Author: Joshua Goldberg

Amish Otaku, Features, Kosher Kuts, Manga

Kosher Kuts: Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure

Guest Post

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure is the manga equivalent of Rodney Dangerfield: it just doesn’t get any respect. It was released in Japan after hits like Fist of the Northstar and Dragonball had captured the attention of Japanese fans several years earlier. Despite its reputation as the second-longest ongoing manga series for Shonen Jump in Japan, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure just doesn’t seem to garner much attention from American audiences. It was only recently released in the United States and skipped much of the initial storyline. Furthermore, the title is not as easily made kid-friendly as other popular martial arts manga (Believe it!). I finally pursued the series when I heard that several parts of it were skipped in its passage to America. So, is this series derivative of its Shonen Jump predecessors, or does it carry its own distinctive traits?

Unlike most manga titles, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure manages to summarize itself perfectly. Weird characters and brutal battles are the hallmark of this series and, if you don’t have the stomach for one or the other, this book might turn you off quickly. Continue reading “Kosher Kuts: Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure”

Joshua Goldberg
Amish Otaku, Comics, Features, Interviews, Loaded Barrel

Interview: Jared Barel on Brielle and the Horror

Guest Post

A few months back, I reviewed the first issue of Brielle and the
Horror, which you can check out in our archives. I had the great fortune to find the first issue while at the Wizard World Philly Con a few months back and was blown away by both the uniqueness and the quality of the book. As con season begins to wind down, Jared found some time to speak to me about the genesis of this work, his studio and what comes next…

Jared, you have a background in both film and graphic design. Do you feel they complement each other when it comes to producing a comic book?

My experiences in design and film have definitely proven a complement to each other. Both disciplines are visual mediums, and in their own ways they’re both about telling stories and packaging those stories in a way that is pleasing to the audience. In a sense, it is a marriage of the storytelling abilities of both art forms that allow us to tell the story of Brielle and the Horror in the way that we do. Continue reading “Interview: Jared Barel on Brielle and the Horror”

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Amish Otaku, Convention Coverage, Features

Convention Coverage: Otakon 2007

Guest Post

As mentioned in the July edition of Villain’s Exposition, Otakon’s premiere anime pickings were somewhat different than initially expected. While some of it was things we’d never seen before, the rest of the “premieres” would have been more accurately labeled “spotlights,” as they sought to draw attention to shows that the big four had already released.

That said, however much fun people had with the other shows at Otakon, it was the industry news – and the series/movies/OVAs that were part of it – that was on everybody’s mind. Continue reading “Convention Coverage: Otakon 2007”

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Amish Otaku, Comics, Vertigo

DMZ: America’s Second Civil War

With DMZ, Brian Wood and Riccardo Burchielli have created one of the best comics of this decade. While it’s just as good as Y: The Last Man or 100 Bullets, DMZ is almost patriotic, albeit in a very subversive way.

The story takes place in an alternate-present or near-future setting, whichever makes you more comfortable. An army calling themselves the Free States and espousing a return to the true democratic principles of America has come from the Midwest. On the other side of the line is the incumbent, the good ol’ United States of America, which goes about things just as you’d expect our current administration to. Continue reading “DMZ: America’s Second Civil War”

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Amish Otaku, Manga, Viz

Battle Angel Alita

This was one of the first manga I ever purchased when I was beginning to explore the genre. I told myself I would carry on with the other volumes of the series but, sadly, I never picked up another volume.

The story centers on Ido Daisuke and an essentially dormant (but living) brain encased in the cybernetic refuse of a head and upper torso that Daisuke finds in the giant scrapyard beneath the enormous floating city of Tiphares (named Salem in the original Japanese series). She is soon awake but has lost all of her memories, so Daisuke christens her Alita (Gally) after his recently deceased cat. Continue reading “Battle Angel Alita”

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Amish Otaku, Comics, Oni

Geisha: Artificial Artist

Guest Post

Geisha is a fun little book. Just take a look at the dimensions: five and three-quarters inches long, eight and one-quarter inches wide and a scant one-quarter of an inch thick. I suppose this makes it manga-sized and manga-styled since it’s in black and white and maybe even manga-fun but since I’ve never read any, I don’t really know how fun manga is. I have, however, seen it in the wild so I know the size is correct. Well, that and Matt Wagner helped me out by referring to the Japanese-originated genre in the introduction.

Geisha centers around an android, Jomi Sohodo, a starving artist who lacks credibility with a critic based on her artificial origin. Her lifelong passion is to become successful at painting and to avoid having to get a humdrum day job, which in her case would be defined as working for her adoptive human family that owns a personal security business run mainly by her three brothers and her father. Though the freedom limitations for androids are not clearly defined, Continue reading “Geisha: Artificial Artist”

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Amish Otaku, Comics

Superhero Icons

Guest Post

For my first article, I thought I’d discuss a topic that’s relevant to both my comics hobby (or is it a habit?) and my profession, graphic design. Wearing a distinctive icon or logo can say a lot about a person, their religious beliefs, political affiliation, favorite brands, or in this case, comic book character.

The t-shirt never goes out of style, but what’s on it changes every decade or so. With all the mainstream attention given to comic book characters lately, I see more and more people wearing comic-related (or any geek culture) apparel. I’ve been a big fan of graphic tees for as long as I can remember and would probably wear one every day if my employer allowed it. I’m also very picky about what kind of shirts I buy. My preference for comic-related tees seems to be drawn to the simple, iconic logo. Continue reading “Superhero Icons”

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Amish Otaku, Features, The Haven

The Haven: Now We’re Getting Somewhere

By Andrew Goletz

There is a ton of Reilly stuff to get to this week so my usual ramblings will be quite sparse. I’m sure you’ll all be hoping for big Reilly news from here on out for just that reason.

I was one of those to partake in the Harry Potter midnight release extravaganza. I’m no stranger to geek culture. I’ve camped out for Springsteen tickets. I’ve wasted a day in line to be the first to see the newest Star Wars film and did several of the midnight runs on the Star Wars toys. I’ve seen grown adults toss children out of the way to get to the toys of their choice. I’ve seen 50-year-old men brought to tears of joy over seeing the latest plastic incarnation of Obi-Wan Kenobi. I’ve seen people give a standing ovation to the 20th Century Fox logo. Continue reading “The Haven: Now We’re Getting Somewhere”

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Amish Otaku, Comics, Vertigo

Swamp Thing Vol 1: Saga of the Swamp Thing

Even for a guy who lost his wife in a bomb set up to kill him, was burned alive during the explosion and reemerged as a man whose primary fear should be Weed-B-Gon, the [debatably] “former” Alec Holland has it pretty rough. All the while, during his transformation, his wife was shot to death. Fast forward and we have a similar scenario occurring just a few years later. He’s been run out of his home, cornered down and shot, only to be left for the dead (again) but then cryogenically frozen by some G-Men, only to be dissected by Jason Woodrue (aka the Floronic Man, whom the Feds have on loan from prison). Woodrue, like Holland, is a botanist and has a plant form. The difference is that the Floronic Man has a believable and easily achievable human appearance. He literally sprays on artificial skin and shaves the facial hair-reminiscent wooden protusions from his face.

As if my introduction to the Swamp Thing could not get any more depressing, the pathos that – from what I’ve come to comprehend is at the core of Moore’s version – gets magnified when Woodrue discovers that the Swamp Thing is not Holland at all; he is just a collection of plant cells that think they’re Alec Holland, fused with his memories and therefore human. While conducting an autopsy on our hero, Woodrue (being as highly regarded a genius as Holland was), discovers that all of Swamp Thing’s organs are merely non-functioning replicas of human versions. He concludes that all human traces of Holland are gone! Continue reading “Swamp Thing Vol 1: Saga of the Swamp Thing”

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