The Stranger: Last Man Vol. 1
Created by: Balak, Michaël Sanlaville, and Bastien Vivès
A few years ago, back in the late 90s to early 2000s, Manga was at the height of its popularity in the US. Shows like Dragon Ball Z, Yu Yu Hakusho, and Cowboy Bebop enjoyed great success and fandom. A big feature of many Mangas (and Animes) is the fighting tournament. It's great way to showcase a variety of characters, raise artificial stakes, and provide extended action scenes. The Stranger: Last Man culls this idea, and a few others, into a distilled and almost simplified format. While reminiscent of Dragon Ball's budokai tournaments, or Yu Yu Hakusho's Dark Tournament, this is neither. It is entirely it's own style and function, but that doesn't necessarily make it a good thing.
The format follows that of a typical manga, set in an idyllic small town there is the main character, a young boy named Adrian, trying his best to train and compete in the town's massive tournament. Unfortunately, it's a team tournament, and Adrian doesn't have partner. Luckily for him, the mysterious Richard Aldana has arrived in town for the tournament not knowing he needed a partner in the first place. Aldana is a stereotypical "cool guy" character from Manga. He's built sturdy, has a slightly scruffy face, smokes, is a playboy/womanizing type. We've seen his character before a million times, practically done perfectly by Spike in Cowboy Bebop. He and Adrian form that unlikely alliance that you just can't help but root for. What is interesting about Aldana more than anything is that he seeming comes from a much different land than where the tournament is taking place. He wears average modern day clothing, while the town looks much more like a medieval European town. Combatants can use magic, but Aldana can't. It's almost as if he stepped into a portal leading him to another dimension. This is something I hope the creators expand on in coming volumes.
The somewhat simplistic story is matched by simplistic art. The style is loose and free, hardly finely detailed. It works for the context of the story, and reminds me quite a bit of the orignal Dragon Ball and other older mangas. Although, reading it digitally is something I would consider a negative because it looks like it was done in MS Paint. It would behoove the reader to find a print copy to enjoy the art to it's fullest. Despite the simplistic appearance, there is a lot of depth due to the use of varying shades of black, white, and gray. For those that aren't looking to be blown away by the art every page there's a lot to enjoy here.
Even though the plot is light so far, there's a surprising amount of tiny sub plots that litter the pages, each of them building at a slow rate. Clearly, this story is planned to go on for several volumes. If you find yourself bored on a Sunday afternoon, pick this up. There are worse ways to spend your time.
A few years ago, back in the late 90s to early 2000s, Manga was at the height of its popularity in the US. Shows like Dragon Ball Z, Yu Yu Hakusho, and Cowboy Bebop enjoyed great success and fandom. A big feature of many Mangas (and Animes) is the fighting tournament. It's great way to showcase a variety of characters, raise artificial stakes, and provide extended action scenes. The Stranger: Last Man culls this idea, and a few others, into a distilled and almost simplified format. While reminiscent of Dragon Ball's budokai tournaments, or Yu Yu Hakusho's Dark Tournament, this is neither. It is entirely it's own style and function, but that doesn't necessarily make it a good thing.
The format follows that of a typical manga, set in an idyllic small town there is the main character, a young boy named Adrian, trying his best to train and compete in the town's massive tournament. Unfortunately, it's a team tournament, and Adrian doesn't have partner. Luckily for him, the mysterious Richard Aldana has arrived in town for the tournament not knowing he needed a partner in the first place. Aldana is a stereotypical "cool guy" character from Manga. He's built sturdy, has a slightly scruffy face, smokes, is a playboy/womanizing type. We've seen his character before a million times, practically done perfectly by Spike in Cowboy Bebop. He and Adrian form that unlikely alliance that you just can't help but root for. What is interesting about Aldana more than anything is that he seeming comes from a much different land than where the tournament is taking place. He wears average modern day clothing, while the town looks much more like a medieval European town. Combatants can use magic, but Aldana can't. It's almost as if he stepped into a portal leading him to another dimension. This is something I hope the creators expand on in coming volumes.
The somewhat simplistic story is matched by simplistic art. The style is loose and free, hardly finely detailed. It works for the context of the story, and reminds me quite a bit of the orignal Dragon Ball and other older mangas. Although, reading it digitally is something I would consider a negative because it looks like it was done in MS Paint. It would behoove the reader to find a print copy to enjoy the art to it's fullest. Despite the simplistic appearance, there is a lot of depth due to the use of varying shades of black, white, and gray. For those that aren't looking to be blown away by the art every page there's a lot to enjoy here.
Even though the plot is light so far, there's a surprising amount of tiny sub plots that litter the pages, each of them building at a slow rate. Clearly, this story is planned to go on for several volumes. If you find yourself bored on a Sunday afternoon, pick this up. There are worse ways to spend your time.
A Look Inside
