Salutations, traveler of The Internets! Welcome to William's Bloody Hell, so named after our founder, Sir Bloody William.
He is seen in the likeness above in a rare, 19th century woodcut. This
image was rumoured to have been
commissioned after a bout of unpleasantness
in the White Chapel district of London. Do enjoy your stay and peruse our many, varied offerings, much of which cannot be found elsewhere!
:: Cromartie volume 1 by Eiji Nonaka ::
by William the Bloody
Cromartie High School is the lowest of the low in Tokyo. All the students who fail the entrance exams to every other school in the city eventually wind up here, so naturally the student body consists of not only the not-so-intelligent, but also the delinquents, troublemakers and bad asses. So, what then is honor roll and model student Takashi Kamiyama doing here? It seems his only friend in junior high wasn't all that bright, so Kamiyama tried to convince him he'd have an academic future, even if it meant enrolling in the worst school there is, and wanted to make it easier on him by going there as well. Unfortunately, Kamiyama's good intentions bite him in the ass because his friend was too stupid to pass even the pitiful Cromartie entrance exam, so now he finds himself the lone straight shooter and academic in a school full of bullies and idiots. In a bizarre twist of events however, Kamiyama not only some how fits in well with this new crowd, but also practically becomes his class's leader.
The Good: Nonaka's art style pleasantly reminds me of the works of Mike Dringenberg on Sandman; it's cartoony with just enough realism, and looks great in black and white. The overall humour of this comic is random and bizarre to say the least. Weirdness abounds around every turn and when you least expect it by means of a really hairy shirtless guy, a gorilla, and... a robot?!? The stories aren't too deep, going instead for something light hearted. There are even little foot notes and side bars by the author which add to the fun.
The Bad: The brand of humour for this series is definitely... out there and might not be found to be funny by everyone. There is no real issue to issue story continuations, and sometimes the author himself becomes bored or writes himself into a corner and just stops a story right where it is and starts something else. At times, it gets almost downright stupid. It feels like sometimes the author doesn't even know what's really going on and just decides to let things ride as they are, which makes a lot of this feel surreal.
I went into this book excited and left feeling confused and amused at the same time. I'm undecided as to whether I actually LIKE any of the characters or not as most of them aren't really all that developed, and almost of the ruffians want to do is know who among them is the toughest all of the time. There were a couple of stand out stories that were really quite funny, but most of it felt more like "you've got to be kidding me!" It's a truly wacky and one of a kind experience, and I WILL be checking out the mini-DVD that came with it for a sample of the anime, but I'm uncertain whether or not I would actually pay money for more of this series.
B
