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The Shipping News, 7/21/10

20 July 2010 5 Comments

peepochooBy now, many folks reading this essay have already found out if Scott Pilgrim gets it together and wins Ramona’s hand; if you haven’t, a trip to your local comic book store seems in order. (The sixth and final installment, Scott Pilgrim Is Awesomer Than You Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour arrives everywhere on Wednesday.) While you’re there, you might want to check out Felipe Smith’s Peepo Choo (Vertical, Inc.), a brilliant, cruel exploration of East-West culture shopping. The story revolves around three employees of a Chicago comic shop: Gill, an ex-con who has a sideline in murder; Jody, a player wanna-be who brags about fake sexual conquests; and Milton, a self-professed otaku who believes that his true home is in Japan. A trip to Tokyo brings them into contact with a host of unsavory characters, many of whom are as infatuated with American culture as Milton is with Japanese; their lurid fantasies of gangsta life are as woefully misguided as Milton’s belief that everyone in Japan reads manga, watches anime, and cosplays.

If you read my review, you’ll see that I was quick to praise Smith for his artistry: he has an uncanny ability to slip into each character’s skin, showing us how each character’s unique worldview informs what he sees, hears, and does. Smith also has an incredible ear for dialogue; his characters’ speech is inflected through the movies and manga and rap albums that fuel their trans-Pacific fantasies. For all its technical virtuosity, however, I finished volume one feeling like someone had beaten me up for my lunch money. My view is definitely a minority one; I’ve included links to other reviews at the end of the column for those seeking second and third opinions.

Also arriving in stores is a wave of new Yen Press titles, including Romeo x Juliet, an adaptation of a GONZO anime, Ugly Duckling’s Love Revolution, a comedy about a chubby girl who gets weight-loss tips from four handsome boys, and Himeyuka & Rozione’s Story, a short story anthology. Of the three, Himeyuka is the only one I can recommend; it’s a nice, varied collection of character studies from Sumomo Yumeka, creator of The Day I Became a Butterfly and Same Cell Organism. Click here for my review.

Curious about what else will be arriving in stores on Thursday? Visit the New This Week page for the full list.

REVIEWS OF PEEPO CHO, VOL. 1

* highly recommended; the best and most insightful review I’ve read so far

5 Comments »

  • Serdar said:

    Wow – thanks for the props! I’m glad you liked what I had to say.

    # 20 July 2010 at 9:14 PM
  • Katherine Dacey (author) said:

    You’re welcome! I thought it was a great piece of writing, and very insightful. I agreed with most of what you had to say in your critique, even if my own feelings about the series were more mixed.

    # 20 July 2010 at 9:31 PM
  • Tweets that mention The Manga Critic » Blog Archive » The Shipping News, 7/21/10 -- Topsy.com said:

    [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by The Manga Critic, RadixExtreme (World). RadixExtreme (World) said: Manga News: The Shipping News, 7/21/10: Felipe Smith's Peepo Choo lands on Wednesday. http://tinyurl.com/2vbp2jo [...]

    # 21 July 2010 at 1:08 AM
  • Serdar said:

    It’s a good thing that you had a different POV. As your sidebar quote indicates, the whole point of art that stimulates a reaction is that reactions are going to vary, and we should document why.

    I use a variation of this when talking about “experimental” work, gleaned from something Jacques Barzun once said: if someone reserves the right to call a given work experimental, then the possibility needs to be entertained that the experiment might well fail. (Paraphrasing, but you get the idea.)

    # 21 July 2010 at 10:36 AM
  • Pre-SDCC news roundup « MangaBlog said:

    [...] Kate Dacey and Brad Rice offer their suggestions for the best of this week’s new manga. [...]

    # 21 July 2010 at 4:06 PM

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