October
11 Girls, Ghouls and Nazis

Dramacon, Vol. 1

Creator: Svetlana Chmakova

TOKYOPOP, 192 pages, black and white, $9.95

So? You know manga is sweeping the world when a 25-year-old woman born and Russia and now living in Canada writes and draws a popular English-language manga about romance at a Japanese anime convention. There may be ways that die-hard manga fans can tell from the art and writing alone that Chmakova's not Japanese, but she's obviously so thoroughly absorbed the style of writing and drawing shojo  manga as to completely fool the rest of us. This is an unabashedly girly book that's sweetly romantic, full of authentic teenage angst and at times very funny. Story follows a young girl who writes a manga that her boyfriend draws. At her first con, her boyfriend flirts with every girl he can find and she's overwhelmed by the crowds and strangeness of it all until she meets a mysterious and handsome cosplayer. I have to admit that as a 36-year-old married man, I'm not the target audience for this book and that "dirty old man" feeling crops up a bit while reading this sort of thing. But Chmakova stays firmly in PG-13 territory and there's nothing in here that crosses any kind of line. It's just good, frilly, girly fun. Grade: A-

Steady Beat, Vol. 1

Creator: Rivkah

TOKYOPOP, 192 pages, black and white, $9.95

So? Rivkah is another young woman writing and drawing original English-language manga for girls, though she goes more for drama with her first full-length series. Story follows teenage Leah Winters, a high school soccer star who finds a love letter addressed to her older sister that is surprisingly signed "Love, Jessica." Leah tries to figure if her sister is or isn't gay and along the way meets an attractive boy named Elijah. Rivkah's art is the real standout of this book; it's elegant, polished and lovely. There's more of a Western flavor to the art here, though it's impossible to place that impression on a anything specific. It's almost impossible for me to judge the story as I'm still not a teenage girl, but the plot did feel a little light as though Rivkah was waiting for Vol. 2 to really put the story in motion. (There also is definitely a lot more in this book to justify the "dirty old man" feeling, though it's still all things considered very innocent.) This seems destined to be a big hit with the middle-school crowd. Grade: B+

I Luv Halloween, Vol. 1

Creators: Keith Giffen, writer; Benjamin Roman, artist

TOKYOPOP, 192 pages, black and white, $9.95

So? At last, fart jokes! Keith Giffen shows just how funny he can be, even when he's not making fun of superheroes in this little gem that has more than a handful of laugh-out-loud moments. Story follows a weird group of "South Park"-style pals for whom Halloween means only one thing: Candy. But it's a lot weirder than it sounds, as the kids wear their masks throughout the entire story and there's more than a few strange things going on in town around them. These kids talk more like smartass youths than little kids, but they're still kind of pure in their simple cynicism and witty banter. Roman's art looks like a demented version of the Klasky-Csupo "Rugrats" style, and is funny all on its own. The best bits in the story involve a lusty teen's attempt to get back her bra from a little girl who's turned it into a rather deadly sling shot. There's not much more to it, but it's definitely weird and definitely funny. Grade: B+

Wolverine #32

Creators: Mark Millar, writer; Kaare Andrews, artist

Marvel, 32 pages, color, $2.50

So? Fantasy and reality don't always mix well, and you could say telling a story about Wolverine wreaking havoc in a Nazi Death Camp is in really bad taste. But Millar makes it work, thanks to a suggestion from Will Eisner to not have Wolverine speak at all in the story. He would be a silent presence, killed over and over by Nazi guards only to heal and drive the camp commandant to the edge of insanity. Millar's recounting in the back of the comic of his meeting with Eisner at a Barcelona comics convention last year is great reading in and of itself. Eisner, who confessed he had no idea who Wolverine was, nevertheless came up with perhaps the only way to keep this story from being embarassing. Andrews does an excellent job on the artwork, bringing a sophisticated sensibility to the book that conveys the darkness and horror of the camp. In the end, this story still may not be in the best taste, but it is all other things considered a good comic book. Grade: B