BOOK
Akira
Vol. 1

Author: Katsuhiro Otomo
Titan Books
£22.99
ISBN 1840232579
Available 23 February 2001


On 6th December, 1992 a new type of bomb exploded over the metropolitan area of Japan with horrific global consequences. Almost 40 years later in 2030 the Japanese population is beginning to rebuild its social society, little knowing that a much greater threat to the human race is on the horizon...

From Japan's foremost Manga maestro, master storyteller Katsuhiro Otomo, comes the epic work that introduced the West to the epic, stylised and sweeping artform that is Manga - Akira.

This post-apocalyptic saga, set in the remains of Neo-Tokyo, charts the coming of the creature known as Akira - power both feared and prized for its potential to shake the recovering world. Caught in a power play between factions of a brutal military organisation, a young rebel named Kaneda and Ryu, the leader of an underground movement, are pulled into an escalating nightmare, built around a group of psychically powered children.

This monster (in both subject and size) of a graphic novel has been launched by Titan to coincide with the release of the launch of Akira on DVD and while the movie is excellent the graphic novel is so much more. This represents the first It's not difficult to see why this work grabbed the hearts of the West. This is a work of art with balls!

For all those who thought comics were for kids, this will prove you wrong for good. A must buy and not that expensive for 360 pages of pure delight.

Darren Rea