The Pull-Box:
ShotgunReviews.com's Ongoing Comics Column
12.10.03
by Troy Brownfield

Who Put the Bop in Tokyopop, and other questions?

Tokyopop has been consistenly putting out some top-flight work as of late. In fact, I've done reviews lately of several of their items in the pages of Newtype USA, and I can give hearty endorsements to the likes of Psychic Academy and of course, Battle Royale. Unfortunately, I didn't like their manga of FLCL quite so well.

FLCL, or "Fooly Cooly", as it's known to aficionados, has been building buzz based on the anime for some time. Most of the good word has centered around the disparate, sometimes insane, plot elements. While those elements and the over-the-top nature of the humor and situations may work for some, I have to admit that I found that the first volume of the manga comes across to me as a nearly hopeless mess.

Guilty of just having way too many ideas, Gainax tries to cram them all into the story without a bit of explanation or basic exposition. Some ideas are tossed off in shorthand dialogue, while others just seem to appear. Sometimes, this method works; The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: Across the 8th Dimension famously attempts to thrust the viewer into what seemed like the 28th chapter of an ongoing series. However, a lack of clear introductions to characters and a near allergy to lucid demonstrations of plot by the creative team really hamper the effort on the part of the reader to really absorb the story. And I'm a big David Lynch fan.

What does come across is that young Naota leads a lonely life after his brother splits from Japan for a possible big-time baseball career in the U.S. His dad's a weirdo, his grandfather seems depressed, and his brother's former girlfriend has developed an attachment to him that borders on Glenn Close levels. Enter Haruko, a scooter-girl alien with a guitar that's apparently on a mission to whack the monsters that keep springing inexplicably from Naota's head. Along with all of this, we also get some indications of mysteries involving arson, the mayor, and the mayor's daughter (who may also have a crush on Naota).

While the ideas sound funny in practice, the humor is very hit or miss. And whereas other admittedly outlandish manga like Ranma ½ are powered along by terrific art, FLCL truly suffers in that department. Much of the black and white art is indistinct and jagged. Even though this is likely a stylistic choice, it renders the flow of the narrative difficult to follow. This is especially evident in some of the action scenes, when some of the lines get out of control and blurry, and Haruko's dialogue balloons suddenly look like they've been scrawled with an errant Sharpie.

The concepts of FLCL do have their charms. There's some interesting imagination at work, and there is potential to take the story in intriguing directions. However, based on this first chapter, with its very shaky art and situations bereft of much weight, I'm unlikely to care about discovering where it leads.

Pellet Reviews...

Ultimate Spider-Man: It continues to be one of the best books out there. The scene between Spidey and The Kingpin in #49 was priceless. "Young man, did you just web my feet to the floor? What possible satisfaction could you get from that?" Bendis's dialogue is brilliant, and Bagley is his perfect artistic foil.

Ultimates #12: FINALLY. I have to say that I enjoyed this one quite a bit. Sure, Cap's line was jingoistic, but it was damn funny and fits that version of the characters. Personally, if I heard Nick Fury give the order "Permission granted to traumatize Banner, gentlemen", I might soil myself.

Teen Titans and The Outsiders: Doggedly consistent entertainment. And the notion that The Titans series will get me DC Direct figures of Deathstroke, Blackfire and Brother Blood warms the heart of this '80s child.

More Box Office Poison: Buy it. It's that simple.

Troy's the boss in these parts. Contact him here.

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