A fantastically undermanned operation is laying the groundwork to take over the world — starting with Fukuoka, Japan! That’s the premise of Rikdo Koshi’s Excel Saga, which ran in Japan from 1996 to 2011, and started in North America in 2003, where three volumes made it into the top 50 graphic novels chart. But now, with the manga boom long past, it seems to have faded to obscurity. Tim and Kumar take a look at the first three volumes to decide whether its current obscurity is fully deserved.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Masamune Shirow’s future tale “Ghost in the Shell” reads like someone’s private comic that wasn’t meant for public consumption. Tim, Mulele, and Kumar find that they can’t so much consume the story as gag on it uncomprehendingly… although the pictures are nice.