Comics Alternative

For the August manga episode, Shea and Derek go topless...at least that's a common condition that they sense in the two titles that they discuss this month. They begin with Hiroya Oku's Inuyashiki, the fourth English-language volume of which was released in June by Kodansha Comics. It's the story of an older Sad Sack of a salaryman, Ichiro Inuyashiki, whose slowly crumbling life is turned around after contact with an alien life form. As a result of this encounter, his body is replaced with a weapon-grade robotic shell, and over the course the first four volumes, Inuyashiki learns to use his new condition to positively change the lives of others. However, complications arise when another man similarly changed by the same alien encounter decides to use his powers for more nihilist purposes. Shea and Derek spend much time discussing Oku's art -- a clean yet static style -- the borderline melodrama of the storytelling, and the fact that Inuyashiki goes around without a shirt much of the time. After that, the guy