Manga Review: Fairy Cube vol.1 Part 1

Story and art by Kaori Yuki

By Aliraluna

     It starts with a girl’s corpse lying on the street with blood all over her back in the shape of wings and a man with an eye-patch and a doll over his left arm. Then, the story goes back to Ian Hasumi who becomes the narrator telling us how he believed his mother was a fairy with green hair just like him. Rin Ishinagi is about to fight with the girls who are bullying her, but Ian intervenes and they exchange words, letting us know that they were old childhood friends, but they got separated and the last words Ian told her were “I really hate you”. Ian’s father, who is also his homeroom and Japanese teacher and a famous novelist takes him away. We see Ian’s “other” who looks just like him but with green hair and red eyes and he calls him Tokage; no one can see nor hear Tokage but him and that’s one of the reasons why everyone called him a liar. Rin was different though, by making a circle of small stones (also known as fairy rings) he could made it possible for her to see the fairies. While Ian is remembering part of the horrible story between him and Rin, he overhears some passersby talking about the “Fairy Murders” and in that instant Tokage shoves him and takes Ian’s bag leaving it on a street, the same one in which the body we first saw is in. He sees how that man with the eye-patch is standing in front of the body retrieving a cube with a butterfly in it and places it inside the talking doll. He decides to enter an antique shop and the man gives him a cube, telling him that if he throws it away he will be cursed; and while Ian is going away the doll is telling Kaito (the man with the eye-patch) that he will die young. Later on, we see the whole story when Ian sees Rin beaten again by her mother and how she remembers when they were separated the same day when they saw the fairies together. Although his father takes him back to their house and demands to see Ian’s back to reassure he doesn't have his wings (his birthmark). Of course, he doesn't have them anymore, they were burned by his own father. 

  

   The next day a girl is saying that Rin was the one who murdered her boyfriend and when Ian defends her she calls them liars, but he shows them, with Rin’s help, the fairies. Yet, when they escape his father kills Ian. Moreover he “wakes up” and sees Rin is fine and with a boy that looks just like him, who is none other but Tokage, and now he must fight to get his life and body back.

Why Tragedy Should Not Be the Norm but the Exception Part 2

By Snow Drift

Many months ago, Dan Didio said “Heroes shouldn't have happy personal lives. They are committed to being that person and committed to defending others at the sacrifice of their own personal interests. […] It’s wonderful that they try to establish personal lives, but it’s equally important that they set them aside. That is our mandate, that is our edict and that is our stand,” emphasizing how people, to truly be heroes, need to have tragedies and sacrifices in their lives. To him, a person cannot care about humanity without them suffering tragedies over and over again. To him, without tragedy, there is no motivation to save. To him, a hero having a happy personal life is a subtraction of their heroic selves. I personally believe him to be incorrect. 

   

I believe that what many readers, since the humble origins of comics, have found so enticing and endearing about comic book superheroes is not simply their fights and superhuman adventures, but the fact that these men and women are symbols of hope. Superman decided to help humanity out of his own will and love for it. Wonder Woman, also known as Princess Diana, saw that Man’s World could still be saved through peace and love. Green Arrow aka Oliver Queen saw that even the most cornered citizens of the world deserved to live in safety. These people loved humanity and its potential so much that they saw their salvation was worth it. It goes beyond the notion of it being simply “the right thing to do”: it’s about how these men and women believe in the goodness of humanity at its core; that every single human, if given the chance and being guided when needed, can become heroes too. Each person deserves to live, to love, to give, and to receive.

   

For love for humanity to manifest itself to such an extent that Barry Allen would sacrifice his life in Crisis on Infinite Earths, for Superman to do the same when fighting Doomsday, for Charles Xavier and his X-Men to fight for the unity of humans and mutants; it all comes down to their own experiences of love. These heroes feeling that they can belong, that they are loved and cherished by people who will always be by their side, who will always smile at them at the end of the day and say “you did good”, is what motivates many of them to keep getting up every day to fight the evils of the universe. Because we must all remember that these characters, be they humans, aliens, spirits, or machines, still feel. They still experience emotions, from happiness to anger to pain; they still experience loss and loneliness, desperation and hopelessness. For them to have the strength and courage to fight incredible odds every day, they need to be reassured that their struggle has a reason to exist. Lois Lane always being there for Clark Kent to keep him grounded and hopeful and full of love; the Amazons of Themyscira nurturing and loving Diana throughout all of her life, Supergirl and Superboy having found a family with the Kents, Jaime Reyes, the Blue Beetle, being able to find a home where a family awaits him with pride and love, and the Bat Family, from Dick Grayson to Cassandra Cain to Damian Wayne, finding all of the same in Bruce Wayne, who himself found it in Alfred. In a world where everything is in constant tragedy and suffering, is very hard for an individual, one like any of us, to jump in and proclaim at the top of their lungs that they will save everyone until the very end of time. If they do not have a backdrop, an experience of love and compassion in their own lives, then they cannot see the same in the world outside of their own private lives.

Because these heroes are not gods or the Messiah or anything equivalent to those; they are not people who were born with the purest of hearts, chosen by a divine entity to save the universe from the darkness and evil. These are people who were born to have the same probabilities of either having a normal or abnormal life, depending on their future circumstances. None of them are perfect; they have all done their mistakes and erroneous decisions. Some have harbored prejudice where there was none to be deserved, others have not had the ability to be a proper parent, brother, sister, lover, or friend. However, they struggle to do better and we, as readers, witnessing their development and transformations into heroes are what motivate us to keep up with their lives.

Again, is it bad to have heroes whose motivation is based on tragedy and who keep experiencing it multiple times? No, it is not, nor is it bad for someone to have interest in these type of stories. But if every single hero in a comic book universe is made to be tragic from beginning to end, then this fictional plane of existence will drown itself in the darkness and whatever happens in this will affect reality, for fiction does not exist in a vacuum; it has consequences on the lives of the readers.

All in all, there is an incredible importance for these heroes to have a semblance of happiness in their lives. Some of their back-stories might be tragic or maybe their ultimate suffering will come later on in their adulthood, but to have them submerged into absolute darkness takes away what is essential of their beings.

   

Heroes are not named as such for their capes, their poses, or their powers. Their true heroism comes from not only physically saving innocents, but from also inspiring the same to do better; to fight, to run, and to stand again and again every time they fall, for we all have the strength and hope in ourselves to stare at the darkness and say “No. You may push me, you may wound me, but you will never stop me, for I am strong and live by the power of love and hope.” And so does everyone.  

Why Tragedy Should Not Be the Norm, but the Exception Part 1

By Snow Drift 

Ah, tragedy. You’re misery, you’re pain, but gosh darn it aren’t you so luring. From Oedipus Rex to Romeo and Juliet to Batman, you follow us all around the world, across all of time, giving us an infinitude of stories where men and women suffer and die. And sometimes we love it so much. 

Tragedy has always been a literary aspect for thousands of years that have helped create drama and compelling and memorable characters. And sometimes, within our hearts of hearts, we love to see this side of characters. It’s interesting, one has to admit, to witness the growth of a man or woman from their fall into the metaphorical darkness of misery and despair to their stand as beacons of light for humanity, both in the fictional universe and the real one.
  
However, ever since the birth of what can be called the Dark Age of comics (what many believe began with the death of Gwen Stacy, but that is still being debated), but especially with the explosion that was the DC Comics company-wide reboot, the New 52, almost every single superhero, no matter who they are and where they come from, have a massive pile of tragedy thrust into their lives, with an added dose of the oh so famous “grim and gritty”. Superman’s adoptive parents are now dead; Barry Allen’s, the Flash’s, mother was murdered by one of his enemies and his father was erroneously condemned to life in prison because of it; Hal Jordan’s, the Green Lantern’s, father was killed in a plane crash; Bruce Wayne has had two Robins actually die, including his son; the Amazons are now men-and-baby killing warriors; Buddy Baker’s, Animal Man’s, son has been killed and so on and so forth. 

On and on and on do we see this new tendency to infiltrate tragedy into the lives of our heroes over at DC Comics. Is it bad to do this? Not necessarily, since many heroes may have different motivations for their actions and decisions to fight as vigilantes. Batman and the Punisher are classical examples of men motivated by tragedy, along with Peter Parker with his Uncle Ben, Cassandra Cain with experiencing what it feels like to kill another human, and Helena Bertinelli, the Huntress, with the massacre of her family, these last being based on the old DC Universe. It’s fascinating to see how these characters attempt to right the wrongs of these tragedies and avoid the same events from happening to others who do not deserve it. To see them fight and struggle for these beliefs is enriching in itself. However, among these characters and many others, there is another tendency that follows them around, along with the memories of their tragedies: their happiness, especially the one coming from their loved ones.

Bruce Wayne could have ended up hating the world that he lived in. He could have witnessed the crimes, the injustice, and the corruption of the police and justice system and determined to himself that society was a lost cause; that it did not deserve, or was unable to reach, a future of happiness and peace. But he didn't, because within the tragedy of the murder of his parents, he had the opportunity to witness love and comfort from Alfred Pennyworth, hope in the police from Commissioner James Gordon, joy and innocence against all odds from Dick Grayson back when he was Robin, and so on. He saw all of that and understood that life, and the world, was made up of more than just hate and misery: it had love, it had happiness, and it had justice. 

Manga Review: Ark Angels

“That’s why…we believe every life is equal and precious.” 

By. Aliraluna 

  Sang-Sun Park was born in South Korea on August 9^th, 1974, and is both the author and artist of Jewels/Les Bijoux, The Tarot Café and Ark Angels. Her usual work tends to fall under comedy, fantasy, romance, and drama, but she’s not one to shy away from other genres.

  Tokyopop published the Ark Angels series in December 2005. (Don’t you just miss Tokyopop? Because I certainly do!) The series consists of three volumes starring a trio of sisters. These three sisters, Hamu, Shem and Japheth, are from an alternate version of Earth, and their mission is to rescue the animals that are on the brink of extinction on our Earth. They need to do so in order to save both Earths because the Earths are connected in some way, and if one of them is destroyed, the other ones will be annihilated as well. This being the case, the sisters volunteered to save our Earth because they still believed that goodness exists in the humans. Their powers help them in their mission, because not only can they see the physical form of the animal, but they can also glimpse their souls.

  This leads to the manhwa’s the main messages of how important it is to save and take care of every animal, not just those on the brick of extinction, and to think twice before bringing more harm to Earth. To me, this makes Ark Angels a really unique manhwa, since finding a series with a tangible message is pretty rare. How do the sisters actually save the chosen animals? They place them in Noah’s Ark, which is in form of a whale. But their task isn’t easy, since they have to live as normal humans, going to school, and even deal with fall in love. (Although, for those who don’t like romance, there isn’t much in this particular series, so there’s no need to worry!) The sisters also have magical pets that can transform into transportation devices.

  Want a sneak-peek? Here’s some information about one of the endangered species in volume 1:

 Meet the: Guam Fruit Bat

-          Year: 1968

-          Place: Guam's Mariana Archipelago

-          Gender: Male

-          Story: A chef that specializes in “premium fruit bat” cuisine has hunted down all the fruit bats and is  trying to capture the last one to prepare a special meal for a president. The girls save the last bat, but they have to save his mother too, who is under the “protection” of the chef.

-          Facts:

o   The male bat and his mother are the last one of this species.

o   He's the fifty-fifth son; his family used to be big, with lots of males and females.

o   They can't contain the urge to sing.

o   They eat sweet-smelling fruits.

o   He has grapes in his hair, while his mom has a pineapple.

Rating: 4/5

Enjoy!

 

Calvin and Hobbes Complete Collection Review

  By. DLaw

One thing from pop culture that has shaped generations is comic strips. Calvin and Hobbes, by cartoonist Bill Watterson, is the story of a 5 year old that has a stuffed tiger that he believes is real and with whom he goes on amazing adventures. The strip began on November 18, 1985 and ended on December 31, 1995, and has since become one of the most successful syndicated comic strips in history.

Bite-sized review:

The design is really easy to follow. The art looks updated and feels like its from a brand new newspaper. The layout is divided by date starting with its very first strip and ending with its last strip (sadly, but all good things do come to an end). The Sunday strips are full paged, colored and presents more of Calvin’s amazing imagination.  The series touches on many topics such as public education, the environment, and, to an extent, politics and how flawed it is. The comics even delve into philosophical questions that can keep the reader pondering the answer long after we’ve read the strip.

The Complete Collection is long, with a total of four books, and though it seems like a tedious task to read them all, it’s worth it in the end. You will laugh at the satire and even be surprised that strips made around twenty or even thirty years ago can still be relevant to this day. Besides, reading stories of an awesome kid who has a tiger for a friend is pretty cool!

The collection is a bit pricey at $100, but it’s still a great reading experience.

All in all, I would totally recommend this collection. It gets a 5/5 and I highly recommended for anyone who reads comics and likes comic strips. The art style doesn’t need to be over the top like modern comics to impress you and the story will have you hooked till the end.

Pros	Cons
Complete collection of the series	Price
Full art in black and white or colored
Once you start, you can’t stop