Reviews

Last Man: The Stranger by Bastien Vivès, Mickaël Sanlaville, Balak

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hellocookie's review against another edition

4.0

Last Man Vol. 1: The Stranger is something that I didn’t realize was a series until the end of the book came along. I frantically downloaded the file again and again thinking that surely there had to have been some mistake, but nope. There was not. Maybe I could’ve gotten a hint from the cover of the book that had a big 1 on the front of it, but I didn’t think anything of it since the other two graphic novels I had read from Bastien Vivès had been self-contained stories.

Vivès teams up with Michaël Sanlaville and Balak to tell the story of a young boy named Adrian who wants to compete in his realms yearly tournament where the strongest fight for the Royal Cup. At the last minute, Adrian’s partner steps out of the tournament, leaving Adrian without a partner and therefor unable to compete. It’s at this point that we’re introduced to Richard Aldana aka the stranger that the book references in the title. The two pair up to make an unlikely team and kick off the first book out of four for this series.

The art will definitely be something that’s an acquired taste for a lot of people, but after the first few pages, I really started to enjoy it. Each person has a distinct look to them while the artist uses a very manga/anime-ish style. At times, I would even go as far as to say it is reminiscent of some of the B-list Studio Ghibli movies like My Neighbors the Yamadas and Whisper of the Heart. The whole book is in black and white, but I also wound up really liking the overall effect that that had on the art style too.

Let me come back to the whole Studio Ghibli thing for a second… Not only did the art remind me a little of the animation style from the studio, but the writing did too. As soon as I made the connection in my head, I could see the comic playing out on a TV as if Miyzaki himself were animating the story. It just feels like the kind of story that you would see on screen from the prestigious studio and I would actually be very interested to see someone adapt this.

I’m rambling a little bit here so let me get to the bottom line. I was disappointed that Last Man wasn’t a standalone graphic novel. I was disappointed that it wound up being a series. I was disappointed with how they chose to end things for this volume.

However, I was not disappointed with the quality of story that I was given to enjoy. The story is simple and easy to follow. There aren’t too many plot points to try to manage in your head and it plays out wonderfully. The characters are interesting, despite the fact that they’re not given a lot of depth. They’re given exactly what you need to figure out what kind of person everyone is and that’s that. The main story is about the tournament and that’s what Vivès makes sure he focuses on.

It’s a cool story set in an intriguing world. I want to learn more about Richard Aldana and I want to see where things go from the point in which this was all left off at.

VERDICT
Definitely check this out. And if you haven’t read anything from Vivès before, do yourself a favour and check him out.

autumnals's review against another edition

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4.0

Après avoir adoré la série TV, me voici prête à dévorer les BDs. Ce tome 1 était très agréable, bien que moins intense que la série. J'attends de lire la suite. <3

helpfulsnowman's review

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4.0

French manga? Why not.

A fighting tournament, a mysterious stranger, a weirdo with a mustache, and a boy who must overcome the twin obstacles of being a crappy fighter and having a supremely hot mom.

Fighting tournaments have to be one of the most popular fictional settings/story catalysts, no? I feel like you can hardly read or watch or play a thing without running into a fighting tournament, and yet I feel like there are so few...perhaps none of this type in real life. Fighting tournaments where there are no weight classes or style restrictions, no rules about what you can and can't do, all that stuff.

Examples:

Street Fighter: Fight your way around the globe. Fight a Japanese Sumo. Fight a brash American soldier. Fight and Indian...who wears skulls around his neck and blows fire. Fight a South American abomination with electricity powers. And then fight a Major who I don't think is actually aligned with a country but just made his own military and made himself a Major.

Mortal Kombat: Basically Street Fighter, but with murder. Murder you see, anyway. I can't imagine that you can be consumed by flame and concussed by a sumo flying at you with full force and not suffer some adverse effects. You know, I always admired how, in Street Fighter, if someone got hit just right, they puked, and then kept right on fighting. That's someone who knows how to rally.

Best of the Best: Actually, I'm mostly thinking of BOTB2 because that's the one they showed on TV all the time. Tournament fighting, but with a twist because the ring announcer is Wayne Fucking Newton.

Killer Instinct: Want to push 3 buttons and hit someone 800 times? I've got your Huckleberry.

Timekillers: Not super notable except that characters had cutting weapons and could cut each other's arms and legs off without ending the fight. Also, you could be a chainsaw-wielding punk named Rancid who was straight out of The Lost Boys.

Primal Rage: Because we all wanted to be a giant ape that beats people up with farts.

After that sentence, I'm cashing in my chips here.

droar's review

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4.0

This has a strong French/Japanese vibe to me. I really like the sketchy art style and the fantasy style setting & Adrian is adorable, but the story itself it a bit wobbly-odd. Like uneven in a way that seems unfinished rather than purposefully hazy. Might just be a translation thing though. I'm certainly interested enough to keep reading.