Lately I’ve been reading a lot more than I have in the past. Not novels or other critic’s works, but graphic novels, comics, and manga. Whatever the hell you want to call them. Admittedly, my knowledge, experience, and ability to critique said mediums is limited. That won’t stop me from giving my opinion though, because well, that’s what I do. So an afternoon outback, and a few beers later, followed by some time at the old computer desk, I’ve opinions in need of sharing.
Paper Girls
Best known for his work on Lost and the currently running graphic novel series Saga, Paper Girls is Brian K. Vaughan’s newest work. It follows four 12 year-old paper girls in 1988 in the early hours of November 1st in a small Ohio town. Erin, the protagonist, meets three other girls and they decided to team up in order to watch each other’s backs after some boys harass them. This quickly goes to hell when they find a strange machine and are caught between two otherworldly factions.
It’s an interesting read coming off Netflix’s Stranger Things as they share a whole lot in common. A setting before the age of all the widely accessible tech we take for granted is the most obvious of comparisons. It also focuses on a group of kids on the cusp of being teens as they find themselves wrapped up in conspiracies involving monstrous beings. Thematically, in both there is a strong presence of kids versus adults and rebellion versus authority.
Initially, I had some trouble getting behind Paper Girls as it’s pacing in the first chapter is kind of wonky. It very quickly throws the kids into the major conflict of an apocalypse in motion before I could really get to know them or much of anything about the world around them. So when the *** starts hitting the fan I wasn’t sure if it was just something the kids were experiencing or if everyone else was too. When the group arrives at one of their homes it’s quickly explained that everyone is aware. All of this just had no real build or flare to it.
I also was confused because, to bring up Stranger Things again, the show has a similarly bizarre event happen but the kids are the only ones onto it initially.Other than one lone adult who is written off as crazy. And so often these types of stories pit the kids as the ones who believe in all the crazy *** happening while the supposedly intelligent adults write the worries of the children off as exactly that.
Upon passing this issue my enjoyment turned around. Vaughan knows how to weave the narrative of Paper Girls into a nostalgia fueled, coming of age story inspired by many of the same works as Stranger Things. Each of the four girls are immediately identifiable in terms of who they are. For example, the protagonist Erin is clearly the educated yet naive goody-two-shoes. Then there’s the leader Mac, who comes from a bad family, but despite that there are hints she’s not a bad person. It’s having these types of characters that are all relatable and balance out each other's strengths and deficiencies that helps sell the nostalgia factor. We all know kids like this growing up and we can easily place ourselves within.
In a familiar fashion to Saga and Lost, the stakes are increasingly raised and twists always come at just the right time to encourage a deeper dive. Which is doubly so, because this is quite the easy read. Unlike Saga where there are multiple plot threads spanning a universe where you are required to remember all the politics and motivations of each, this is a tightly focused narrative about kids.
So am I going to stick with Paper Girls? I’d say yes. It’s a fun read and I’m intrigued to see where the narrative goes. I’m unsure whether I’ll follow it by chapter though. Volume 2 is currently slated for December, so we’ll see where I land down the road.
Bakuman
From the duo behind the Death Note manga, Bakuman is an “autobiography” of sorts. While technically fiction, Bakuman follows the lives of an aspiring manga artist and writer. In an fashion inspired by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata’s journey into the manga industry, it’s a semi realistic view into a world many of us admire, but don’t understand.
Masahiro, the artist, and Takagi, the writer, are two middle school students with a passion for manga. With that in mind they begin their work as amateurs and tirelessly work to create the number one manga series. It’s a fitting piece to find published in Shonen Jump, which is referenced constantly within the narrative, as the pair work hard and never give up on their dreams. Blah, blah, blah, with spirit and friendship you’ll overcome anything.
As for the actual quality of Bakuman, the duo are a fun yin and yang. The artist is a bit more grounded initially, thinking a career in manga as a huge gamble. The writer meanwhile is the dreamer, who knows he could secure a safe cushy job, but would rather pursue his passions. The two often engage in humor detrimental to the one another and can provide some genuinely funny moments.
While I’m enjoying Bakuman, it’s all a bit familiar. Middle school / high school kids have a dream which requires a ton of hard work and we follow them on that journey with all the usual trappings of the setting. There’s a rival, older and wiser folks who have traveled the same path, and cute girls. It’s a lighthearted approach, with some awkward teen romance which seems destined to fall into the will they won’t they *** of every romance manga / anime.
That’s where Bakuman seems to be heading if it were a typical manga. But I’ve been given reason to suspect otherwise, or that it’s going to be an example of “genre cliches aren’t always done in a boring fashion.”
At the very least this is insight into the world of manga I didn’t have before. For a layman like myself, the idea of how reader surveys and how success is viewed in mainstream manga such as Shonen Jump, aka where Naruto, Dragonball, One Piece, Bleach and so many other humongous manga were / are published, isn’t something I’ve seen explored.
So will I continue to read Bakuman? Well, volumes two and three are currently in route so there’s your answer. I like a fair portion of the setup, despite some cliches, and I’m willing to give future volumes a chance based on word of mouth and the pedigree of the creators. Bakuman strikes me as a slow burn. It may not initially have you enraptured, but as someone currently struggling to pursue my career aspirations, I’m finding it fun and relatable.