Master Keaton, Vol. 1
by Naoki Urasawa, Takashi Nagasaki | Graphic Novels |
ISBN: 1421575892 Global Overview for this book
ISBN: 1421575892 Global Overview for this book
2 journalers for this copy...
I adored the anime series about this mild-mannered but very resourceful professor/hostage-negotiator/archaeologist, and pre-ordered this first English-language manga volume as soon as I heard of it - and it finally arrived!
The series is more of an anthology than anything else, with some recurring characters but with most of the stories being self-contained. Here, he visits the Greek isles to investigate an insurance claim on a suspicious death, and winds up having to put some of his military training to use as well. Later he goes to Italy to track down the heir to a fortune, only to find that he's been captured by a terrorist - nothing's ever simple for this guy!
In another story we meet Keaton's teenage daughter, and learn more about how he met his ex-wife and what went wrong with their marriage; it's all pretty light-hearted, with notes of sadness here and there, but for the most part everyone's moving on with their lives pretty well. And the teasing between father and daughter is quite charming.
Still another case combines Keaton's archaeology skills with his insurance-investigation ones, as he's sent to appraise a dig in remote western China. Here he winds up caught in the middle of rival factions, and when his main ally is killed, he and a handful of other Europeans are cast out into the desert without supplies to die. Cue Keaton's special-ops survival training!
It's not all danger, though; one charming tale has Keaton and daughter visiting Keaton's father at the old homestead. Grandpa's a widower and something of a Lothario, it seems - quite charming in his own way, though he and Keaton get on each other's nerves sometimes. This story features lots of beautifully nostalgic bits about lost loves, the passage of time, and memories.
Yep, he can do it all, or so it seems - except for remembering where he left his faculty ID card. Part MacGyver, part Indiana Jones, part Sherlock Holmes, and with touches of "absent-minded professor" - he's great fun!
[There's a TV Tropes page on the series.]
The series is more of an anthology than anything else, with some recurring characters but with most of the stories being self-contained. Here, he visits the Greek isles to investigate an insurance claim on a suspicious death, and winds up having to put some of his military training to use as well. Later he goes to Italy to track down the heir to a fortune, only to find that he's been captured by a terrorist - nothing's ever simple for this guy!
In another story we meet Keaton's teenage daughter, and learn more about how he met his ex-wife and what went wrong with their marriage; it's all pretty light-hearted, with notes of sadness here and there, but for the most part everyone's moving on with their lives pretty well. And the teasing between father and daughter is quite charming.
Still another case combines Keaton's archaeology skills with his insurance-investigation ones, as he's sent to appraise a dig in remote western China. Here he winds up caught in the middle of rival factions, and when his main ally is killed, he and a handful of other Europeans are cast out into the desert without supplies to die. Cue Keaton's special-ops survival training!
It's not all danger, though; one charming tale has Keaton and daughter visiting Keaton's father at the old homestead. Grandpa's a widower and something of a Lothario, it seems - quite charming in his own way, though he and Keaton get on each other's nerves sometimes. This story features lots of beautifully nostalgic bits about lost loves, the passage of time, and memories.
Yep, he can do it all, or so it seems - except for remembering where he left his faculty ID card. Part MacGyver, part Indiana Jones, part Sherlock Holmes, and with touches of "absent-minded professor" - he's great fun!
[There's a TV Tropes page on the series.]
I'm adding this book to k00kaburra's manga bookbox, which will go in the mail on Monday. Hope someone enjoys it!
*** Released as part of the 2015 TV Series release challenge. ***
*** Released as part of the 2015 TV Series release challenge. ***
If you want to make him
laugh like a donkey,
tell him to leave it to chance.
laugh like a donkey,
tell him to leave it to chance.
