Back in 2011 when looking forward, one of five books we were actively looking forward to in 2012 was “Sharknife.” A Western manga, the book sounded like something that would fit well between “Scott Pilgrim” and “Won Ton Soup”, and not just because of the obvious alphabetical reasons.
This week sees both the reprint of “Sharknife” as well as the release of the long-awaited sequel, “Sharknife: Double ZZ”, and for a meager $11.99 a pop for each volume, this is one of the few books you can’t afford to miss this week.
Pop behind the cut for some thoughts as to why.
When “Sharknife” opens, we’re introduced to a young man by the name of Ceasar Hallelujah, a busboy at the Guandong Factory. While on the surface he is a normal busboy at a normal restaurant, it quickly becomes clear that this is not the case at all — the Guandong Factory is under attack from a gangster by the name of Ombra Ravenga, who has enlisted people to hide monsters in the walls of the restaurant who periodically wake up and wreak havoc on the establishment and it’s populace. This is where Ceasar goes from being your average busboy into a hero and, with the ingestion of a magic fortune cookie baked by local cutie Chieko, becomes SHARKNIFE, a “red rocket ninja robot” here to kick ass, take names, and eat some udon noodles when all is said and done.
And, really — that’s just a light summation of the premise, let alone the first volume. That paragraph doesn’t tell you about the Orcasword, Raz-ir (King of Lions, Guardian of the Arcade Lands), the Spice-Cadets, the God Shark Jaga or even the Ice-Cream Robot. There’s a lot to this book, and a summary paragraph can only do so much.
However, what the book really is is the result of pure, unbridled imagination filtered through the lens of a video game. “Sharknife” is, in so many words, an orgy of videogame ideas and anime tropes thrown onto the pages of a comic, resulting in a cross that adds up to the best of both worlds. It’s an effortlessly enjoyable comic that instantly defines “page turner” with a fast-paced action extravaganza of mechanized ninja awesomeness, with the titular Sharknife cutting a path of destruction through the pages that lives up to his namesake. “Sharknife” is one of the few books that quickly establishes itself and then runs forward with little to no trepidation, jam-packing the entire comic full of bombastic sequences and tributes to nerd culture.
Really, the book is perfect from what you’d expect Oni given their history. As mentioned previously, the book fits beautifully alongside titles like “Scott Pilgrim” by Bryan Lee O’Malley and “Won Ton Soup” by James Stokoe, or even Brandon Graham’s Tokyopop works (such as “King City”, now published via Image Comics). The world Corey Lewis creates in the pages of “Sharknife” is a vibrant one, full of rich background textures and intimate details to the same tune of its own brand of stylized hyper-violence that the title clearly idolizes. It’s a fantastic blend of East and West comic ideas and tropes, playing up every possible angle and exploiting the genre as much as possible for the best conceivable outcome. “Sharknife” is a very fearless title, and its the kind of book so full of energy that the excitement leaks off the page and into the reader, creating a very visceral reading experience.
Corey Lewis is very much working on a bourgeoning masterpiece with “Sharknife”. It’s a beautiful comic with a clear and razor-sharp focus that revels in its own particular brand of sanity. While the original “Sharknife” was already pretty balls to the wall, Lewis very much goes for broke with the new sequel/second volume of the story, introducing previously unknown angles and opening up the world of “Sharknife” to the cosmic realm. There’s so much story and art so succinctly packed into the individual volumes here that it’s hard not quickly become enthralled, or dream quietly about what is to come by the end. The two books, when read in order, read very much like a listen to any bands first and second albums; if the first volume is Lewis introducing and playing off his inspirations, the second volume is Sharknife — both the character and the series — very much coming into its own, establishing its footing very firmly in where it stands between the worlds of playing off what came before and forging its own new path for the future. “Sharknife” is clearly meant for great things, and these two volumes certainly whet the appetite for anything and everything to come in the future.
Continued belowSuffice it to say, the wait for “Sharknife: Double ZZ” was worth it.
Of course, if none of that convinces you, the first chapter of “Sharknife: Double ZZ” is online at Kotaku. It’s the origin story of the character (so you can read it without having read the first volume), and it certainly sets the tone for the entire graphic novel if for no other reason than the origin of the character assumedly fits the origin of the series: boy draws kick-ass robot ninja character, boy goes absolutely nuts with the character and has fun while doing so. That kind of enthusiasm is contagious, and “Sharknife” is a disease waiting to be caught.
“Sharknife: Stage First” and “Sharknife: Double ZZ” will be in stores tomorrow for $11.99 a volume from Oni Press. The books weigh in at a cool 144 and 225 page count, and they’re certainly well worth the value. You’d certainly be remiss if you didn’t check it out before some other guy or gal buys up every copy at the story in a twisted bid of hoarding.
