Lupin III

Publisher
Tokyopop
Writer
Monkey Punch
Artist
Monkey Punch
Country of origin
Japan
Length
14 volumes
Year
1967

Lupin III - vol 1

By otaku_kei
17th Oct 04

Lupin III is one of the seminal works of manga publication in Japan. First published in 1967, Monkey Punch's tale about gentleman thief Arsene Lupin III has captivated and become one of the most successful and long-running manga series to date. This has made Lupin into one of the biggest icons in Japanese pop culture spawning several animated TV series, movies, toy ranges, video games and a much wider array of memorabilia. Lupin III is of course the tale of the exploits of our hero: a thief, spy, womanizer, rogue and all-around decent guy. True his motives may be self-centred; his methods, including murder, may be despicable; and his results almost always morally debatable; but we cannot help but admire the audacity and drive of this vibrant character that has been committed to paper.

Volume 1 of Tokyopop's 14 volume run of the series throws the reader straight into the action. There are no notes on the publication as to whether this series follows the chronological order of the original printing, or if this a best of from 40 years of adventures. Either way there is no development of back story or history for any of these characters. The Lupin hall of fame only has a few regular characters, and most of them appear in this volume. Lupin, the irascible hero-thief of these tales. Inspector Zenigata, the interpol agent obsessed with bringing Lupin to justice. Fujiko Mine, the beautiful female thief, sometime rival and sometime collaborator in Lupin's devious plans. And lastly Jigen, the chain smoking sharpshooter of Lupin's retinue.

This opening volume is a good showcase for everything that fan's desire from Lupin III, we have stories where he's outwitting Zenigata by stealing from under the diligent inspector's nose, or escaping prison under Zenigata's watchful gaze. Lupin gets hired by the Japanese government to rescue a captured spy from Shianese hands (ie. China - gotta love Cold War subtleties). Lupin battles with criminal kingpins, and murderous magicians, as well as being dumped on an island miles from civilisation with no hope of escape. The beauty of these stories is in how Lupin, with all his dapper charm and debonair style outwits and overcomes all obstacles in his path. All of these stories are well scripted and packed with action, but in many places i cannot help but feel that the comedy in the stories just does not work. I've seen several of the Lupin movies and the comedy in those always meshed well with the action and drama, but the slapstick on the printed page is just not as successful. As it is though the stories do serve to hook the reader into the exciting world of Lupin, the pace never lets up and has left me looking forward to the further releases.

OK so the artwork is similar to Sergio Aragones work in both MAD magazine and Groo the Barbarian, but Aragones was one of Monkey Punch's biggest artistic influences. It does in many ways make this series more accessible to the foreign reader as the art style is almost recognisable as western, and the principal characters do in many ways conform more to western models than other manga series. The artwork is great throughout, expressive, clear, the action looks fluid and graceful but a major letdown i that the character designs are pretty weak. The main characters are very well designed, but almost all the secondary characters look like some variation upon the central characters. Perhaps this was initially done so that Lupin and his gang could have the opportunity to disguise themselves as the secondary characters, but it gets tiresome.

Tokyopop have popular and bankable title with Lupin III, he is one of the icons of manga and recognised across the globe. As with most of Tokyopop's manga they have left it unflopped but the translation is good the lettering clear and the presentation of the title is no cause for complaint. The cover may not be striking, but it does exactly what it says on the tin: an uncluttered image of Lupin lounging upon a stencil of his name that cuts across the front cover. A bright cover that draws in the casual shelf browser, and that is probably the market this title is aimed for no confusing magical girl or mecha stories, this is a title that is almost assured a wide readership.

All in all this is a good little read, and deserves to be investigated by any Lupin fan, or fan of James Bond-style stories. I doff my hat to this gentleman thief.

8/10

-- otaku_kei 17th Oct 04