Gold Digger Highly recommended

Publisher
Antarctic Press
Writer
Fred Perry
Artist
Fred Perry
Country of origin
Japan
Year
1993

Gold Digger Pocket Manga Volume 3

By David Rasmussen
1st Apr 07

For the Diggers sisters of Gina, Brittany, and recently “born” sister Brianna (as of last review), life is seldom boring… for both the readers and the sisters.

15 going on 16 years old, Fred Perry’s Gold Digger is still to this date one of the essential cornerstones of the AmeriManga franchise. This & Ben Dunn’s Ninja High School are just some of Antarctic’s contributions to the long history of the genre, which started with Antarctic and is now carried on by the likes of Seven Seas and TOKYOPOP.

This is the beginning. The Golden Age of Gold Digger. The first 50 issues of it’s run. Its origins and its most memorable moments. The start. OK. Nuff said, let’s review.

OK. Let’s start at the beginning (I guess my last Volume 3 review can be removed).
Turns out Britanny had a high school friend who became a costumed hero named Avenger. Really? Weird. Anyway as it turns out this involves Britanny and family in the strange criminal organization called Crime Syndicate X which leads to shocking betrayal, the strains of your secret identity being found out by the wrong people, and a eventual “happy” ending. Along the way it’s all costumes and capes for this part, but really what’s going on in the world of costumes and cape… oh, wait, phone call… (click) Hello? Wh--

Phone - “CAPTAIN AMERICA IS DEAD!!!”

?… so?

Phone - “CAPTAIN AMERICA IS DEAD!!!”

What…Fred Perry killed Captain America? Really?

Phone - Silence.

Britanny? Ben Dunn? Joe Quesada? Did he die from embarrassment over that whole Avengers/Guiding Light crossover thing? Am I close?

Phone - (hangs up)

What does Captain America have to do with this. Do I look like I review Civil War? (Yeah, yeah, I did watch the mainstream news and hear the buzz over the death of Captain America. Should I take this on good faith he’s dead or ask how long before he pulls a Superman).

Anyway… after the whole superhero adventure we catch up with Gina as she’s dropping off her overdue books. What? Overdue books? Yeah, all that adventuring and all kinda made her absent minded about her overdue book dates. Anyway it’s a trip to the Library of Shangri-La (right next to the mini-mart of Shangri-La), and to the hot bald guy who is Khan (but who is also not Ricardo Montalban, though (hint hint) he COULD have voiced the character in the OAV… Khhhhaaannnn!!… OK, so Gina isn’t the only nerdy one here. Sue me).

Anyway who should be there but then there’s Lynn. I’d say more but the story says it all (to the point that I don’t need to say it all). So check it. But if you want a tad bit of detail I’ll just stick to the fact that Lynn is yet another one of the lovable secondary cast members who inhabit the world of Gold Digger that should really appeal to you, and nuff said. Yes, nuff said. Let’s move on.

Speaking of horrible fates, while checking out something at El Dorado (along with Britanny being checked out in turn due to a “teleportation accident”) the sisters run into loving couple of humanoid “purple rabbits” named Jan and Rol (how turn out to not be as rabbit like as they look… surprise surprise). These two, who while wandering around a previously unexplored area of El Dorado (which used to be a space capable starcityship)), end up running into Britanny and company and… as rabbit looking entities who have just run into a woman who is part feline… well, the topic of being eaten by Britanny and so on and so forth seems to come up. Lots of misunderstandings about the proper placement of humanoid purple rabbit people on the food chain, and the excessive use of out of control “workbots” ensues.

After everything is cleared up and nobody is eaten everything is made all right once again… until that demon in the form of a rat shows up at the Diggers’ place looking for revenge. That brings us to the arrival of a large party of well-armed Special Forces branch of Rat Exterminators… only this is a demon, isn’t it? Quick, who has Doctor Strange on speed-dial?

Oh, and this is the first appearance of Séance (yet another one of those lovable secondary characters who ends up in a love triangle with Gina). Otherwise that’s that for this volume. Next time there’ll be more Gold Digger goodness but for now… how about a breakdown… of the review, not personally, I’m fine.

One of the essential series, Fred Perry’s Gold Digger has been entertaining people for years on end, over 15 to be precise, and the series is slated to continue it’s reign of good vibrations as it marches towards it’s 100th Issue event in 2008. In this context then it’s about as good a time as any to get back to the roots of Gold Digger and experience it’s Golden Age (available in the first two Gold Brick Collection books for those not willing to spend the time and money to pick up all 11 Pocket Manga books AND Gold Digger Max Volume 1 (representing the Beta One Shot and GD -18).

Gold Digger Pocket Manga Volume 3 gets 5 selections of spandex (rumored to be the cure for the common relationship ailment) out of 5.

Gold Digger is ™ & ® 1994, 2004 & 2007 by Fred Perry

-- David Rasmussen 1st Apr 07