gripping and intense competition does not realise that there is a wild card element that can potentially throw everything out of whack; and so it is that Light feels that in the final move he has the upper hand.
But it is precisely in such situations that unforeseen occurrences crop up, as one wise master once said hmmm hard to see the future is, always in motion it is. Light does not realise the implications that Mellos precipitous actions in kidnapping Kiras spokesperson, Kiyomi Takada will have on the eventually face to face confrontation between himself and Near. In fact to his way of thinking it even plays into his hands just that little bit more and renders his eventual ascension to godhead all that more easier. Ah those the gods wish to destroy they first make mad, and unfortunately Light has been consumed with what is effectively madness he just hasnt the good sense any more to realise what the heck is happening to him and how outclassed he has been in this the conclusion to his saga.
When the last crisp in the packet had been eaten and the last drop of amber fluid drained from the schooner glass I knew that I had enjoyed reading a superlative piece of work and artistry. Death Note Volume 11 and 12 are well worth getting a hold of and reading at your leisure, especially with a glass of fine amber fluid.
Publisher; DC Comics
Production Team: Geoff Johns story/writer, Alex Ross story/painted Kingdom Come sequence, Dale Eaglesham et al pencilers, Ruy Jose et al inkers, Jeremy Cox et al colours & Rob Leigh - letters
Cost: US$19.99
Imagine a DC universe where the three iconic DC characters Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are all older and somewhat more wiser; then imagine this world being filled with a multitude of superhumans who are the children of other superhumans and have scant regard for the society in which they live. A world full of mega powered teenagers and young adults who think they know best but at the end of the day know very little and have no real sense of responsibility to others, to society, to the universe at large or even themselves. This is the world that was the backdrop for the Kingdom Come graphic novel release by DC a while back; it was a truly impressive work of the comic genre, truly stunning artwork and an epic tale that combined elements of the Book of Revelations with the superhero genre in a tight taut tale. So why mention this here? Ah well it seems that even though Kingdom Come is a story that has been told it isnt over.
If you are a big fan of the various US based comic giants such as DC and Marvel youll notice that over the last few years there has been a distinct tendency to go over the top with things. It seems that its no longer cool for superheroes to battle supervillains or solve mysterious crimes or even just prevent an entire citys population from being severely depleted due to a manmade catastrophe. Nope a story in comics nowadays has to have some event of truly cosmically catastrophic proportions; at least that seems to be the way things have been going. In DC you had the entire 52 saga whilst over at Marvel they had Civil War then the Skrull Invasion and now Dark Reign. So you wonder if the publishers of comics are so locked into the over the top drama phenomena and dont realise that maybe the audience are getting a tad sick of things? It certainly seems that way.
Still in its defence, even though this particular tale looks like it is following the cosmic catastrophe of the week vein, it does have enough mystery and freshness to it to make it all worthwhile. The focus here is on the Justice Society of America, a team of mystery men that was originally formed by Franklin D Roosevelt way back in the nineteen forties at the time of the Second World War, well before there was ever a Justice League of America. This is the original superhero team who sought to defend truth justice and well I think you can guess the rest. Now most of these people who comprise the line up of the JSA are characters that I have never come across, although I do recognise the classic Flash, Green Lantern and Hawkman, the others such as Wildcat, Hourman, Liberty Belle, Damage, Stargirl, Power Girl etc are completely new to me.
Its also interesting to see that the JSA are based out of an actual bona fide city, the reside in New York City which is a contrast to the various other iconic DC characters who all make their homes in various fictional cities such as Metropolis or Gotham City. Essentially the story that we see in the pages of this work is one of consolidation and recovery, the world and the JSA are getting over one of the frequent disasters that occur in comics, specifically the rearrangement of reality into a single strand universe. No longer are there all those problematic alternate realities and parallel universe, there is just the one or so we are told.
After a super villain known as Goth is found dead amidst the blazing inferno of a fire in a paint factory in downtown New York City things take a turn for the bizarre. Goth is discovered by Damage, Power Girl, Starman and Liberty Belle who find that his body has a large hole in his chest where his heart would have been, someone obviously took umbrage to him in a most terminal way. Meanwhile the JSA realises that pondering this particular mystery at this point in time is not the immediate concern, the primary issues is doing something about the fire and the fact that because Goths powers are leaking from his body are making matters worse. Starman volunteers to do something about the situation by using his gravity powers to create a black hole to suck out the energy and fire. It works, tremendously well but there is an unforseen complication.
Emerging from the carnage of the fire, carrying a worn out Starman is none other than Superman but it is the Superman of Kingdom Come, not the Superman of this world, the real universe. This is the Superman who saw a world torn about by those with super powers and who effectively ran riot creating all manner of havoc and misery for the ordinary inhabitants of the world until at last the ordinary inhabitants lashed back out at the very beings that for many years had defended them and were now running riot. They dropped a nuclear warhead on the sight of the confrontation between those who used their powers and abilities responsibly and those who were little better than super powered hoons and right at the epicentre of the blast was Superman.
Of course it seems that Superman is not the only thing that has slipped through from the Kingdom Come universe, although the JSA have no idea that this has happened and neither does this new, more mature Superman. The murder of Goth, villain that he was, is but a harbinger of things to come and it seems that this particular aspect is peripheral to the Societys recruitment drive and adapting now to the enlistment of Superman into their ranks. But the murders still continue, various superhumans end up with large holes in their chests where their hearts once were, the wound caused by some kind of energy weapon. There is someone with some real power out there stalking super powered beings and removing them from the picture big time those who have read Kingdom Come will no doubt swiftly guess who this character is doing all the slaying, although what this individuals appearance portends is something to still be revealed. Harbinger of Doom or something else entirely?
Justice Society of America Thy Kingdom Come Part 1 works well, probably because the story is not entirely dominated by a potential biblical crisis but gradually unfolds and weaves its tale. Apparently the JSA get billing as the worlds first superhero team and they seem to be a change from the usual superhero combos you see nowadays in the comic media. Definitely worth reading, I picked up this particular volume at my local library, its a very slick hardcover volume and as with Kingdom Come the artwork involved in its telling is something to be seen.
Based on the Naruto manga by: Masashi Kishimoto
Director: Hayato Date
Producers: Tomoko Gushima (TV Tokyo) & Ken Hagino
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The human whose name is written in this note shall die
The human who uses this note cannot go to Heaven or Hell
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Look up in the sky, is it a bird, is it a plane
no its Superman!
Based on the character created by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster
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Comment by Tom
on That Which Should Not Be...
The Green Lantern
Hopefully the more discerning comic fans will heed my warnings and avoid this work like the proverbial.