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22 December 2023
After months of delay, I’ve finally completed the most monumental and gratifying task in all my time as a comic book reader/student: I finished reading Katsuhiro Otomo’s epic 2,000+ page phenomenon Akira. This book should be on everyone’s top-ten list of stories to read before they die. (In fact, I would recommend immediately.) There are some books that have breathtaking art, and there are others with stories and concepts that just blow you away. Thinking about all of the comics produced in recent history, only a very small percentage of them hit a home run on both accounts. Akira is one of those rare books.
From its opening words, Akira throws us into a world of culture struggle, espionage, mysticism, self discovery, government rebellion, and drug abuse that is as engrossing as it is beautiful. You’d never guess the scope of the story, though, as it begins focusing solely on Kaneda, Tetsuo, and their merry gang of bikers. It escalates quickly as they stumble upon a mysterious child who causes Tetsuo to wreck his bike in a terrible accident, and the government steps in to cover up the mess. From there, it’s balls-to-the-wall action and adventure that eventually leads to the cataclysmic annihilation of Tokyo and the subsequent trials the characters face trying to pull their city back together.
While all manga is stylized and cartoony to some degree, the environments in Akira are breathtaking to say the least. From the buildings to the motorcycles to the underground laboratories, the original weaponry, and the blobular technology monsters, everything in Otomo’s world screams believability and reality. It’s so simple to get lost within the pages of this story because everything looks so damn good. And when Tokyo begins to crumble, let me tell you, it’s like nothing you’ve ever seen before. From tight shots of buildings collapsing and falling into other buildings, to massive shots of citywide destruction, every detail is meticulously crafted. Otomo also has the ability to relay action and movement in a violent ballet. The fight scenes are raw and visceral, and characters emotions are tangible on the page. Never before have I seen anything like this.
For those that have seen the movie, the book follows similar story points. But as is said for most book-to-movie translations, the movie leaves a lot of the book out. In fact, because Otomo wanted to do the anime (he took a very active role in its production writing and directing) he threw together a quick ending, one that he wasn’t really satisfied with. He later revisited Akira, threw out the original ending, and produced the final ending found today.
Basically, after reading this, my entire view of comics changed. If comics could be like this, why would anyone buy anything else? There are only a few artists and writers who have the skill and talent to craft stories of this caliber that I know of, and none who could do both. If you haven’t gotten the hint yet, you need to find this book. If you can’t, email me and I’ll help you find it. If we could all just see what good comics truly are I believe that this industry could take off in ways we’ve never imagined.
artid
3528
Old Image
8_6_panels.jpg
issue
vol 8 - issue 06 (feb 2006)
section
entertainmental