Hanpansu

@400yrs

Yes, this series was written by Matz the same writer as "The Killer"series. It is also a French crime series translated for the US market - the artist - Colin Wilson - is a veteran cartoonist from New Zealand who has worked for the French market for years and notably for Ed Brubaker in the US on "Point Blank".

Bullet to the Head is  a finite series published in 3 54-page albums in France between 2004 & 2006 info in French here: http://www.bedetheque.com/serie-8324-BD-Du-plomb-dans-la-tete.htmlis #43990

It is a fun read, but not as interesting and groundbreaking as "The Killer". It might seem weird that a French comic be set in the US, but that  is of a staple of a lot the mainstream comics in France (XIII, Largo Winch, IRS etc...) At least "The Killer" deviated from that norm with its French and Brazilian locale. 

FYI 

The French edition is part of a series by different creative teams (each volume counts 54 to 62 pages):

 1 Sept psychopathes 05/2007

2 Sept voleurs 09/2007

3 Sept pirates 11/2007

4 Sept missionnaires 03/2008

5 Sept guerrières 05/2008

6 Sept Yakuzas 09/2008

7 Sept Prisonniers 02/2009

Details in French: http://www.bedetheque.com/serie-15358-BD-Sept-psychopathes.html 

This is it - the last volume of Urasawa's re-imagining of Tezuka's Astro Boy.

An oversized volume (+ 50 some pages) for a great conclusion to this reflection on what makes a soul. Can the perfect AI exist without processing the feeling of "hatred"? Urasawa delivers his view on the question with a great story and masterful storytelling that would make Tezuka proud. 

A must-read Manga series for any comic book reader! 

Excellent Review! Solanin is a prime example of the great potential of Manga in depicting real life emotions with great pacing and attention to details that readers can relate to in spite of a great cultural divide. 

Although I love Beck, Asano's Solanin is in very different genre. Beck is a typical Shonen Manga full of hope & drive - it's about growing up by learning, overcoming obstacles & testing one's limits ( or Nekketsu). Solanin is more about how this optimism and hope can be shattered... 

Also highly-recommended for detail-oriented and emotionally-charged depiction of everyday life are the works of Jiro Taniguchi: The Walking Man & A Distant Neighborhood Vol. 1 & 2 http://www.amazon.com/DISTANT-NEIGHBORHOOD-Jiro-Taniguchi/dp/8492444282/ref=pd_sim_b_1

This is the third volume of Lewis Trondheim's one-page-a-day-slice-of-life diary-esque series "Little Nothings". Sometimes poetic, often neurotic and always funny, Trondheim muses over the "nothings" of life with his deceptively simple funny-animal art (half-way between Jason and Stan Sakai) adorned with beautiful water colors. France has found its Larry David and he does comics! 

Trondheim is also a leading force of the "Nouvelle Bande Dessinee" (New Comix) movement that exploded in the 1990's with the likes of David B. (Epilectic), Johann Sfar (The Rabi's Cat) & Marjane Satrapi (Persepolis) - A small portion of his work has been translated  - don't miss this gem from NBM!

If you are interested in the "Nouvelle Bande Dessinee, a must-read:http://www.amazon.com/Unpopular-Culture-Transforming-European-Studies/dp/0802094120/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268178484&sr=8-1

@ Paul & Doofenschmirtz - thank you for the nice welcome :) 

Just to clarify "20th Century boys" runs 22 volumes + 2 Volumes concluding the  saga under the title "21st Century Boys" - It's a shame that it took so long for Viz to publish 20CB in the USA, but Urasawa is very picky with the translation of his titles - although there is strong interest,  he refuses to have is pre-Monster (Happy!, Yawara & Master Keaton) work translated & published in France. :(

For those of you interested in Urasawa's artwork I posted an excerpt from a sumptuous  career-spanning Art Book in Japan last year: http://s876.photobucket.com/albums/ab323/zignou/Urasawa/?albumview=slideshow

It is available on amazon Japan: http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/4091990134/ref=ox_ya_oh_product

Pricey but well worth it :)  

First time poster :) Love the work you guys are doing at ifanboy!

Great review of Pluto Paul! I am very happy to see this series acknowledged & praised on ifanboy. Urasawa's work is a perfect doorway to Manga for readers who don't know where to start. I am originally from France, where Urasawa has been published since 2001, and his work certainly bridged some of the gap between Euro-centric comic readers and Manga readers. In addition, Pluto is a relatively short series - Vol. 8 is the final volume (it came out in Japan in June 2009) - Urasawa is actually on Vol. 3 of a newseries "Billy Bat" about a cartoonist (Mangaka) that looks great.

The aspect of Pluto that I find fascinating is that it is a retelling of a previous work by Osamu Tezuka that had a deep impact on Urasawa as a young manga fan in the 60's. This a very unusual thing in manga publishing  - most mangas start from scratch and manga publishers don't licence characters to reinveted by other generation of artists that much like it is common in the US. In that respect Urasawa's work is very similar to what Bendis has been doing on Ultimate Spiderman - even in their choices of expanding on scenes or ideas that are told in a much more compact way in the original. I strongly encourage people to read the original 90-page story plublished by Dark Horse in the 3rd volume of Astro boy as "The Greatest Robot on Earth". The parallel Tezuka/Lee/Dikto is also clear considering they impact they had on comic book history in their respective countries.

The last point I would make is that Urasawa with this book is showing how childhood experiences impact our adult life - and that is the central theme of 20th Century Boys (The 24 vol. series he completed before Pluto) - He is creatively coming full-circle on the theme and applying it.

One last thing Urasawa is not "pretty big" in Japan - he is HUGE  - ;) riding the trains in Tokyo you can see banners advertising his new series, not to mention the anime and movie adaptations - the guy is a manga-star!

Go read Pluto!!