Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Manga Review: DARKSTALKERS / RED EARTH: MALEFICARUM

Title: DARKSTALKERS / RED EARTH: MALEFICARUM
Volume: 1
Artist:Mami Itou
Writer: Mami Itou
Publisher: Udon
Price Point: $12.95

Ripped from the Back Cover:

"DARKSTALKERS / RED EARTH: MALEFICARUM is a video game Manga at its funniest.

The sexy seductresses and vicious monsters known as the DARKSTALKERS burst out of the night as Morrigan, Lilith, Demitri, Talbain, Jedah, and more battle for control of the demon dimension!

Plus, experience the adventures of RED EARTH, a unique fantasy world of ninjas, withces, and lions that battle dinosaurs, knights, and sorceresses, with excitement around every corner!"

What is Cool about it:

It has Morrigan in it - so what more of a reason to get it. I love seeing how both her and Demitir get into it right at the beginning. The best story is with the Werewolf however near the end of the book. There is a brief intro with Lilith and of course Jedah. Should prove an interesting story if they keep it all together.

The artwork is quite stunning and does have a 'gaming' feel to it. Red Earth does have some interesting elements with it. When they get to a part that resembles Egypt, I couldn't help but think of Yu-Gi-Oh!. You get an intro to most of the characters from Red Earth. It does give you the feeling of wanting more at the end of the story arc which is good.

I like the 'Comments' pages as they go into more detail of the artist and some more insight to how it was put together.

What Suckles about it:

Stories are a bit jumpy for my tastes. You start with Darkstalkers, then go to Red Earth and finish with Darkstalkers. Sometimes the artwork overwhelms the story line and I get lost at some points. Not really crazy about the jumping around between stories. If you start with one story, keep it till the end before jumping to a different one. I was enjoying the story start with Morrigan and Demitri and then it jumps to Red Earth - WTF!


It has a 2 page 'sneak review' of the ninja - we love ninjas and should of been more. Guess we will see more in volume 2?

I think both are great on there own, but  when they are combined and mixed, not so much. Red Earth was by far better than the Darkstalkers arc.

Some Interior Art:

Here is some limited Color Art - Red Earth
Red Earth
Morrigan and Wolfie
Morrigan and Demitri

Final Words:

It is an okay read, but I really wish they would of separated the stores a bit better. I guess if I follow the art a bit better, it would make it easier for me to read. Guess I am getting old and too much excitement in a manga is bad for me now

Overall Rating: D

Keep or Throw: Throw

2 comments:

  1. Hello Bluedrakon, one is never too old to do the stuff you like or to trash the one that you don't like, so maybe this manga it's just bad hehe. (liked the drawings though)

    By the way you have a great blog, are you interested in a link exchange?, I admin a blog directory and would love to have "2 Old 4 Anime". Let me know if you do.

    Cathy

    ReplyDelete
  2. @Catherine Myers ~ thanks for stopping by and if you send me the link I will review your blog directory.

    ReplyDelete

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