They killed her and ran away – review of the comic “Lastman”, vol. 7 and 8

There are two common opinions among Lastman fans : that it is the best comic no one reads, and that it is the best “manga” created outside of Japan. And all I have to do is sign it! Volumes 7 and 8 only confirm my love for this title.

 

Lastman is full of typical shounen manga elements : numerous duels, mysterious techniques, martial arts tournaments, and constantly raising the stakes. There is one more element that appears in almost all the most famous titles – the so-called. timeskip . The time jump appears in Naruto, Dragon Ball or One Piece – the heroes come back after it more mature and powerful than ever before.

Seven

The previous part had an ending that was like a punch to the gut. Marianne, one of pop culture’s coolest moms, is treacherously killed by the commander of the royal guard. Little Adrian disappears, pushed over the abyss, and Richard Aldana is taken prisoner. And here comes the timeskip , all in white. Ten years have passed since those tragic events. Volume seven focuses on Aldana’s escape from captivity. The main arena of action is the fantasy-themed Valley of the Kings. Returning to the locations from the first volumes allows you to see long-unseen characters and learn about their current situation. While Aldana was in prison, the former martial artist Jansen got old and his charges, Adrian’s former colleagues Elorn and Gregorio, became captains of the royal guard. Creators of Lastmanthey have a talent for creating side characters and it was nice to meet them again – especially since they are important to the plot.

Eight

However, it is volume eight that reminds me of all the madness that made me love the series. The heroes find themselves in a post-apocalyptic wasteland again, and then move to the city. Here, a revolution took place, because while the metropolis in the previous episodes was more or less modern, for ten years Paxtown has undergone a technological revolution and now resembles a more cyberpunk location. In this way, the sci-fi elements have been strengthened, thanks to which cyborgs, robots and flying fortresses appear on the pages of the comic book. There are no limits to the authors’ imagination here, but most importantly, everything is coherent. The screenwriters do not go far beyond the already known pop culture tropes, but thanks to this stylistic mix, it does not bother at all.

Every three heads

The coherence mentioned above is even more astonishing when one considers the creative process, which the authors called “peaceful chaos”. Well, Bastian Vives, Balak and Michaël Sanlaville met from time to time to discuss ideas for the next dozen or so pages. They brainstormed the best solutions, then created sketches, dialogue samples, and storyboards on toilet paper. Then Vives and Sanlaville were given ten pages each to draw, and even though Lastman has two artists, it doesn’t feel like it at all. The old saying “there is a method to the madness” is 100% true here.

Although I mentioned that Lastman has a lot of shounen manga in it, I must emphasize that it was never a title for the youngest. Although there are plenty of fights here, and the creators do not shy away from humorous inserts, the world of comic books is full of sex and violence. In the eighth volume, there are more heavy plots, such as human trafficking and prostitution.

Grandparents of French fantasy

And despite my admiration for the series, there are also some problematic threads. The creators are sometimes grandpa here. The additions at the end of each volume, full of schoolboy humor that would delight many a wedding uncle, are already bad – they can simply be omitted. Worse, when certain tendencies are visible in the comic itself. The fact that all female characters here are sex bombs with huge breasts and a wasp waist can be blamed on convention. Unfortunately, at some point transgender people appear in the plot and they are already caricatured. These heroines are drawn in an ugly way that emphasizes all possible stereotypes. It is completely unnecessary, because the character of these characters is decent and it is a pity that the cartoonists did not present something better here.

Lastman but not Leastman

The seventh and eighth volumes maintained the series’ high standard. The time jump put the plot on an interesting track, old side characters returned to the game, and the main characters also changed over the course of ten years. At the same time, it is worth noting that it is still hard to tell where the creators are going and who is the big bad guy here. Probably in many other cases it would be a drawback for me, but in Lastman it is only an advantage. I can’t wait to see what else Balak, Vives and Sanlaville come up with.