It's escaped. It's here. And it's wonderful!

       Packed full of old favourites and new stories, plus some new and very welcome features, this is, quite simply, a "must have" for all Cyber City Oedo fans and anyone who likes great humour, cliff-hanging drama and excellent artwork.
       The editorial is, as ever, friendly and helpful, and this time there's a page introducing the CyberAge team, in inimitable style (Paul Johnson's CyberAge 'inventions' include "Hasegawa's Christmas alcohol problem and a Ninja Les Dawson". No, I'm not going to explain. Read the manga!) There's a Cyber News page, with information about conventions and websites. There are the helpful fanzine review pages, and a very funny article on Useless Anime Women (although I have to disagree about Keri being such a bad shot. I think she was dazzled by the headlights of that oncoming truck, just enough to miss Benten. Either that or she was in love with him and couldn't bring herself to kill him. Hmm... OK, so that's not very convincing...) There's the ongoing and delightfully sardonic Oddities pages: -

       Don't listen to them they lie. Oops, wrong audience, ahem. Welcome back to the place where all quirks are exposed
and dealt with accordingly. The dark realm where mistakes and anomalies are hunted down like animals and... wait a minute, that's not right. Oh, it is...
       Then there's part 2 of Mary Jones' story, Catfight. Her artwork's improving, her characters are appealing and well delineated, and I'm really looking forward to finding out what happens next. I just hope the sibling repartee continues - it brings humour and a wonderful realism to the story.

       Assassins is new, and intriguing. The artwork is fairly minimalist, clean and clear, with effective use of shadows to add depth and detail to the background, and the central characters - Rand and Oren (partners in the "human control expert" business - bounty hunters, in other words) - are very attractive. I'm positively itching to see how they develop.

       And then - there's the absolutely priceless Oedo Kids...
       This had me in stitches!! We've read about them before, of course, in the previous two issues, but this is the first time they've been brought to 'life' before our eyes.
       It's not just the perfectly spot-on characterisations of our favourite little criminals-to-be, nor the wonderful dialogue between them. It's the extra touches: the strange small creatures peeking out from behind the panels in the margin ("It's OK, I dunno what I am either!"), the background action (Sengoku falling in through the window because the chair has been moved), and the little comments that aren't part of the main dialogue but which nevertheless add immeasurably to the story. And I now know what to say to someone who will insist on asking "Guess what I've got?" (see below). I love it. I really really hope it'll become a regular feature. Though I still don't understand about the 'flu injections...

       There's another of Paul Johnson's manic tales... Hmm... Fat tigers notwithstanding, I have to confess, much as I enjoy his stories, I'm just a little concerned: there could be a risk of them coming a touch repetitive - there are only so many ways you can re-use the same elements without becoming stale. In my opinion, anyway. Not that Paul is anywhere near that stage, yet... Incidentally, I love the idea of highly illegal contraband wombats - where can I get one?

       The characterisation and artwork in Open Circuit are at least as great as ever, the dialogue is much better, and the shading and backgrounds are becoming ever more sophisticated. Perhaps a little too much so - I found some of the backgrounds a bit too cluttered, detracting from the foreground action. It was also a little difficult to make out exactly what was happening on pages with multiple panels against a whole-page background: having the panels more clearly defined would help. (That being said, the page showing Inari's stabbing is a wonderfully atmospheric piece of work.) I also feel that the story is progressing rather slowly and deliberately - while I appreciate this increases its drama, I also can't help but feel it's not entirely in keeping with the fast-paced excitement of the original anime. Then again, the plot is becoming complex and the characters are developing very nicely: speeding through it wouldn't do it justice... Ach, ignore my quibbles! I'm just impatient to know what happens next!!

       Overall, the feel of this issue is bolder and more confident - as if the positive reactions to the first two issues has sparked an answering confidence in the creators (not that they were exactly shy and retiring to start with!!) Very impressive, with a good range of styles and subjects. I recommend it highly.

       If this all seems a little on the subjective side - well, I'm sorry. I was hurrying to finish my homework so I can go out to play. The Oedo Kids have just thrown a brick through the window with a note wrapped round it, saying they're off to the park to play "Doctors and Nurses"...

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Cyberage Issues 1 & 2