Customer Reviews

Juku: A Comics Album

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This collaborative work by five longtime manga artists and fans shows that hard work and patience does indeed pay off in the end. This book is a collection of eight separate stories by five artists. There's a little something for everyone here: action, tongue-in-cheek humor, romance, and more!

The gems of this collection are Shaindle Minuk's "Holly's Father," a holiday story that takes a peek into the private lives of a fifties' Hollywood family, and Bruce Lewis' "It Happened in Seventh Grade." Lewis' recollection of a cherished event in his childhood is made more heartfelt by his simple-but-fully-recognizable drawing style.

The other stories included are an exciting detective story...IN SPACE...by David Merrill, quick cute textless vignettes from Ed Hill, a surprisingly twisted parody of two popular Japanese icons by Dan Baker, and one of Bruce Lewis' epic war stories, "Dairooster 5!"

Definitely recommended!

Great variety - especially in the art styles, tone and energy - will keep you looking forward to each story. The stories themselves are very interesting. Whether it's epic battle, insightful character work, humorous genre pieces, or even abstracted explorations, these artists did a wonderful job. I can't wait for the sequel!

A fun book. Lots of sillyness, a little romance, a little drama, all from a fan based perspective.
The high point was the film noir/50's sci-fi murder mystery, "Hazzard Von Braun, Astronaut Detective". Purposfully campy, definitely fun.
It's a thick book and a good read. Highly recommended!

I really liked this book. It was a chance for me to see more than one aspect of anime. It also gave me a taste of what each of the artists can do. I look forward to seeing more from each artist. I gave the book to friends and family to read and they too seem to have enjoyed it. Most of them didn't know what anime was, so this was a great introduction for them.

There truly is something here for everyone. From the short, wordless giant monster story to the sentai parody that takes itself seriously (Dairooster) and everything in between, you'll get your money's worth of solid black and white entertainment.

You can get a whole lot less for your money from some of the big-name publishers, that's for sure. You'll be reading JUKU for well over an hour!