Alright, this is my comic blog so I've got to do it. I've got to review some of my favorite comic EVER, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. I HAVE TO DO THIS. I've been reading Jojo off and on for a few years now and I'm currently on part seven (Steel Ball Run) so I figure I'll review a bit and see how it goes. If you're unfamiliar with this series, each part of Jojo is comprised of a different story with different characters, ranging from five to twenty volumes in length. They're all so unique and interesting, Jojo is basically seven (eight as of recently) completely different manga series in one. In other words: IT KICKS ASS. Since this manga isn't available to American readers (with the exception of part three), I'm reading Steel Ball Run online chapter by chapter. But doing a review of it only by chapter seems too trivial so I'll review it by volume(s).
Plot Summary
Part six of Jojo took place in a prison in 2012 and due to some crazy events at the end, SBR takes place in the wild west in the 1890's. This manga originally started off in Weekly Jump but after about twenty four chapters, it changes into a monthly series. In a nutshell, the story is about a huge race on horseback from San Diego to New York. The two main characters are introduced a good way into the first volume, Gyro Zeppeli (an ancestor of the recurring Zeppeli family) and Johnny Joestar (SBR's JoJo). Johnny is a paraplegic and when he gets touched with Gyro's mysterious steel balls, the strange rotation effect from them causes Johnny's dead legs to actually move. Before starting the race, he decides that he's going to find out the mystery of the steel balls and how they got his legs to move.
We meet some interesting contestants. Diego Brando (known as Dio) and Muhammad Abdul are reincarnations of former Jojo characters. A man known as Poco Loco is a hilariously awesome black guy competing in the race. He's been told by a fortune teller than his luck is one in five billion so he decides to give the SBR race a shot. Another big character is a native American known as Sandman, who is competing in the race ON FOOT. He has a big advantage knowing the regions of the country much better than the other contestants. I don't want to give many spoilers away so I won't go into what happens in the race. The writer/artist Hirohiko Araki is a godlike being in my eyes; his art gets better with every Jojo series and Steel Ball Run is no exception. Art wise, everything is there in this series and it'll only get better as it goes on. I'm excited to see how much the art will improve in the latter part of SBR when it's a monthly title.
These first two volumes are very much in the western type genre and the series doesn't really become bizarre until volume three. I think Araki cleverly made this series seem very different at first and slowly integrated his Jojo style into it over time. SBR is definitely for a crowd older than that of typical Weekly Jump. These two volumes seem like a pretty straightforward manga story but once you get to the the third volume, shit gets BIZARRO. My first impression of reading Jojo a few years ago was that it was really disturbing and frankly, that hasn't changed! No matter how much I read into the series, it never ceases to disturb me in new and interesting ways. I mean this in a very humble and inspirational way.
Unlike the other parts of Jojo, I don't think it's necessary to read everything up to this point. SBR is still a part of the Jojo lore but it's very much its own series and everything is explained thoroughly. But if you're like me and you've read Jojo parts one through six up to this point, then it's just that much sweeter. Other than having to read this manga online, it's a fantastic read. It's got intense action, good comedy and a nice western feel to it.
Read this series.
Steel Ball Run volumes 1 and 2 - 9/10
