Tetragrammaton Labyrinth Volume 5

From the books I unpacked out of storage.

Title: Tetragrammaton Labyrinth
Issue: Volume 5
Publisher: Seven Seas Entertainment
Date: May, 2009
Writer: Ei Itou, Shannon Fay
Artist: Ei Itou
Letterer: Aristotle Licuanan
Editor: Shanti Fader, Adam Arnold

Demon-hunters Meg and Angela arrive in Heidelberg, Germany, searching for the source of power that will activate Angela's magical Anathema scythe. They first encounter two Roma sisters who are suffering mistreatment at the hands of humans who are just as evil as any of the demons that Meg and Angela have dealt with.

Their investigations also lead them to an undine who has been drowning locals in a nearby river, and then finally to the secrets of the city itself.

The first two chapters in this volume are essentially monster-of-the-week tales that stand on their own reasonably well. The authors were clearly making some attempts to be respectful of Roma culture, but still ended up playing into a fair amount of stereotypes. The second story involved a bit of unnecessary complication with the inclusion of a second mythical creature, but was visually stunning.

The final chapter in this volume is much more closely tied to the overall plot of the series, and features a big moment when the heroes play into the hands of the villain, and boy does he let them know it with some serious villain monologuing. This had some impressive visuals, but it also featured a lot of moments where it was hard to tell exactly what was going on. 

All of this was a bit excessively dramatic, which I realize is part of the point, but it did make it a bit difficult to take any of it all that seriously.

Rating: 4.5/10

Venus Versus Virus Volume 7

From the shelf of unread books.

Title: Venus Versus Virus
Issue: Volume 7
Publisher: Seven Seas Entertainment
Date: September, 2009
Writer: Atsushi Suzumi
Artist: Atsushi Suzumi
Letterer: Roland Amago
Editor: Adam Arnold

So this is volume 7 out of 8, and I'm jumping in here, which is not ideal. I did end up pleasantly surprised, however, by how into the story I was by the end of this volume as it moves toward the climax of the ongoing plot.

There is a crew of magical girls who are training to battle demonic entities known as "Viruses". Among these are best friends Sumire and Lucia, who have now been involved with this fight for a year. Sumire is planning a surprise party for Lucia's birthday, but Lucia makes a discovery about Sumire's boyfriend that threatens to destroy everything they've worked for.

The ending of this volume is delightfully dramatic.

Rating: 8/10

Unearthly Volume 1

From the books I unpacked out of storage.

Title: Unearthly
Issue: Volume 1
Publisher: Seven Seas Entertainment
Date: September, 2005
Writer: Ted Naifeh
Artist: Elmer Damaso, Paolo Aguasin
Letterer: Nicky Lim
Editor: Jason DeAngelis, Adam Arnold

This is set up as a high school love triangle romance, and very quickly turns into something else entirely. Bookish student Ann has a crush on Jem, a sensitive boy who also has the attention of volleyball captain Rae.

Enter Star, an alien shapeshifter on the run. A fair amount of mayhem ensues before we get a final shift into space opera mode.

I liked that the characters are deeper and more complex than they first appear, especially Rae, the popular girl/jock. She's loads of fun with a surprising emotional range and a more real vibe than I expected when she was introduced. She's the real highlight of this initial volume, but I enjoyed the interactions between Ann and Jem as well.

The second volume looks to have a very different flavor, and I'm interested to see where the story goes.

Rating: 7/10