Monday, February 23, 2009
Make 'Em Laugh
In his latest Flipped column, David Welsh spotlights ten of his favorite funny manga. In the spirit of helping everyone laugh, here are five other manga that are great for giggles (click the link for each series to see plenty of sample scans thanks to other, better bloggers):
1. Club 9 by Makoto Kobayashi - An unfinished classic from Dark Horse*, Club 9 draws most of its laughs from the fish-out-of-water (mis)adventures of lovable country hick Haruo Hattori, freshly transplanted into big city Tokyo. Yet the laughs are never at the expense of Haruo; in fact, Haruo usually comes across as more together and more likable than any of the big-city sophisticates due to her openness, honesty, and sheer big-heartedness. With expressive, exaggerated character work that borders on caricature, Club 9 is not only a refreshing, charming read, but it also looks unlike any other manga out there.
* Dark Horse only published three out of five volumes of the series, but apparently the complete series was serialized in Dark Horse's defunct Super Manga Blast anthology. The three volumes that were published are all available for four bucks apiece over at TFAW.com, where they cruelly still list a "pre-order" for volume four due out on... November 2, 2007. (Sob!)
2. What's Michael? by Makoto Kobayashi - Another manga by Kobayashi, but this is more a series of gag strips than an extended narrative. Plots can jump from a bizarre parody of The Fugitive (only involving a wrongfully accused veternarian rather than doctor) to cute-overload encounters between cats and babies to
3. Slam Dunk by Takehiko Inoue - One of my all-time favorite series, period, Slam Dunk is best known for its incredible basketball action, but it also stands on its own as a comedy. Creator Takehiko Inoue created the perfect comedic foil in Hanamichi Sakuragi, a tough but tender lug who will do anything to impress the girl of his dreams — even play organized sports! Sakuragi's clueless, self-absorbed antics are the perfect fodder for plenty of manga mirth, and Inoue's perfectly balanced cartooning captures the comedy beautifuly.
4. Short Cuts by Usamaru Furuya - Sick, twisted, hilarious comic strips centering around cute Japanese schoolgirls. Furuya's art is a joy to behold, even when he's corrupting a concept in the most disturbing way possible. The humor may be too shocking or offensive for some, but I thought it was a riot. Check out one of my favorite sequences from volume two here (scroll down to the very bottom of the post).
5. Anywhere But Here by Tori Miki** - Miki's delightfully surreal strips may not be laugh-out-loud funny but they'll probably make you stop and think more than any other humor manga out there. Sometimes the gag is obvious, sometimes it's very subtle, but most of the time it's simply strange (yet sweet at the same time). Miki's playful, cute artwork sucks you in and transports you to a world where normal logic doesn't always apply. Think of The Far Side crossed with Charles Addams' old cartoons by way of the Yellow Submarine film.
** Sadly, Anywhere But Here appears to be out of print, but it's still available directly from Fantagraphics for 33.33% off.
Finally, as for whether or not Sgt. Frog is past its prime, I present the following two-page spread from volume 16 as evidence that the amphibian's still got it:
Yes, you can probably guess where this is going, but c'mon, how can you not love the idea of bowling as military training?
In his latest Flipped column, David Welsh spotlights ten of his favorite funny manga. In the spirit of helping everyone laugh, here are five other manga that are great for giggles (click the link for each series to see plenty of sample scans thanks to other, better bloggers):
1. Club 9 by Makoto Kobayashi - An unfinished classic from Dark Horse*, Club 9 draws most of its laughs from the fish-out-of-water (mis)adventures of lovable country hick Haruo Hattori, freshly transplanted into big city Tokyo. Yet the laughs are never at the expense of Haruo; in fact, Haruo usually comes across as more together and more likable than any of the big-city sophisticates due to her openness, honesty, and sheer big-heartedness. With expressive, exaggerated character work that borders on caricature, Club 9 is not only a refreshing, charming read, but it also looks unlike any other manga out there.
* Dark Horse only published three out of five volumes of the series, but apparently the complete series was serialized in Dark Horse's defunct Super Manga Blast anthology. The three volumes that were published are all available for four bucks apiece over at TFAW.com, where they cruelly still list a "pre-order" for volume four due out on... November 2, 2007. (Sob!)
2. What's Michael? by Makoto Kobayashi - Another manga by Kobayashi, but this is more a series of gag strips than an extended narrative. Plots can jump from a bizarre parody of The Fugitive (only involving a wrongfully accused veternarian rather than doctor) to cute-overload encounters between cats and babies to
3. Slam Dunk by Takehiko Inoue - One of my all-time favorite series, period, Slam Dunk is best known for its incredible basketball action, but it also stands on its own as a comedy. Creator Takehiko Inoue created the perfect comedic foil in Hanamichi Sakuragi, a tough but tender lug who will do anything to impress the girl of his dreams — even play organized sports! Sakuragi's clueless, self-absorbed antics are the perfect fodder for plenty of manga mirth, and Inoue's perfectly balanced cartooning captures the comedy beautifuly.
4. Short Cuts by Usamaru Furuya - Sick, twisted, hilarious comic strips centering around cute Japanese schoolgirls. Furuya's art is a joy to behold, even when he's corrupting a concept in the most disturbing way possible. The humor may be too shocking or offensive for some, but I thought it was a riot. Check out one of my favorite sequences from volume two here (scroll down to the very bottom of the post).
5. Anywhere But Here by Tori Miki** - Miki's delightfully surreal strips may not be laugh-out-loud funny but they'll probably make you stop and think more than any other humor manga out there. Sometimes the gag is obvious, sometimes it's very subtle, but most of the time it's simply strange (yet sweet at the same time). Miki's playful, cute artwork sucks you in and transports you to a world where normal logic doesn't always apply. Think of The Far Side crossed with Charles Addams' old cartoons by way of the Yellow Submarine film.
** Sadly, Anywhere But Here appears to be out of print, but it's still available directly from Fantagraphics for 33.33% off.
Finally, as for whether or not Sgt. Frog is past its prime, I present the following two-page spread from volume 16 as evidence that the amphibian's still got it:
Yes, you can probably guess where this is going, but c'mon, how can you not love the idea of bowling as military training?
Labels: Humor, Lists, Manga, Piggyback Blogging
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