COMIC REVIEW: Phantom

Phantom is a 5 volume korean comic (Manwha) published by Tokyopop. My experience with Korean animation and comics has lead me to assume certain stereotypes. They often look very nice (Most of the anime in Japan and western cartoons are animated there these days) But the stories are often a nonsensical mess. The most shining example of this is the movie Wonderful days (AKA: Sky Blue). The writing in that movie makes a typical episode of Captain Planet and the Planeteers seem totally logical in comparison.

So why go on about that? Because Phantom really surprised me, not only wasn't the story stupid, it was really enjoyable!

Phantom's main character, K, is a Giant robot piloting police officer in the post apocalyptic cyberpunk future. Tasked with fighting so called terrorists, however K soon gets in way over his head and finds out that theorderly world in which he lives is just an illusion, and Maybe his enemies aren't who he should be fighting.

The first half of volume one feels like the most generic thing ever. I really didn't like K, he is a total punk, but something happens in the middle of the volume that changes everything, and by the end I was totally hooked. The remaining 4 volumes never let up. It's probably the most enjoyable depiction of a real robots genre story that I have ever read in manga.

Phantom is like Patlabor, Gundam and some ludicrous Old skool Hong Kong action flick put together in one book. You wouldn't think that the pieces would fit together but they do and the end result is a lot of fun to read.

It has it's odd asides, and sometimes the dialog is less than brilliant, and the localization is... well it's Tokyopop... nuff said.

The art can be a bit rough when it comes to the characters, but the way the action is expressed and the way the mecha are drawn is excellent. If you are someone who likes Giant Robots (Chicks dig giant robots) Then you should enjoy phantom, just make sure you read all of the first volume before passing judgement.

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