Fantasies of Tokyo and New Orleans

It seemed only fair to include Japanese manga in my science fiction and fantasy graphic novel challenge, so I bought a two-volume omnibus of Ranma ½, a series several of my undergrad friends had enjoyed. Dojo master Tendo has three daughters but no son, so he and his friend Saotome agreed that Saotome’s son Ranma will marry one of the Tendo girls and inherit the dojo. Ranma’s had lots of martial arts training, most recently, in China, where he fell into a cursed spring and is now doomed to turn into a girl whenever struck by cold water (hot water turns him back). Perhaps less fortunately, his father fell into the Spring of Drowned Panda. No one in the younger generation is thrilled about the prospects of arranged marriage, particularly Akane, a skilled martial artist herself.

It was a bit of an adjustment reading left to right (and, at times, telling the three daughters and she-Ranma apart), but it didn’t take long before I was speeeding through the pages. It’s fun and silly, and I can see how it might be fun to be part of its fanbase – like being welcomed into the characters’ family, always affectionately teasing. The stark authority the two patriarch have over their offspring is undercut by the elder Saotome’s frequent transformations into a (large and nonverbal) panda. Ranma ½ seemed to have more in common with the old spirit of a comic strip (though it takes at least a few pages to play off a joke) than the other graphic novels I’ve read. There’s definitely an evolving story, but it was already seeming to repeat itself (with just slightly different fights and opponents) in the seventeen installments I read. There are a lot of boobs-are-funny jokes and the story’s tendency to make the highest stakes conflicts those between he-Ranma and his male antagonists (although the later chapters introduced a female villain and possibly a more Akane-centered storyline) make me feel the books are a little less progressive than some female fans might want to think. There are many volumes of Ranma ½, but Ranma and Akane seem so clearly destined for each in a Beatrice-and-Benedict way that I’m almost surprised author Rumiko Takahashi is able to stretch out what seems to be an inevitable pairing. I’d put my money on a happy ending, but I don’t think I’m going to read the full series to find out.

***

Six pistols with occult powers, when brought together, will end the world – and remake it with guidance from whoever holds The Sixth Gun. Drake Sinclair seems to be on a simple treasure hunt when he shows up at the Montclair ranch, but soon pistol-toting strangers are attacking the ranch, Pa’s dead, and Becky Montclair wields the mystical Sixth Gun. Did I mention the guns can change hands only with their owner’s death?

Gunfighter with a shady past, orphaned girl forced to leave home, Civil War veterans, evil Conferate generals, mysterious religious orders, supernatural weapons, four deadly horsemen: while it all comes together in its own particular way, none of the elements are really anything that hasn’t been seen before on TV, in movies, or in books (whether Westerns or other genres). What really stands out is the impressive artwork, detailed and vividly colorful, from a spooky early image of a Gallows Tree to the impressive arrival of a thunderbird. Illustrator Brian Hurtt excels at crowded action scenes, like the fight in a theatre/saloon that ends Chapter 2 and the closing’s extended Battle at the Maw.  

Book 1: Cold Dead Fingers tells a full story that comes to a strong ending (that nevertheless makes it clear further adventures are on their way). As Becky travels with Drake and must decide whether to trust him, she evolves from engenue to adventurer. We get a little bit of Drake’s past. Becky, Drake, and jovial sidekick Billijohn O’Henry start out fleeing the forces of undead General Hume (led by his wife Missy and four evil gunmen), but eventually decide they must take the offensive. When they discover Hume’s hidden fort, built over a sinister seal in the earth, they find allies in Hume’s former prisoners, led by freedman Gord Cantrell – but they are quickly beseiged by Hume’s soldiers, living and dead.

Although I felt the characters were more types than individuals, the great art and fast-moving action made me curious enough to buy Book 2. (Slippery slope; I ended up with all six volumes that have been released so far.) Book 2: Crossroads, set in New Orleans, was a particularly strong installment. Becky, Drake, and Gord come to the Crescent City to recuperate from the battle and plan. Becky is wooed by an Owen-Wilson-lookalike cowboy. Gord researchs dark manuscripts to find a way to destroy the guns, while Drake takes a more active approach, venturing into the swamps to find occultist Henri Fournier. The drawings of the swamps, infested by alligators and loa, are intense, as are later battle scenes (including an attack by owls).

Book 3: Bound starts with a dramatic fight on a train speeding west that ends with Becky and Drake being separated. The volume then stagnates a bit as the members of the secret society Sword of Abraham try to keep Becky under their wing. We learn probably a little more than we need to about Mystery Mummy Asher Cobb, as well as the more cogent backstory of Gord Cantrell, who travels South and confronts his past in an effort to find more information about the guns.

Happily, the action picks back up again in Book 4: A Town Called Penance. A stranger rides into town – and it’s Becky, dressed in pants, a brown jacket, denim shirt, Drake’s bowler hat and packing heat. While I initially thought Becky was bit too damselly, she does begin to develop, especially in Books 4-6. Here, she’s looking for Drake, who’s being held by the Knights of Solomon, yet another of those pesky clandestine organizations. (Drake’s knife and gun wounds from the train battle are miraculously healed, but we do get to enjoy him being tortured for a chapter or so.) It’s not clear how the inhabitants of Penance are connected to the Knights, but the townspeople are clearly not normal and they’re warring among themselves. Eventually, Becky finds her way into the Knights’ Goonies-like stronghold, and she blasts her way in to rescue Drake. I’m not sure whether I think it’s cool that the chapter dealing with the rescue is dialogue-free (Becky’s hearing has been damaged by an explosion), relying on action and the character’s physicalities or a little bit of a gyp that Becky’s been literally silence, unable to exchange repartee with any of her opponents or verbally gloat. Drake gets some of his own back by beating up Jessup, a Knight of Solomon with whom he seems to share some history. At the end of the book, we see Jessup being rescued by lizard-men and catch up with cowboy Owen Kirby Hale, who’s back on the trail of the guns.

Book 5: Winter Wolves seems to take us further west than we’ve yet been. Drake and Becky seek supplies and allies at Fort Treadwell, but accidentally cross over into a spirit world of deepest winter, where the fort is abandoned and a powerful, hungry spirit in wolf form stalks outside. We learn a bit about Drake’s past, namely that he at one time worked with a blond woman, possibly the sister Jessup believe Drake killed. Meanwhile in the physical reality, Gord, mummified Asher Cobb, and Kirby Hale meet up and decide to team together, at least for the moment, though all ultimately have different goals for the guns. Just when it seems Drake, Becky, or both must die to end the unnatural winter, their erstwhile companions are effect a bargain to free them – but not before, in a precursor of things to come, Drake has sustained a more permanent injury.

With Drake ill from his adventures in Book 5 and Becky unconscious after trying to take control of the Sixth Gun’s power, the band of misfits encounters a band of Native Americans in Book 6: Ghost Dance. Initially threatening, they soon prove to be allies of a sort, insisting that Becky undertake a vision quest along the Winding Path in order to recover. This Ghost Dance (which I’m pretty sure is a historically and culturally inaccurate use of the term) will show her many possible realities that guns could create – or perhaps have already created. It’s a bit annoying to get two spirit world storyline back to back, but in addition to drawing out the storyline, it gives another opportunity for Becky to lead while exploring an idea Drake had expressed that perhaps he’s already used the Sixth Gun to remake the world. Also, of course, for the writer and artist to have fun – giving us a primitive world with a Conan-like Drake and a medieval one with a castle besieged by dragons, where Drake is a black knight and Becky wields a sword. For more psychological conflicts, Becky dines with General Hume in a world reshaped to his pleasure and encounters a reality where she shacked up with cowboy Kirby Hale and started a family. On the physical plane, Missy Hume has recruited a band of natives (shapeshifters) to disrupt Becky’s journey. Gord, Kirby, Asher, and new allies Nahuel and Nidawi break the shapeshifters’ focus and bring the battle back to earth. While the victory over the shapeshifters combined with Becky’s seemingly successful Ghost Dance, it’s a little disappointing when Missy is ultimately killed by her mother-in-law Griselda. The final chapter ends with a sinister hint that Becky and Drake may be more changed by the guns they bear than they’ve yet come to suspect. The epilogue implies that the next book may find Drake, Becky, and company besiege Hume’s home, opposed by Griselda and her new champion Jessup.

And will I be planning to read the next volume? Yep, I gotta say I’m looking forward to it.