Kingbeast's Lair

-== What is it? ==-

Pluto is a science fiction manga that weaves a tale of what happens when human emotions collide with robotic artificial intelligence. The collection was written by Naoki Urasawa and Osamu Tezuka and is published by Viz Media in their Viz Signature line of manga. Pluto was released in eight volumes from February 2009 through March 2010.

The story of Pluto is inspired by the classic Astro Boy story “The Greatest Robot On Earth”. This story was written by Osamu Tezuka in 1951. You read that right…1951. 😉 The Astro Boy manga became so popular that in 1963 it was turned into the first weekly animated series in Japan. Both the manga and TV series are iconic. Naoki Urasawa, the co-author and artist of Pluto, is considered a modern manga master so his take on such a classic story adds to the importance of the collaboration.

The eight volumes have color covers with intricate portrait spines. Each book is 5.75? x 8.25? and is roughly 200 pages in length. Volume 8 of Pluto is actually a bit longer at 256 pages. The first 10 pages of each volume are in color and the rest are black and white. At the end of each book is an editorial by a noted manga artist or author. I am reviewing print copies that I purchased.

-== What I Like ==-

Pluto is visionary storytelling. It is science fiction at its very best. It asks very difficult questions then answers them from several perspectives. Some of the tough questions that Pluto addresses include what it means to be human, what means to “feel”, how far hatred can go, and when does it end?

Characters are beautifully detailed and real in Pluto. Gesicht, the robot artificial intelligence detective, is so well crafted that his story will make you cheer, hate, then cry. (Gesicht is on the cover of the first volume.)

Pluto is filled with fantastic artwork that is detailed, full of action, and not cluttered. Urasawa’s work is off the charts beautiful. The cover and spine artwork on the eight volumes depict different faces of the various main players. The picture wraps around the spine to the back of the volume. On the spine itself the face is lined up with the right eye of the character. It looks very dramatic on a bookshelf.

-== What I Don’t Like ==-

There is very little not to like about the story in Pluto. My only complaint on the story, and it is minor, is that is can be a bit slow at times. For the most part it is done to make an impact later on in the chapter.

The cost for each volumes feels a bit high but I am not a frequent manga buyer. Each volume of Pluto has a cover price of $12.99. I would recommend waiting for a sale at RightStuf.com. Just add yourself to their newsletter then watch for a sale on Viz products. 😉

-== Summary ==-

I have read various manga over the years and I can categorically state that Pluto is my all time favorite. Even if you are not a manga or comic book fan I encourage looking this one up. It had such a big impact on me that after reading the last two volumes I had to sit quietly pondering what I had read. Pluto is storytelling at a high level.

You can get the books at RightStuf.com for at this URL for $9.74. Here is a link to the first volume at Amazon.com. They sell it for $10.39.

I give it 10 out of 10 paws.

-== What is it? ==-

The Hualapai Cycle is a collection of eight intertwined adult horror stories that take place in a fictitious version of the Black Rock Desert. It is written by Jason Walters and is published by BlackWyrm. Before I get into the review I wanted to mention a couple of disclaimers. First off, I am not a huge fiction reader and even less so of horror novels. I was given an advance reading copy by Jason at a local gaming convention. Jason is a friend of mine that I have gamed with in the past. I have also reviewed some of his other RPG works (i.e. Scourges Of The Galaxy by Hero Games which is excellent BTW). I will try to not let my friendship or the fact that I was given a copy of the book bias my review.

The book has a color cover and an entirely black and white interior. The book is 6? x 9? and is 173 pages in length.

-== What I Like ==-

Even though there are technically eight short stories in the novel each story contains at least one smaller narrative inside. While telling one story another character is introduced that impacts that story AND appears later in other stories. The way it is done is quite nice. You really want to see a how a character from one story is used in another. Even though you might think that this would disrupt the flow of a story it does not. One tale flows nicely into the next and characters move and distort as the book progresses. This technique shows a lot of craftsmanship.

The author has a great way of getting inside animal’s heads. This is done with horses, wolves, mutant dogs, and lot of other twisted creatures of the desert. I thought it was very fun.

The book shows how the harsh Black Rock Desert climate breeds survivors. Some of the characters are likable and others are twisted but all of them are tough. It really adds to the horror feel when someone you think is nice turns out to be just as twisted as everyone else.

The book is jam packed full of great lines like these…

-== What is it? ==-

The Holler: Tales Of Horror From Appalachia is a collection of 24 “delicately short” horror stories written by Marge Fulton and published by BlackWyrm. Before I get into this review I wanted to acknowledge that I am not a horror literature buff or even a horror literature fan to any large degree. I was given an advance review copy to read by a friend of mine who is a publisher/editor/writer at BlackWyrm. Even though I was given a copy of the book I will try to not let that impact this review.

The book I received has a color cover and an entirely black and white interior. The book is 6? x 9? and is 87 pages in length.

-== What I Like ==-

I think the thing that I liked most about The Holler is the way that some of the stories stick with you days after reading them. I might be walking along and I’ll see something that reminds me of a story from the book…BAM…I am back in that story. In some cases I even felt like I needed to take a shower to try and get that “sticky horror feeling” off of my person. In my mind that is a sign that the book worked.

Here are some quick blurbs about some of the stories that I enjoyed:

• An obese traveler on a mission into space.
• A drug trip painting.
• A ghost tale at a drugstore greeting card rack…Hallmark would not approve. 😉
• A recycled killing.
• Husbands diced, served, and sold.
• A twisted unity candle.
• A splinter sharp tale in the vein of Pinocchio.

I liked the fact that the stories in The Holler are very short (aka “delicate”). Most of the stories are only 3 to 5 pages in length. This makes the book extremely easy to pick up and put down. Even with only a 5 minute break in your day and you can read a story. I like that in a book. The copy I got was soft cover and very easy to transport which works well when the stories are short. I also think this book would be great in PDF or ebook formats as it would be great to pickup quickly on an iPhone or similar reading device.

-== What I Don’t Like ==-

My biggest complaint with the book is that I did not get the ending of some of the stories at all. As I mentioned, I am not a horror literature buff so maybe that is why some of them left me confused.

The cover layout and background coloring is not great. In the version I have the cover uses red text that lapses over a sepia picture on a gray background. If the background color was changed to a slightly lighter sepia color to match the photo that might help. The photo is perfect for the book. It shows a young disheveled girl grasping a black rag doll. Excellent fit for the book.

-== Summary ==-

If you are looking for a collection of short horror stories that stick with you in a good way then I suggest checking this one out. I do not know what the final price of the book will be but I’m going to give my rating assuming that the price is on the low side. I think a low price fits a product like this where the focus is on “delicately short stories”.

I give it 7 out of 10 paws.