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Blood Blockade Battlefront Volume #01 Manga Review
September 20, 2011 at 05:57 PM
Nightow returns and this time he has unleashed hell on New York. Thankfully, there will be some heroes as well to try to maintain some sort of order…or at least a loose definition of heroes anyway.
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Yasuhiro Nightow
Translation/Adaptation: Matthew Johnson
What They Say
A breach between Earth and the netherworlds has opened up over the city of New York, trapping New Yorkers and creatures from other dimensions in an impenetrable bubble. They’ve lived together for years, in a world of crazy crime sci-fi sensibilities. Now someone is threatening to sever the bubble, and a group of stylish super humans is working to keep it from happening.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Three years ago the world went to hell…well, at least part of it did and the City That Never Sleeps has a whole slew of new immigrants straight from Lovecraft’s worst nightmares walking around to keep it awake. The city was surrounded by a fog at the same time, a fog that still surrounds it and which gets deeper the further into the city one ventures which has largely cut it off from the outside world. People can still enter, though given the sudden residential change few do outside of some naïve tourists or thrill seeker and far fewer have ever tried to plum its hazy depths.
While the city’s name has changed to Jerusalem’s Lot since the event and the population has gotten a lot stranger in many respects it has remained the same- people (and not quite people) still commute to work, go to restaurants and otherwise go about their daily life. Also still normal for a large metropolis is the presence of crime-though the criminals have changed a bit and law enforcement has as well, though not necessarily proportionally. Caught between super powered crooks and “answers really aren’t important, bystanders are at their own risk” police the city’s need for an alternative has sprung up-the mysterious group Libra that works in the shadows to keep balance in the city.
Of course not everyone is in one those groups and some are people who have come into Jerusalem’s Lot from outside the city for their own reasons-curiosity, desire for employment being among, though not exclusive, draws. Leo is a young man who has traveled into the city and is one of those trying to make it there. He is attempting (not terribly successfully) to work as a magazine writer when he encounters one type of the new creatures that not so innocently live in the city when his camera is suddenly stolen off his neck. Those in the restaurant recognize that it was taken by a super speed creature known as a Mach Monkey, but they are a bit surprised Leo can see it as he yelled out after it while giving chase since humans normally can’t follow the creatures high speed movements.
Leo might have been better letting the creature escape though as when he finally catches it he finds himself in the midst of a showdown between a hostage taker at a bank robbery and the police-and he has seconds before the firefight begins as the police open fire after a very brief warning. Fortunately for him Leo has the ability to see fast moving objects and react in tome to dodge the hail of bullets but it is only a matter of time until one catches him-that is until a case of mistaken identity has him saved by a man who introduces himself as Zap Renfro. Turns out Leo is a member of Libra and Leo now has an in to the biggest story going though Leo has his own reasons for wanting to find them separate from work.
What looks like the luckiest day of his life may turn out to be the opposite as the earlier bank robber changes and it turns out that an arch criminal has set lose a new and spectacular evil force in the city. Before Libra can act suddenly the second act in the scheme shows up on top of them, though Leo maybe the key to solving this puzzle before the city drowns in a sea of blood. All in all, a hell of a first day and one no one may survive unless Leo can find the courage even he doubts he has. And if he survives the second day could be even rougher.
Blood Blockade Battlefront (BBB from here out) is a story that contains Nightow’s signature artwork and combines it with a familiar pace and humor from Trigun but also adds in some really wonderfully designed monsters from a H.G. Lovecraft nightmare. Nightow expands on his ability to use action while telling a story that many US comic readers will find rather like coming home in many respects as a small group of super powered individuals wind up fighting some similarly powered super criminals for the sake of the cities inhabitants. To this end the powers shown so far have been rather remarkable at carrying the weight required of such a story and the teamwork-or lack thereof given some of the verbal interplay between characters- among Libra has also felt like a more mature version of a certain Marvelous four member superhero team’s interaction combined with an Uncanny group.
While honorifics are not present in the series and are a bit off putting to one expecting it right from the early pages when it is explained that the story takes place in America in the area where New York City used to be it makes sense for them not to be present. This detail also works to help underscore some of the banter between a few of the characters that looks like it gets a bit heated at times. The translation for the most part is clear on the digital preview copy and the dialogue flows well for the most part. This helps greatly as the pace of the title is rather quick as the reader tries to keep up with what is written to come across as a breathtaking pace with a good deal of humor and action to be found within its pages. Throw in some additional mysteries and a angst ridden protagonist and all the blocks are here for a series that will gain Nightow even more accord in the US market.
In Summary
Blood Blockade Battlefront is a title that takes all the skills Nightow polished on his previous works as he now brings his brand of storytelling to a rather familiar local, though one with an unusual twist. With the secrets shown during the book, the otherworldly-yet-not location, the mystery of Libra and the sheer amount of action Blood Blockade Battlefront is a series Trigun fans can’t miss and one that the US superhero comic reader and sci-fi hero fans would be well advised to give a look at as well.
Content Grade: B+
Art Grade: A
Packaging Grade: N/A
Text/Translation Grade: B+
Age Rating: 16+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: September 27th, 2011
MSRP: $10.99
