20th Century Boys volume 1, by Naoki Urasawa

rilina and oyceter have been telling me for ages that this is the Best! Thing! Evar! But reading manga online gives me a headache, so I waited for it to come out in English.

Now the first volume is out in English. Wow, it really is the Best! Thing! Evar! And the plot is so compelling that headache or no, I think I'm going to have to read ahead, and then snap up the print releases for a leisurely re-read.

I can't imagine this not being one of the best things I read all year. And if you've never read manga before, this might be a good one to start with. Buy it now!

Naoki Urasawa's 20th Century Boys, Volume 1: The Prophet

Half the fun of reading this is the intricate, fractured way that the story jumps from past to present to uncertain times and possibly stories-with-the-story, letting the reader try to assemble the pieces. And another quarter or so is the way that I had no idea whatsoever where it all was going. So I won't reveal too much.

A group of Japanese boys form a secret club in the sixties. These scenes are suffused with a nostalgia that's both bright and dark, like a Ray Bradbury story: children and childhood can be cruel, but it was a time when anything seemed possible, everything was new, and friends were forever.

Years later, one of the boys has died mysteriously. Is it connected to a bizarre cult? Why is the club's secret symbol turning up everywhere? And what do rock music and giant robots have to do with it all?

I have no idea, but this is the most compelling, weird, and evocative thing I've read in ages. The weaving together of the American modern myths of salvation through rock music and the Japanese modern myths of giant robots, plus cross-cultural iconic themes like apocalyptic cults, is brilliant. Though most of the story is very male-centered, a woman shows up at the end, in a hilariously memorable scene, whom I suspect is one of the main characters, and I love her already.

The art is somewhat similar to Urasawa's moral thriller Monster, but a little more realistic and less cartoony: the characters are very expressive, but (deliberately) not pretty.

Spoil me for further events and be squashed by a giant robot. But feel free to discuss volume one in spoilery detail in the comments.