Attack on Titan Volume 3

 

Bought from the used book shelf at the Merrimack Public Library in Merrimack NH.

Title: Attack on Titan
Issue: Volume 3
Date: 2012
Publisher: Kodansha
Creator: Hajime Isayama
Letterer: Steve Wands
Editor: Ben Applegate

Through some unknown mechanism, Eren has somehow become a titan, or, at least, has the ability to change into one. Now he has a new problem: His fellow soldiers want to kill him. It's up to Armin to convince them that Eren is still loyal to humanity and that his new abilities can help in the war against the titans.

But a hastily-thrown-together plan to seal a breach in the wall and take back one of the attached walled "towns" runs into immediate problems when Eren's untested powers prove uncontrollable.

This third chapter raises a lot more questions than it answers, and plunges the story into a new cliffhanger. Armin gets the best moments here, and this was a nice spotlight for him. It also introduces a couple of intriguing new characters from the military hierarchy, including the unorthodox Commander Pixis.

The pacing continues to be great, and the complexity of the worldbuilding continues to be built up steadily.

Rating 7/10

Attack on Titan Volume 2

 

Bought from the used book shelf at the Merrimack Public Library in Merrimack NH.

Title: Attack on Titan
Issue: Volume 2
Date: 2012
Publisher: Kodansha
Creator: Hajime Isayama
Letterer: Steve Wands

The story really picks up in the second volume, with a major backstory reveal showing the tragic circumstances of how Mikasa and Eren first met as children and how Mikasa became part of Eren's family.

From there's it's back to the action as a large group of titans swarm a military supply depot, trapping some soldiers inside, and leaving those outside without the ability to replenish the gas they need for their vertical movement gear.

Mikasa, unaware that Eren may already have been killed in action, leads a desperate attack, but help suddenly appears in a most unexpected form.

This was nonstop action with lots of surprising twists and some good character development, particularly for Mikasa.

Rating: 7.5/10

Attack on Titan Volume 1

Bought from the used book shelf at the Merrimack Public Library in Merrimack NH.

Title: Attack on Titan
Issue: Volume 1
Publisher: Kodansha
Creator: Hajime Isayama
Letterer: Steve Wands

Far in the future, the remnants of humanity live in a single city, behind a series of protective walls designed to keep out the titans, nearly indestructible man-eating giants that have overrun most of the world.

When a wall is breached after nearly a century without attacks, a group of young recruits must join the suddenly desperate battle against the titans, which have now produced a colossus capable of breaking through the city's walls.

This was a good introduction to the scenario and I enjoyed the developing relationships between the characters, especially the dynamic between the fiercely protective Mikasa, and the ambitious Eren.

The action sequences are great, the titans more horrifying than you might anticipate, and there is a reasonable attempt to make sense of a scenario of people fighting against human-eating giants.

Rating: 6.5/10