Writer and Artist: Hiroaki Samura Translators: Dana Lewis, Toren Smith Trade Paperback Published by Dark Horse Comics/Studio Proteus 2000 $14.95

DARK SHADOWS is the sixth collection of the ongoing series that translates Hiroaki Samura's work. It collects the DARK SHADOWS arc, and the subsequent 'Food' one shot; issues 29 through 34. Brandon Blatcher has reviewed the first trade here: BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL: BLOOD OF A THOUSAND TPB.

I don't read much manga. I like manga. I like the style. Too much. So I tend to limit myself to one or two translations at a time, choosing the best among those being offered, rather than spend all sorts of money I don't have getting everything. But enough about me. I mention this because I'm currently getting 'Blade...' (I'd also be getting 'Lone Wolf and Cub', but the disturbingly tiny size of the volumes is an insult to Goseki Kojima's art, destroying a lot of the wonderful effects he had created. But I digress. It happens when I'm bitter).

So, I'm saying 'Blade' is good. I'm saying I think it's the best manga being published in the States today. I'm telling you to go buy all of them; all the trades, and devour them with wild abandon and helpless jealousy. End of review.

Well, not really, though if you're still reading now and not running out and buying the trades, or even point and clicking them into your trembling, eager little hands, then you have misplaced your priorities. But, since you're still here, I might as well talk about DARK SHADOWS some more. You get the basics in Brandon's review: immortal ronin, mission of vengeance, etc etc. The first collection is the simplest of the bunch, in that it reads as a more straightforward sword fighting comic. At some point in the first few issues, tho, the story expands. It shifts its focus from character to morality; in other words, it expands from the examination of the person to the examination of the personal environment. Much the same way that 'Lone Wolf ...' puts its lead in a morally complex problem in each story, Manji and Rin fight characters who aren't simply evil. Samura does cheat a bit at times for the sake of the story, but mostly in relation to Rin. He's created an extremely innocent and skittish character to play off of Manji, and has her quest for vengeance driving the overarching plot. This essentially sets up a fight for Manji in each arc, which usually requires him killing the foe. Sometimes, Samura tries to introduce moral ambiguity in the foes, but still portray them as 'bad guys'. It's a cheat that Koike doesn't make in 'Lone Wolf', to a stronger effect.

In DARK SHADOWS , the story expands again, from the moral to the political. If you don't read 'Blade' already, then a comparison might help. As with 'Cerebus', or 'Sandman', the first trade is not indicative of what's to follow. While good in their own right, neither suggests the scope of the rest of the series. (If you haven't read 'Cerebus' or 'Sandman', and you're reading this review, then your priorites are seriously misplaced, and since you've obviously put some stock in my ramblings, I'm ordering you to spend a lot of money right this instant to rectify those gross crimes against comic taste. Go ahead, I'll wait.) With DARK SHADOWS , Samura shifts the focus away from Rin and Manji. In fact, they don't even show up for most of the arc. Instead we get politics and schemes, subplots and supporting characters, more talking and less fighting (Hence the trade's title). Now, I read the individual issues, so I have a sense as to where it's going in the next few arcs.

In fact, I'm recommending this book (see, it says so at the bottom), but I think it's weak. I think it has to be weak. Samura is beginning to add another layer to the plot with these issues, and introduing a whole series of new characters at the same time. The plot doesn't advance so much as jump sideways onto a freeway. It takes a few issues to get up to cruising speed, and with Samura, he never cruises that fast in the first place. He likes to take time telling his stories. He shares this tendency with Koike, but while Koike uses perhaps twenty to forty pages on a slow paced 'Lone Wolf' story, Samura will use perhaps 150 pages. Most of the time it works, but in this trade we have 150 pages of interlude, and 40 pages tying that back to the main plot. When read with the subsequent two arcs, it works. But read as an introduction to the series, it wouldn't, and even people getting the series exlcusively in trade format might find it somehwat deflated from the previous trades. I'm here to tell you to be patient, buy it, and enjoy it anyway, and wait for the payoff, because there will be a payoff.

Even in this arc, there's some payoff. The last two issues, as we return to Rin and Manji, practically redeem my qualms of the previous four. The final page of 'Dark Shadows 5' is incredible, and you're lucky or unlucky enough to be able to turn the page for the resolution, instead of waiting for a month. And the 'Food' one shot at the end is as wonderful and appealing as anything in the previous trades, but with the added complexity that Samura had spent four issues developing.

Plus there's the art, excellent as usual. I haven't seen many other comics which use pencilwork along with pen and ink work. His pencilled panels are beautiful, and overall he's an excellent draftsman, better than most every other manga I've seen. Yum. I'd recommend this just on the art alone. But I don't need to. There's also the characterization. We're introduced to several new characters in this trade. My favorite is Giichi. We don't even learn his name yet, but he leaves quite an impression in the few panels he has. While I like samura's scripting I should mention, here at the end where nobody's looking, that he uses modern slang for his characters's speech patterns, adding a punkish feel to the book. I haven't decided whether I like it yet, but I have gotten used to it.

So what we have with this trade is a building block, a foundation for a massive expansion of the scope of this series, which was already complex and intelligent. We have a slow buildup with a small payoff, and anticipation of a larger payoff to come. Buy this book. Buy the entire series. Do it so I'll stop repeating myself.

Recommended (with reservations: that you buy all the trades)

Damon Crumpler is an irregular contributor to PopImage. They can't keep him away, no matter how hard they try.