There are two universal truths in today’s rapidly changing comics industry. The first is that Dog Man is the defining comic of our era. The second is that more people are reading manga and Webtoons (aka vertical scroll comics) than ever before. Therefore we at Comics Beat have chosen to embark on a new venture: Beat’s Bizarre Adventure. Every other week, three writers will recommend some of their favorite books and series from Japan, Korea and elsewhere. This week we have the vertical scrolling re-edit of a classic action series, a comic adaptation of an excellent Boys’ Love webnovel, and (again) Osamu Tezuka.
GANTZ:T
Writer/Artist: Hiroya Oku
Platform: JumpToon
I only found out about Gantz when my ex introduced me to the Studio Gonzo anime adaptation on our date night. We devoured the whole series that day and felt very emotional at the end. So I went straight to the manga…and read it all! It is a wild ride of action, amazing creature designs, detailed lineart with amazing use of values, and an art style unique to Hiroya Oku.
Cut to 2024, and to my surprise, Gantz was reformatted for JumpToon as Gantz:T. Having watched the original anime and read the manga, I had to see just how a story like Gantz can be adapted to the scrolling format. The first thought that came to my mind was: how would they handle the blood, gore, and uncensored full body nudity?
From the first few panels, it is clear that Gantz:T repurposes the original manga panels, just rescaled and reorganized for the vertical scrolling/webtoon format. Each panel is colored digitally with simple cell shading; some negative space within panels are assigned colors or patterns to add visual variety, or to enhance the mood of the scene. Gutters are also given patterns and effects to redirect the reader’s eyes. Visual effects have also been applied to the art, like depth of field and motion blur. These visual effects also cleverly censor the manga’s blood and gore.
The team at JumpToon find creative ways to censor the art without altering it heavily. Blood and blood splatters are darkened and obscured via motion blur. Nudity is cleverly cropped out by readjusting the panel size or by omitting the panel entirely. Gore is covered up by motion blur, the use of gradients, being colored in as a silhouette, or simply cropped out if possible. Double page spreads are split into two separate panels for the adaptation. This often feels out of place as the art is literally being split in half instead of being given a single panel.
All that aside, it doesn’t really affect the flow and the story itself. My experience reading through the JumpToon adaptation almost like how it was when I originally read Gantz. I didn’t think of it as a webtoon until altered panels reminded me that this was an adaptation of the manga. Gantz:T a mobile, safe-for-work-ish version of Gantz that you can read on the go or on your computer in full color. But I would still recommend reading the manga if you want to experience the series in its intended form.
As of writing, Gantz:T is available on JumpToon but only in Japanese as there isn’t an english translated version available through the app as of yet. You will need an account on JumpToon to access the webtoon due to its content, even if it is toned down. But it was fun to read and see how and why changes were made. — Justin Guerrero
Run Wild
Artist: Zuoercongdong
Original Story: Wuzhe
Platform: Tappytoon
Danmei, which translates to “indulging beauty” in Chinese, is a genre in Chinese literature that focuses on a male couple. Lately it has been growing in popularity–and for good reason! The stories are well-written and the couples are swoon-worthy. Sa Ye, or Run Wild, is one of my favorite danmei series; when I saw that it was going to be translated officially in English and made available on Tappytoon, I was over the moon.
The story begins with the protagonist Jiang Cheng getting kicked out of his home by his adoptive parents and being sent to a cold, dreary city to live with his deadbeat father hooked on gambling. His first day is eventful, to say the least. He rescues a mute, skateboarding young girl with choppy hair named Gu Miao from bullies and has to call her brother to pick her up. To his surprise, whoever Gu Miao’s brother is instantly rejects his call and even tells Jiang Cheng to “kill the hostage.”
When he does arrive, Jiang Cheng doesn’t have much of a favorable impression of this boy with a music sign buzzed into his hair other than to admire his long legs. It doesn’t get much better when Jiang Cheng learns they are desk mates at school. Although the two initially butt heads, Jiang Cheng and Gu Fei become each other’s light in this cold and dreary city.
Run Wild is a modern danmei focused on two young men trying to survive in a world that they do not belong in. Both Jiang Cheng and Gu Fei have so much potential but are stifled and suppressed by circumstance: Jiang Cheng, unloved and alone, in a city where he’ll have a harder time thriving academically; and Gu Fei becoming a father and a brother to his disabled sister, and as a result, feeling like he’ll never be able to escape.
While you may not agree with each of their decisions, you understand their reasoning because Jiang Cheng and Gu Fei’s complexities are written so well. The two find a home and a family in and with each other. When they fall in love, you can’t help but be swept up in their relationship.
Run Wild’s pacing is slower compared to other popular danmei out there. But fans of found family stories and coming-of-age journeys definitely need to read this series. — Hilary Leung
Phoenix: Karma
Writer/Artist: Osamu Tezuka
Translation: Jared Cook, Shinji Sakamoto, Frederik L. Schodt
Touch-Up Art & Lettering: Walden Wong
Design: Izumi Evers
Editor: Ian Robertson
Publisher: VIZ
I first stumbled across Osamu Tezuka’s series Phoenix as a high schooler. Its second story arc, Future, rewired my brain. I couldn’t believe that comics could tell stories of such scale! Not to mention that Tezuka drew Future in the late 1960s, nearly three decades before I was born.
The fifth story arc, Karma, ran from 1969 to 1970. It tells the story of two men: Gao, the one-eyed and one-armed vagabond, and Akanemaru, a gifted sculptor. Gao is so abused by his peers that he finally lashes out and murders his village. While in flight, he accosts Akanemaru and cuts off his dominant arm. Now Akanemaru must relearn sculpture from the very beginning. Meanwhile, Gao’s misfortunes teach him the true nature of the world, and set him on his own path to become an artist.
Karma is a story about art. How it’s made, why it’s made and what lasts. Akanemaru’s injury transforms him as a sculptor, and yet the success he attains as a result dulls his abilities. Gao on the other hand discovers his passion for sculpting as an older adult. At first he dismisses it as a waste of time, but sooner or later he can’t stop. Sooner or later the two of them are pitted against each other by religious politics. The outcome of that duel seals their fates–although if the Phoenix is to be trusted, the future was set in stone from the beginning.
Karma is also a masterpiece of formalism in which every panel and page layout is carefully chosen. Rather than pure cinematic “story comics,” Tezuka repurposes cinematic techniques in ways that could only work in manga. The non sequitur gags common in his work are kept to a minimum here. As a result, Karma attains a kind of solemnity. It’s still larger than life, but in the way of a religious parable rather than a cartoon.
It’s a perfect introduction to Osamu Tezuka. Sure, there are folks who might argue for Black Jack, Buddha or Message to Adolf as Tezuka’s best. His 1947 comic New Treasure Island may always be his most influential. But for a mix of everything that made Tezuka great, you can’t beat Phoenix: Karma. The only bone I’d pick with it is that the book’s treatment of women is notably bad, even when compared to other Phoenix storylines.
That leaves me wondering, though, why Phoenix isn’t easier to find these days. While the story is available as an ebook, physical copies cost several hundred dollars. Viz should reprint this one so that the next generation of readers learns what they’ve been missing. — Adam Wescott
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