Release date: January 19, 2010 | Series: King of RPGs (Book 1)
Jason Thompson, Level 14 Shaman/Oozemaster and author of Manga: The Complete Guide, joins forces with Victor Hao to deliver a wickedly funny send-up of manga and gamer culture. Roll up your character and get ready!
THE GREATEST GAMER ON EARTH At the University of California, Escondido, no one would guess that freshman Shesh Maccabee is a hard-core gamer—and in recovery to boot, following a court order, a wireless ban, and months of therapy (all because of one little seven-day Internet café episode). His friend Mike—who personally prefers Japanese-console RPGs—is tasked with keeping Shesh far away from any computer with access to World of Warfare.
Everything's going according to plan—until a Ren Faire fangirl introduces them to the campus gaming club, where they meet Theodore, a fanatical tabletop game master whose single goal in life is to run the greatest Mages & Monsters game in the world. And there just happens to be room for two more players. Soon Shesh and Mike are dragged into the dungeon of hard-core gaming—and cops, baboon men, Sri Lankan cave roaches, and Gothémon card collectors converge in the zaniest adventure that ever involved twenty-sided dice!
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Jason Thompson is the author of Manga: The Complete Guide and author of the graphic novel King of RPGs. As a manga editor, he has worked on the English editions of titles such as Naruto, Fullmetal Alchemist, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Dragon Ball Z, Hana-Kimi, One Piece, Shaman King, Uzumaki, The Drifting Classroom and Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei. His writings on manga have appeared in WIRED, The Comics Journal and Otaku USA, as well as online at Anime News Network, io9.com and comixology.com. He is the author/artist of several fantasy comics including Hyperborea, H.P. Lovecraft's The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, The Strange High House in the Mist, The White Ship, Bold Riley and the Serpent in the Belly and the webcomic The Stiff.
I stumbled upon this purely by accident. I was looking for the latest Fables book when I saw this tucked discreetly into the bookshelf. Curious, I read a few pages... and then promptly purchased it.
The book follows Shesh, a young college student who has been banned from computer games. Why, you might ask? It all stems from two things: that Shesh slips into a semi-violent (depending on what game he's playing) personality when he *really* gets into a game & because he stayed at an internet cafe for a week under this personality. (He royally trashed the place.) Enter avid gamer Theodore, who has the goal of making the ultimate RPG experience. Unfortunately it's rumored that his eagerness put some gamers in the hospital due to his "interactive experience". (Seriously, he pulled out a snake on Shesh & his friends.)
I have to admit, I really liked this manga. If you've ever gamed or know someone who has, then you will be able to get the comedy in this book. Even if you don't game, most of the humor is visual enough to where you'll enjoy the story. (Although it really is better if you have some gaming knowledge.) I loved the artwork & I was incredibly impressed by the amount of detail that went into this book- there's tons of it. The artwork also manages to be one of those rare mangas that are "Amerimanga" but don't fall prey to some of the artwork pitfalls that tend to abound when someone in the US draws a manga. (Overly chibi-fying everything, tons of cliched art, etc)
I'm incredibly curious to see where this manga will go. It's got a decent enough storyline & let's face it- there's tons of RPG material out there to parody & poke fun at. I would like for the "villain" of the piece (a student police officer) to be a little more fleshed out, though. She seemed a little one-note, but maybe that's on purpose?
In the end, many people will note several similarities between this & Genshiken & why not? Both series deal with an obsessive fandom & the quirks of their chosen item(s) of affection. Fans of Genshiken will like this series a great deal & unless the next volume is just incredibly lame, I'll be collecting this series until it's conclusion.
If you've played any tabletop RPG or TCG, there's always that one person who seems to be possessed by the game and becomes a character. This is what King of RPGs is all about.
The story starts when a group of college freshmen, all with different gaming backgrounds, start a campaign for a popular RPG. With two of the main characters getting so deeply involved in their specific parts in the game, madness ensues. Without giving too much away, the two main characters of the book soon make it a challenge to beat each other, one as his character of a rogue and the other as the DM. As it is in real life, friendships blossom out of that one session and soon things become more complicated and incredibly hilarious.
In the end, the King of RPGs is a must read for anyone who loves RPGs and even gaming in general. And if you ever thought RPGs couldn't get any better, then think again and read this book.
Jason Thompson has written a modern masterpiece with his first volume of "King of RPGs." Wait seriously? Don't I have to roll on bluff to say that?
Actually no. "King of RPGs" is a must have for anyone that loves gaming. A humorous story involving some of the best developed characters seen in graphic novels. Everyone is believable to an extent, without being bland in the slightest. TThe DM goes above and beyond, to the point of setting up a tent for realism, the player's minds become one with their characters unlocking latent passive bonuses to their awesome rating, and the whole book is filled with gaming references much better than I can muster here.
As a DM, this book made me think about the games I write. As a player, it made me see things a little differently. As an otaku/gamer multiclassed human, it made me laugh and think from initiative until the final turn.
If you understood more than half of the references in this review, this book is meant for you.
