If you missed last week's part of the series, a little introduction: I've been reading a lot of manhwa (Korean comics) lately after rediscovering a couple older titles I read way back when TokyoPop was still a thing, and discovering a lot of new series as well, so I thought I'd share a few thoughts on them.

As with my "Stuff I Like" series, these won't be reviews, per se, just me talking about stuff cuz I can.

So, let's get started with LAON.

LAON, written by YoungBin Kim and drawn by Hyun You, follows the titular character, Laon, a gumiho (fox spirit) stripped of its ears and tails and cast from the heavens down to Earth in a reasonable facsimile of human form, initially appearing as a young boy about 12 or 13 years old.

When Laon arrives on Earth, nude, nearly-devoid of memories, having no idea how anything works, and with only a fraction of "his" power, he's shocked to discover his tails and ears missing and his only thought is of getting them back. Well, after he eats, of course.

What follows, in the early chapters, is Laon inadvertently making friends with a troubled middle-school-aged girl--well, let's call her what she is; she's an outright delinquent--who teaches him the basics of life on Earth, including wearing clothes and er, mugging people. The series appears to be setting up a classic, albeit gender-bent, "beautiful intruder" style story... and then it turns everything on its head. And while I did like this series a lot, honestly, this was a weakness. The story takes a sharp left-turn and everything and everyone we spent the early chapters reading about--except for Laon's origin--is suddenly tossed out of the window, never to be seen or even mentioned again. It was rather jarring as a reader.

After parting from his first Earth-friend, in search of his tails, of course, Laon comes into contact with and glomps onto Tae-Ha, a reporter for a shady monthly "news" magazine, that publishes a mix of celebrity rumor/gossip-type stuff and World Weekly Newsesque stories. From there, the story develops into a weird-of-the-week series, as Tae-Ha investigates supernatural events that are tied into humans possessed by Laon's missing tails.

Only two (of nine) are found this way before the story takes another big turn, although it was one that was more organic to the story, at least, and far better-handled. The last two volumes are spent on a single, lengthy storyline that closes out the series.

This may seem like complaining, but trust me, I did enjoy this book. It's frenetic, action-packed, often hilarious (a running gag is Laon kissing Tae-Ha as the most efficient way of stealing spiritual energy from him--upon which Laon subsists--and the fact that as a spirit, Laon's gender shifts back and forth from male to female depending on the dominate yin or yang energy in an area; it seems like it would get old, but the creators were remarkably inventive in coming up with fresh ways to embarrass and/or get Tae-Ha in trouble with that gag) comic that brushes against true drama a few times. The majority of the characters in the series are fairly two-dimensional, but Tae-Hae, Laon and a couple supporting members are fleshed out enough, both with backstory and on-going character development, that the story keeps rolling.

Except...

My biggest complaint about the storytelling is that we're given no background information on most of Tae-Ha's coworkers (who are important, rather than just background characters) until relatively deep into the series and then we're only given tantalizing clues about Kyu-Ri, the magazine's resident fortune-teller who, unbeknownst to anyone, has actual magical abilities, and her brother Gyu-Jin, the magazine's intern. And then these clues are never followed up on. I mean, come on; you give us a girl with magical powers who's clearly in love with the series's nominal male-lead (Tae-Ha) and don't flesh it out at all? That's a disservice to your readers and your story. I really wanted to know more about both her and her brother's origins, as it's strongly hinted that the reason Gyu-Jin is such a spazz (he really is) is due to Kyu-Ri using magic on him, somehow for his own good. You could probably do an entire side-series about these two based on the little information we've been given about them.

The art, at least, I have no complaints at all about. It was very good, always interesting and shifted regularly into different styles (sometimes very western-influenced, sometimes very manga-influenced, in later chapters looking very much influenced by the art of Hyung Min-Woo, mahwaga behind PRIEST - probably the most famous of all manhwa, at least outside of Korea) and I found myself wondering how much of it was intentional, and how much simply a natural progression of Hyun You's style as the series was produced. Some of it was clearly intentional, such as when Laon or others travel through spiritual realms, but other times there was no obvious story-element reason for the art to change. At no time, however,  was the art not excellent, and I enjoyed the varying styles as Hyun flexed his artistic muscles.

LAON isn't exactly a light read, but nor is it a strenuous one and at only six volumes, not a tremendous investment, either. While it wasn't the most cohesive series, I enjoyed it a great deal and if you're just looking for something action-packed and sometimes silly to enjoy, you really can't go wrong.

Just a quick Stuff I Like while this is fresh in my mind.

I re-read Rick Geary's "The Adventures of Blanche" hardcover this morning and as a long-time, and fervent, Rick Geary fan I'm almost ashamed to say I don't read this book more often as it's pretty much the peak of Geary's work.

The original Adventures of Blanche comics came out in floppy format in the 89-90 range, but it wasn't until 2009 that Dark Horse collected all the stories into a single volume. That it was worth the wait, for Dark Horse was the original publisher but was much, much smaller when these first saw print, for these stories to find new audiences in a new format, is an understatement. 

Geary's humor and keen sense of history are as present here as any of his other historically-based works, but seem somehow more lively, more joyous. The intertwining of a fictional character with real-life characters and events (only a few in these) is difficult, and Geary pulls it off magnificently.

Historical fiction frequently ends up with either the fiction feeling falsely forced onto the real events or the history takes a backseat and becomes entirely irrelevant. Not here. Blanche dances in and out of real places, events and the lives of a few real people so deftly that the stories (with a few fantastical exceptions) really do feel like they could be reminisces of some globe-trotting young lady with a talent for being in the right place at the right time.

If you aren't familiar with Geary's work, this is a great place to start. If you are a Geary fan but somehow have overlooked this, complete your collection ASAP.

And no, that's not an invitation you... um, perverts.

LET'S BE PERVERTS is an awesome manhwa (Korean comics) series and the subject of the first installment of a new feature I'm doing. 

I've been reading a lot of manhwa lately after rediscovering a couple older titles I read when TokyoPop was still a thing and I thought I'd share a few thoughts on them. As with my "Stuff I Like" series, these won't be reviews, per se, just me talking about stuff cuz I can.

So, LET'S BE PERVERTS.

You might guess from the title and cover that this is a sex comic, as I did when Amazon first suggested it to me. And there is some of that, to be fair, but it's hardly the focus of the story. In fact, You-jung Lee has created a remarkably realistic and easy-to-relate to coming of age story in LET'S BE PERVERTS, one that ably mixes comedy, pathos and yes, some sex stuff.

The story's main character is Perverto (Byeontae in the original Korean, which means "transformation", but sounds identical to the Korean transliteration of the Japanese hentai, meaning "pervert") and everyone he knows, of course, knows what "pervert" means in English.

Contrary to his name, however, Perverto is actually a very shy, considerate kid, but when a series of innocent accidents occurs at his school, he's branded the local pervert and his family chooses to move to another city to allow him a fresh start. On his very first day at his new school, however--in fact, on his way to school--he's framed for groping a girl on the subway... by none other than his new math teacher, starting the cycle he tried to escape all over again.

What follows over the course of four volumes is really a story about growing up and making a place for yourself not only in the world, but inside your own head. Perverto is absolutely determined to live a "normal" life, without bothering anyone and without being bothered in turn, but discovers that sort of life isn't really worth living and the more he tries to keep out of situations where he might find undue trouble, the more they keep occurring.

Along the way, he makes friends, gets involved in the problems of a few people who make his own issues look trivial and occasionally falls off the path of the straight and narrow. In fact, the title of the series comes from a particularly revealing story arc in which, sick of being constantly accused of things he hasn't done just because of his name, Perverto decides to live up to the title of "pervert" - only to discover just how dehumanizing and soul-crushing such a life can be. I won't spoil exactly what happens, because it really is the crux of the series in a way, but it's got a power to it that goes beyond what you'd expect of a comic like this.

Aside from the story, the art is decent. It's not amazing, but it's competent for the style needed here, fitting into a niche somewhere between the heavily-manga-influenced manhwa that is typically the bulk of what gets translated into English (often publishers don't even mention that stuff IS Korean and try to simply pass it off as more manga... but I digress) and more western styles. Unusual and expressive faces are what Lee seems to excel at and he puts it to good use more often than not. Some of my favorites are the secret faces Perverto's father (who is, in fact, a pervert) often makes when he's gotten away with something - especially if Perverto or his younger brother Pervergu have taken the blame.

Overall, it's a short, very good read, the kind of story you'd not usually find in western comics and if you're looking for something a little out of the ordinary, check it out.

Thanks to all of you readers out there, NERVOSA is the fourth most popular story on textnovel.com in the horror category and it's closing in on number three! So go read and enjoy chapter 59 and share with your friends!

Then coming back here tomorrow for the first installment of a brand-new weekly feature!

NERVOSA just surpassed 2800 unique reads, making it the fourth most popular story in the horror category on textnovel.com and I just wanted to give a big THANK YOU to everyone who helped it get there! Knowing people are reading it is amazing to me and I'm very grateful. I hope you'll stick with us to the end and keep enjoying.

So without further ado, chapter 57 is up: go read "Jinx It"!

Number six in a post on stuff I like. Not reviews, not attempts to get you to go out and buy them (I get no kick-backs from anyone), just talking about stuff I like cuz I like it and cuz, you know, it's my website. 

Anyway, I haven't done one of these in a few weeks, but it's only for lack of time, not for lack of like and I really like TO THE ABANDONED SACRED BEASTS.

The writer & artist duo Maybe (Meibī) are probably not known to western readers, as TO THE ABANDONED SACRED BEASTS is their first manga series to be published in English (although the anime based on their series DUSK MAIDEN OF AMNESIA came out in English a few years ago), but I hope they'll be well-read over here soon based on the brilliance of SACRED BEASTS.

The series is set immediately after the American Civil War in an alternate-history world in which many more states joined the Confederacy than the Union. The Union, out-manned and under-resourced, turned to sorcery to make up the difference, transforming a cadre of elite soldiers into analogues of mythical beasts, which they call the Incarnates. There's a minotaur, a dragon, even the Biblical Behemoth and Leviathan, among others.

No explanation is given for why this is the answer to their problems, or how it was accomplished, but it's unnecessary--at least to jump into the series--because the results speak for themselves. The Union is victorious, the transformed soldiers are heroes, all is good.

Except there's no way to restore the men's humanity. And on top of that, the government now sees them as an embarrassment, essentially thanking them for their service and releasing them into a society that has no place for them.

Worse, many of these soldiers' beastly forms begin to infect their mind, overtaking their humanity and rewriting their personas and making them truly beasts and forcing the government to put them down for the safety of those around them.

Well, our guide to this world is the daughter of one of the Incarnates--the dragon--who was put down relatively early on, after succumbing to his physicality's nature. She seeks revenge, not understanding why her father had to die after sacrificing everything for his country and its people. But after meeting the government's leading Incarnate hunter, the man directly responsible for her father's death, she learns it's not all black and white.

I know my description of this scenario may sound a little cheesy, but trust me, that's all me; I can't really do this series justice. You've got to read it. It's a fantastic dark fantasy that swiftly turns everything you expected from it on its head by the end of the very first chapter. More than that, it makes important commentary on how modern society treats veterans and especially how those who have sacrificed their bodies and minds, those who are irreparably damaged, are seen by those responsible for them as little more than an inconvenience, an embarrassment and a reminder of a period they want to forget about.

That's an important discussion that needs to be had. If it needs to be had through entertainment, so be it, because this is the kind of entertainment that deserves a wider audience. It really is that good.

First, your Sunday morning NERVOSA update is here! Check out chapter 55 "Tableau"!

Next, due out on 7/9 and currently up for pre-order is Bride of Chaos Publishing's 9Tales from Elsewhere anthology, with the lead story being my sci-fi tale "So You're Stuck in a Time-Loop", plus eight more tales of other times and places!

Head on over to Amazon and make sure you order yours!