Review - Master Keaton Volume 1

I'm taking a short break from Nabari. I thought I was going to get the rest of the series yesterday, but that didn't happen, because a certain bookseller (I won't name names, but the acronym of the company rhymes with 'wham') decided to split my order and only provide me with about a third of it when it was all supposed to arrive yesterday. But I digress. On with the review!

STORY

The story... Well, there isn't much of one yet. Taichi Hiragi-Keaton is the son of a Japanese man and an English woman. By day, he teaches at a Japanese university, and by night he's an insurance investigator/archaeologist, which sounds like a fake job, but I don't actually know. Basically, he's half-asian Indiana Jones. He gets into all sorts of scenarios because of this job, and often has to rely on creativity and wits to get out of tight spots.

You ever played 'Spoon-Stick Cricket? Try it sometime, it's real fun.

Like I said already, there really isn't an overarching story yet. At most, there's a short arc that lasts a few chapters at most, but nothing that makes for a super compelling read. That isn't to say that the short stories aren't fun. It's just that it's easy to put the book on hold and meander off to do something else after you finish one chapter. It ain't super gripping. Which isn't too bad. If I ever get buried in a book because it's claws have firmly sunk into me, my family members often berate me for not doing what the ask because I'm too busy reading 'some silly backwards comic' again. But I digress.

ART & PRESENTATION

Naoki Urasawa's art style is most certainly an acquired taste. The firs example I ever saw of his art was when I took a gander at Monster. I popped it open and thought "Eurgh! What is this? What happened to my big-eyed, noseless cuties?" But after I bought the first volume of 20th Century Boys for about $3.50 from a used book store and really got drawn into the story, I gradually began to appreciate it more and more. Needless to say, Urasawa is one of my top artists now.

The art in Master Keaton is simplistic, yet exceedingly detailed if you know what you're looking for. Backgrounds usually look like a still life photo, while characters have sort of 'everyman' faces with a wide range of expressions. It's also very 80's manga looking, especially the female characters.

Normally I'd add some standout art moments here, but to be honest, Master Keaton has a lot of talking heads, but regardless, the art still shines in basically every panel.

Strangely enough, my favorite part about this entire volume is the presentation, everything else is great, but phwooh. This volume is gorgeous on the outside. The entire outside cover, front, back, and spine, is covered in a glossy world map over a black background. It's one of those things you can only really see if you tilt it and the light shines on it just right. The title is written in big, glossy, gold letters. There's basically nothing on the back except a small logo, the rating, and the barcode. Nothin' but that beautiful, beautiful world map. Thank you, Viz Media

Look at it. It's byootiful. Bless you, Viz.

CHARACTERS

There are characters practically spilling out of this volume. Unfortunately, most of them only make appearances for about one or two chapters, and then disappear with their story arc. There's only two that really are 'main characters'.

The first, of course, is our titular hero, Keaton! Honestly, Keaton is a great main character. He's relate-able, charming, but not too pretty, and he's just all around likeable. Watching him whip up solutions to problems that seem unavoidable so easily is a blast to read. Oh yeah. At one point he uses complex algebra to determine that a statue is fake and keep a swindling art dealer from swindling more people. Math that I learned in the 11th grade and then promptly forgot completely.

Give him some googly eyes and a pack of gum and he'll make you a pair of roller blades

Next up is Yuriko. She's Keaton's daughter, and is basically a carbon copy of her old man, except she looks like her mom. She's smart, into archaeology and all that stuff, and takes a real interest in all the adventures of her dad. She's sort of bossy, which can make her a little bit grating, but not too much.

"No talking in class!"

FINAL VERDICT

Just to clear this up, because I don't think I mentioned it before, Master Keaton isn't actually by Naoki Urasawa. Just the manga is. The story was written by Hokusei Katsushika and Takashi Nagasaki, which is probably why, despite having that very definitive Urasawa art, it doesn't really grip as much as an Urasawa written manga does. Master Keaton is still good though. Plus/minus below!

+ Good fun
+ Likeable and fun lead
+ Stories are entertaining...

- but lack of an overarching plot drags the initial grab a bit
- Great art, but looks dated

And now for something completely different. I'm going to give this one two scores. Shh, shh, you'll see why. I present Master Keaton with...

B+ - BUY IT (For Urasawa fans)

C+ - BORROW IT (For anyone else)

I know, it seems dumb. But it's probably accurate. Its dated art and general lack of an overarching plot are bound to turn some away, but fans of Urasawa's other works are bound to get a bang out of it.

That's all for me! I'll be back to reviewing Nabari no Ou next time!

(I don't own Master Keaton. All rights go to the authors, Hokusei Katsushika and Takashi Nagasaki, the artist, Naoki Urasawa, and the licensing company, Viz Media).